BA and Unite disagree over strike figures March 22, 2010 BRITISH AIRWAYS and cabin crew union Unite continued to stand their ground yesterday, even as a three day strike drew to an end. BA said it was still open to talks with Unite but that there were no immediate plans to go back into negotiations over plans to cut the pay and staff numbers of cabin [...]
Rio Tinto men admit bribery March 22, 2010 STERN Hu, one of the four Rio Tinto employees charged in China last year, has admitted accepting 6.4m yuan (£627,000) in bribes. Ge Minqiang and Liu Caikui, two other Rio executives, also admitted receiving bribes on the first day of the three-day trial. The bribery charge could draw jail terms of up to 20 years, [...]
Your chance to have your say on the Budget March 22, 2010 TO have your say on tomorrow’s Budget, apply to join our panel at www.cityam.com/panel before 12pm today. All existing panelists will receive an email this morning QUESTIONS 1) A 50p rate of tax on those earning over £150,000 pa and a rise in national insurance will shortly come into effect. Do you think that Alistair Darling [...]
Iceland ready for Icesave talks March 22, 2010 Iceland’s finance minister said the government was ready to resume talks with Britain and the Netherlands on Icesave without preconditions and expressed hope a deal could be reached in “not too many weeks.” Earlier this month, Icelanders overwhelmingly rejected the terms of a deal to repay Britain and the Netherlands more than $5bn (£3.3bn) lost [...]
Germany set to bring in a levy on banking sector March 22, 2010 GERMANY’S coalition government looks set to introduce a banking levy in order to cover the cost of future bailouts. It is understood Angela Merkel’s cabinet could approve the tax as early next week. The move is designed to protect taxpayers and prevent banks from relying on public money. Volker Kauder, the parliamentary leader of Chancellor [...]
CITY VIEWS: WOULD A BANK TAX HURT THE CITY? March 22, 2010 MICHAEL WONG | BARCLAYS GLOBAL INVESTORS “It depends on what level its set at, and would need to be adopted by the US and EU too since this country depends on financial services. The Tories have proposed this as a publicity stunt to win the favour of the electorate, and since the City is about [...]
Forth Ports will hear bid as profit is up March 22, 2010 TAKEOVER target Forth Ports is ready to listen to suitor consortium Northstream. The UK’s biggest listed ports operator will be buoyed after its full-year results showed a swing back into black with pre-tax profits of £36.3m. The firm underwent a series of cost cutting measures that offset a loss of £30.7m the year before. However, [...]
Obama’s healthcare bill will not boost drugs sector March 22, 2010 THE US House of Representatives’ approval of the long-awaited and highly contentious Healthcare Reform Bill leaves final ratification to the Senate. Importantly, although costly ($940bn, or £623bn, over 10 years), the key provisions contained within the Reform Bill are not scheduled to become effective until 2014 and between now and then additional regulations will be [...]
Lloyds’ remuneration chairman quits ahead of investor showdown March 22, 2010 The head of the remuneration committee at Lloyds Banking Group will retire in May, sidestepping a potential fight with shareholders over the bonus awarded to the bailed-out bank’s chief executive. Wolfgang Berndt, 67, will step down from the board at the bank’s annual shareholder meeting, Lloyd’s said. He is leaving just months after approving a [...]
Shell snaps up Arrow in £2.1bn deal March 22, 2010 ROYAL Dutch Shell is on the brink of gaining a lucrative foothold in the energy supply chain to China after a £2.1bn bid for Australia’s Arrow Energy was accepted. Shell’s joint bid with PetroChina is now awaiting the green light from Australian regulators after it was unanimously recommended to Arrow shareholders. The firms do not [...]