Lehman set to exit bankruptcy December 6, 2011 Lehman Brothers Holdings Corp, now just the odds and ends of the global financial behemoth that collapsed in September 2008, yesterday received court approval yesterday to exit bankruptcy early next year. Lehman may now wind down its remaining operations, US bankruptcy judge James Peck told a hearing in New York. Unsecured creditors, depending on their [...]
Job placements at 25-month low December 6, 2011 British recruitment firms said the number of people placed in permanent jobs fell at the fastest pace since 2009 in November, highlighting the pressures on the economy at a time of public spending cuts and worries about the Eurozone. A survey for the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) and accountant KPMG released today shows that [...]
EC boss says nations can’t block treaty December 6, 2011 MOST countries will not get a vote on tighter fiscal integration, allowing Germany to force through new financial controls across the Eurozone, European Council president Herman Van Rompuy said yesterday in a report sent to EU leaders ahead of tomorrow’s two-day summit. US Treasury secretary Tim Geithner added his weight to efforts to resolve the [...]
Cameron pledges to protect the City December 6, 2011 PRIME Minister David Cameron has vowed to protect the City by blocking any revised EU treaty if European leaders do not provide safeguards for Britain’s financial services. “I will not sign a treaty that does not have those safeguards in it, around things like the importance of the single market and financial services,” he told [...]
S&P rating cut looms for EFSF December 6, 2011 EUROPE’S financial stability facility could be downgraded because its guarantors’ credit ratings are all looking shaky, Standard and Poor’s said yesterday, endangering any future efforts to save indebted governments. The warning came as French Prime Minister François Fillon claimed a Eurozone break-up could cost “25 per cent of GDP for the strongest countries and about [...]
Greek leaders agree budget December 6, 2011 GREECE’S new coalition government last night passed an austerity budget for 2012, aimed at shrinking its debt mountain with tax hikes and spending cuts. Three major parties backing technocrat Prime Minister Lucas Papademos solidly voted for the budget plan, a package of deeply unpopular measures needed to cut the deficit and show foreign lenders the [...]
IRELAND PASSES AUSTERITY PLAN AS IT LOWERS GROWTH OUTLOOK December 6, 2011 Ireland’s coalition government yesterday announced €1.6bn (£857m) worth of tax increases in the second part of what it hopes will be the toughest budget of its five-year term of office. Minister for finance Michael Noonan (left) aimed the government axe at social welfare payments, the health sector and education, with fuel and rent allowances, disability [...]
Osborne aims to reward the risk-takers December 6, 2011 BRITAIN’S entrepreneurs will have to prove their risk exposure to take advantage of a series of new tax breaks, according to draft rules published yesterday. The Treasury will allow larger firms to apply for venture capital trust and enterprise investment scheme (EIS) benefits from April next year, providing the plan meets European Union rules on [...]
A £2bn tax cut shouldn’t be sniffed at December 6, 2011 CREDIT where credit is due. We are always quick to criticise the fiddly micro-measures so beloved by the Treasury, mere baby steps that do nothing to boost the competitiveness of UK Plc. But when it comes to corporation tax, the coalition has made great strides. By 2015-16, the exchequer will collect some £2bn less in [...]
DRAFT FINANCE BILL: KEY POINTS December 6, 2011 ● R&D TAX CREDIT: HM Treasury has introduced a “patent box” – a reduced corporate tax rate of 10 per cent for earnings from patented products, which is aimed at encouraging innovation in science and tech. ● NON-DOMS: Non-doms will get tax relief on cash they bring into the country to invest in UK companies, [...]