China closer to free float for renminbi April 15, 2012 CHINA will today take a major step towards integrating its currency into the world economy, allowing the renminbi to fluctuate more directly in line with supply and demand. From today, the renminbi is free to move up or down by up to one per cent per day – double the 0.5 per cent band formerly [...]
Concessions loom as Fink joins revolt on charity tax April 15, 2012 WILLIAM Hague has paved the way for government concessions on the capping of tax relief on charitable donations after a group of leading philanthropists, including Stanley Fink, said it would deter people from giving to good causes. Hague, the foreign secretary, appeared to hint at a compromise. “Finding a solution that takes account of the [...]
UK firms are spending – but their money is going abroad April 15, 2012 PRIVATE firms are increasingly flush with cash. Profit margins globally are at record highs, and UK firms have been busy paying down debts and building financial reserves. So why are we not seeing an investment boom? As the Ernst and Young Item Club said this weekend, business investment rose by a miserable 1.2 per cent [...]
Half a million wealthy Brits eye UK exit April 15, 2012 A GROWING number of wealthy Britons are weighing up a move abroad, with a possible exodus of more than half a million people over the next two years. Nearly one in five well-off Brits (19 per cent) are considering emigrating, sharply up from 14 per cent one year ago. The figures, compiled by Lloyds TSB, [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING April 15, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES Barclays’ tax deals face US scrutiny Barclays’ controversial tax planning business will come under fresh scrutiny in a US court this week over whether a transaction designed by the bank cost the US government more than $1bn in lost tax receipts. The US Internal Revenue Service claims that complex, cross-border deals Barclays structured [...]
Drought could last until year end April 15, 2012 A drought affecting parts of England could last until after Christmas, Britain’s environment agency warned today, as rain over the spring and summer is unlikely to replenish low water levels. In a country more usually associated with damp and drizzle, drought has been declared in seventeen counties in England’s southeast and central regions, after two [...]
Tata Steel to invest £800m in Wales April 15, 2012 Hundreds of millions of pounds is to be invested in the Welsh steel industry over the next five years. The first minister of Wales returned from a trade mission to India and announced that steel giant Tata plans to invest £800m in Wales. Carwyn Jones met the vice chairman of Tata Steel, Mr B Muthuraman, [...]
Sir Richard set to appeal BMI takeover deal April 15, 2012 VIRGIN Atlantic president Sir Richard Branson yesterday vowed to appeal to Europe over British Airways owner IAG’s takeover of smaller carrier BMI. The £172m deal was given clearance by the European Commission at the end of March, but Sir Richard has criticised the regulators for their swift decision, in the latest attack on his rival’s [...]
Sarko calls for ECB mandate to include promoting GDP growth April 15, 2012 FRENCH president Nicolas Sarkozy wants the European Central Bank (ECB) to add promoting growth to its mandate in order to counter what he says is an inflexible attitude at the Bank. Speaking during a re-election campaign in which Sarkozy is trailing his socialist rival François Hollande in the polls, Sarkozy was keen to play up [...]
Q and A: What does China’s exchange rate change mean? April 15, 2012 Q What has happened to China’s currency regime? A The People’s Bank of China has allowed its currency more flexibility to rise and fall against others. Until today, the currency could move 0.5 per cent against a basket of the currencies of the country’s main trading partners – largely made up of the dollar, yen, [...]
