Donor dinners: who’s been supping with the PM March 26, 2012 THE CONSERVATIVES yesterday published a list of large donors who have attended dinners at the Prime Minister’s official residences since the coalition was elected in 2010. Tory co-treasurer Peter Cruddas resigned on Sunday after being caught suggesting that big donors could influence Number 10 policy. Meetings between large donors and leaders of political parties are [...]
BMW recalls 109,000 UK cars in battery fire scare March 26, 2012 BMW, the world’s largest premium carmaker, is recalling about 1.3m cars for repair worldwide due to a possible problem with a battery cable cover in the trunk. The recall, announced yesterday, affects about 109,000 cars in Britain, BMW said. It concerns 5 and 6-Series BMWs built between 2003 and 2010. BMW said it was writing [...]
IFS: Minimum price will hurt moderate drinkers March 26, 2012 NEW RULES pushing up the price of alcohol will affect almost half of drinks sold at off-licences and hit moderate drinkers, a study by the Institute for Fiscal Studies claims. Home secretary Theresa May announced the government is looking into a minimum price of 40p per unit, arguing last week that higher prices will crack [...]
Monitise buys US rival firm March 26, 2012 MONITISE has made its first acquisition in its almost ten-year history with Clairmail, the US-based mobile banking software firm. The British financial services technology company forked out $173m (£108.5m) to buy its rival, which will account for 26.5 per cent of the combined group, worth almost £400m. The acquisition of Clairmail, which grew revenues by [...]
Return to calm in the market aids Aberdeen March 26, 2012 ABERDEEN Asset Management was one of the biggest risers on the FTSE 100 yesterday after it pulled in more money amid calmer global markets. It posted a six per cent rise in funds under management to £184.4bn in the two months to the end of February as investors rediscovered their appetite for risk. Chief executive [...]
Quality better than quantity March 26, 2012 THE real story behind Aberdeen’s improving fortunes is not just that it is running more money in its funds, but that it is running better money too. Most of the new inflows are going into high-margin products such as its emerging markets equities business, which saw net inflows of £2.74bn in the five months to [...]
Black cab firm cuts losses on growth abroad March 26, 2012 MANGANESE Bronze, the maker of London’s traditional black cabs, has posted a narrower annual loss as overseas demand for its vehicles grew and margins increased. The Coventry-based company reduced pre-tax losses to £2.6m in 2011, down from £6.3m the year before, and said it is well positioned to place a profit in 2012. Sales of [...]
Coutts fined over client cash checks March 26, 2012 COUTTS has been fined £8.75m for “significant, widespread and unacceptable” failings in its money laundering controls, its second regulatory penalty in four months. The private bank, which is owned by Royal Bank of Scotland, was found to have made inadequate checks on clients who are considered “politically exposed persons” – people whose prominent position in [...]
Korea’s £200bn pension fund comes to in London March 26, 2012 SOUTH Korea’s enormous national pension fund is to open an office in London, boosting the government’s attempts to attract foreign investment in British infrastructure. The $320bn (£200bn) fund is looking to double the size of its existing overseas portfolio to around $60bn and has already spent a substantial sum on British projects in the last [...]
HSBC mulls a new asset sale to lift returns March 26, 2012 HSBC has begun talks about offloading its Mauritius retail banking and wealth management division as it continues to target better investor returns. The bank is believed to have received three approaches for the arm, the origins of which go back to the middle of the nineteenth century. Yesterday HSBC, Europe’s largest bank, confirmed it was [...]
