US authorities vow to pursue tax evasion probe of UBS June 23, 2009 THE US Justice Department yesterday slapped down any suggestion that it could drop its legal case against UBS, which aims to force the Swiss bank to hand over details of 52,000 US citizens suspected of using the bank to evade tax. “While the department is always willing to consider settlement in any case, the suggestion [...]
CITY VIEWS: how well are the supermarkets coping with the recession? June 23, 2009 ORRAINE NAYLER ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND“I don’t really go to big supermarkets and prefer to shop in my local stores. But I think the budget supermarkets are benefiting from the downturn – the stigma attached to Aldi and Lidl is probably disappearing and people are looking beyond packaging to non-branded goods if they are cheaper.” [...]
ALL HAIL THE CITY’S HUNKIEST GENTS June 22, 2009 1. JOSHUA RAYMOND CITY INDEXIt was a tough job, picking just one of the City’s most strapping gentlemen to grace the top spot, but someone had to do it – and City A.M.’s discerning judging panel were unanimous in their vote for the lovely Joshua Raymond, market strategist at spreadbetter City Index. Joshua started breaking [...]
Global regulation body to back hedgie register June 22, 2009 A GLOBAL regulatory body backed compulsory registration of hedge fund managers yesterday to restore investor confidence, saying the $1.3 trillion (£790bn) sector did not cause the credit crunch but may have amplified its effects. The International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) represents regulators from over 100 countries, including the United States, Japan and the 27-nation [...]
HOLIDAY AT HEATHROW June 22, 2009 THE world’s largest hotel group Intercontinental Hotels yesterday announced plans to create Europe’s biggest Holiday Inn Express at Heathrow’s T5. InterContinental Hotels has already started work on the site which will house a 300-room hotel to be completed by the 2012 Olympics, of which IHG is a sponsor.
CBI: UK faces a brain drain June 22, 2009 OVER a quarter of organisations plan to transfer work overseas because of the UK’s downturn, according to a survey out today by the CBI and recruitment expert Harvey Nash. Fears of a “brain drain” are rising as over half of bosses in the science, hi-tech and IT sectors reported they have either moved jobs overseas [...]
I believe we can become a country of entrepreneurs June 22, 2009 ONE of the biggest myths – and it is the size of the Wizard of Oz – is that there is job security. There is none, so get over it. It’s not that employers are bad, but just that no one can honestly promise job security in an ever globalising world, or in one where [...]
Over three quarters of investors trust politicians more than financial advisers June 22, 2009 OVER three quarters of investors believe financial intermediaries, such as client-facing advisers, are less trustworthy than politicians, according to a survey. Intermediaries are perceived as being untrustworthy and lacking knowledge, perhaps as a result of poor education by investment managers on complex products and risk management practices, according to the KPMG/Datamonitor study. “It is little [...]
Siemens sees green boost to order book June 22, 2009 GERMAN industrial conglomerate Siemens said it expects to win new orders of around €15bn (£12.7bn), mostly green projects, from economic stimulus programmes worldwide in the next three business years. Of that figure, €6bn would come from green technology contracts, “significantly” increasing revenues from the company’s environmental portfolio in the future. Nonetheless, Siemens still expected business [...]
NO SLOANE RANGERS AT LIBERTY June 22, 2009 LIBERTY of London, the iconic department store group, is to close its Sloane Street standalone store in Knightsbridge just 12 months after it opened, having received a “fabulous” offer for the lease. Liberty said an unnamed European fashion brand had offered it a £700,000 cash premium to take over the site.
