CITY GRANDEES UNITED IN FOOTBALLING LOVE May 19, 2009 SURELY it’s a sign of the times when even the guest speaker at a City awards bash isn’t quite certain why he’s been invited? Last night saw 300 business world luminaries pack the ballroom at the Hilton hotel on Park Lane for the 2009 M&A Awards, where sports television presenter Ray Stubbs, pictured below, had [...]
TORIES MULL TAX ON BAILED-OUT BANKS October 7, 2009 A TORY government would consider a “windfall” tax on UK banks that have received state support, in an apparent sign of shadow chancellor George Osborne’s willingness to play hardball with the City. One possibility for the tax, currently being discussed at the highest levels within the party, would take the shape of a new accounting [...]
VETERAN BAR OWNER HANGS UP CITY APRON June 3, 2009 AFTER a lengthy 48-year spell in the City, it’s finally time to say goodbye to ship broker-turned-restaurateur David Hughes, who’s often been described one of the friendliest bar owners in the world. Hughes first came to the City in 1961, aged 15, working as a ship broker at the Baltic Exchange on St Mary Axe, [...]
Be aware of the law if you are setting up on your own October 27, 2009 WHETHER or not the recession has come to an end is still up for debate but it is clear that, for some, the phoenix is already rising from the ashes. The latest stats indicate that the number of new applications for FSA authorisations in London over the last quarter equalled the number of cancellations, so [...]
Windfall taxes cannot be the answer October 18, 2009 IF TAX policy were determined by referenda, London’s financial institutions would be in even greater trouble than they already are. I was a guest on James Max’s LBC radio show yesterday and it was soon clear that the overwhelming majority of callers hate banks with a passion. My own position, which is that it would [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING September 27, 2009 THE SUNDAYSThe Sunday TelegraphFSA TOLD TO CLEAN UP OIL MARKETSThe Financial Services Authority has been told to examine its statutes to ensure it can prosecute oil speculators practising market abuse. The financial watchdog must also consider bringing in stronger measures to detect speculators using techniques such as phone-tapping, as well as ensuring they have enough [...]
Auditors win liability ruling July 30, 2009 Auditors have won a case determining the extent of their liabilities in the event of a Madoff-style fraud. Law lords threw out a negligence case against a City accountancy firm, for allegedly failing to spot fraud at Stone & Rolls, a trading firm which went under in the late 1990s. The ruling is a victory [...]
Auditors win liability ruling July 30, 2009 Auditors have won a case determining the extent of their liabilities in the event of a Madoff-style fraud. Law lords threw out a negligence case against a City accountancy firm, for allegedly failing to spot fraud at Stone & Rolls, a trading firm which went under in the late 1990s. The ruling is a victory [...]
Slowly but surely, signs that the law is opening up July 28, 2009 IQUALIFIED – against all odds – to become a lawyer,” recalled Constance Briscoe, barrister, part-time judge and author of the bestselling misery memoir Ugly. She was talking on Radio 4’s PM programme last week following the report by an all-party panel chaired by former cabinet minister Alan Milburn on social mobility and the professions. “I’ve [...]
A windfall tax on banks is a bad idea October 7, 2009 IT is now clear that the Tories have it in for the banks. I wrote in this space yesterday about their interest in reviving a version of Lord Howe’s 1981 windfall tax on high street banks; we now know in much more detail one of the ideas they are working on, courtesy of revelations in [...]