Sarkozy promises to crack down on corporate tax as he trails in the polls March 6, 2012 FRENCH President Nicolas Sarkozy said yesterday that if re-elected he would propose a minimum tax on the profits of big listed companies, which could raise €2bn to €3bn (£1.67bn to £2.5bn) in a year to go towards cutting the public deficit. As the latest poll showed Sarkozy trailing further behind Socialist presidential candidate Francois Hollande, [...]
IIF warns of €1 trillion risk if Greece defaults March 6, 2012 A DISORDERLY Greek default would cause more than €1 trillion (£833bn) of damage to the Eurozone and could leave Italy and Spain dependent on outside help to stop contagion spreading, the main bondholders’ group has said. “There are some very important and damaging ramifications that would result from a disorderly default,” the IIF said in [...]
PORTUGUESE PM: WE WON’T FORCE HAIRCUTS March 6, 2012 PORTUGAL will pay its debts and will not follow Greece in forcing haircuts on investors, Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho said yesterday. He told Bloomberg TV the country has “showed to all European partners its commitment to reach the targets” in fiscal and economic reforms. Picture: GETTY
High hopes for UK at Hines and CBRE March 6, 2012 HINES’ new UK managing director said there were “trillions” waiting to be invested into London in the years to come, highlighting that the city remained one of the most attractive global cities to invest in amid the turmoil in the Eurozone. Ross Blair (pictured) told City A.M. at the Mipim conference in Cannes yesterday that the [...]
Green rules could make it impossible to rent some flats March 6, 2012 THE BRITISH Property Federation has called on the government to provide more clarity on the minimum energy standards that will be required by commercial and residential landlords beyond 2018 under new legislation. Changes being brought by the Energy Act 2011 will mean that hundreds of thousands of UK properties with the least energy efficiency – [...]
Real estate firms look to alternative finance as banks pull out of sector March 6, 2012 THE ARRIVAL of senior debt funds could provide welcome new sources of liquidity in the European property market as the banks continue to reduce their exposure to real estate lending, new research shows. Cushman & Wakefield’s latest European real estate lending survey found that just 36 out of the 78 leading global real estate finance [...]
Ulster Bank set for €1bn sale of property assets March 6, 2012 ULSTER Bank, the troubled Irish business unit of Royal Bank of Scotland, is readying itself to sell off assets worth €1bn (£833m) according to a source close to the situation. This could see Ulster Bank competing against the state-run National Asset Management Association (NAMA) in trying to offload property portfolios in Ireland. Ulster Bank, which [...]
ROYAL MAIL TO DEVELOP BATTERSEA DEPOT March 6, 2012 THE ROYAL Mail has won planning permission from Wandsworth Council to redevelop its South London mail centre next to Battersea Power Station into a residential scheme. The 13-acre development includes 1,800 homes, a primary school and retail and public space. Royal Mail will also invest around £50m in the extension of the Northern line and [...]
NEW GIG FOR SENTANCE March 6, 2012 FORMER Bank of England MPC member Andrew Sentance has taken on a new role on the board of trustees at Build IT, a charity that helps with building health facilities, housing and schools in rural Zambia. A keen guitar player in a band called Revelation, Sentance joins Build IT at the same time as the [...]
BREWIN DOLPHIN IN VICTORIOUS MOOD March 6, 2012 BREWIN Dolphin took on and beat a team from Rathbones in a rugby match played last week in the City. The match, in front of around 200 spectators, was a warm-up for a bigger fundraiser for Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research: the London-Paris 2012 cycle ride. Brewin Dolphin is proving its pedal power with a team [...]