Card insurer CPP looks to cut 10% of workforce March 12, 2012 TROUBLED card insurer CPP is seeking to cut ten per cent of its UK workforce as the firm attempts to restructure its business in the aftermath of a damaging probe by regulators. The firm currently employs over 1,300 people at sites in York, Chesterfield and Tamworth and if not enough take voluntary redundancy by the [...]
Greek bond yields remain highest in Eurozone March 12, 2012 Greece’s new bonds, issued following last week’s debt swap deal, have begun trading at high yields, suggesting that investors do not have confidence in the current rescue deal. Greece issued 20 new bonds to its investors on Monday, with early pricing showing bid yields ranged between 19.4 percent on the shortest duration debt maturing in [...]
Government backs 95% mortgages for first-time buyers March 12, 2012 The government has launched a new mortgage indemnity scheme that is designed to allow first-time buyers to step onto the property ladder and boost the construction industry. Under the NewBuy scheme major lenders including Barclays, Nationwide and Natwest will allow people to borrow up to 95 per cent of the value of a home, with [...]
Game Group shares fall 70% on administration fears March 12, 2012 Computer games retailer Game has warned investors that their shares could be worthless as it struggles to source new products from suppliers, causing shares to plummet by over 70 per cent in early trading. The group, which trades from about 1,270 stores in nine European markets and Australia, said this morning it remained in talks [...]
UK INCOMES TO FALL FOR THIRD YEAR IN A ROW March 11, 2012 STUBBORNLY high inflation will squeeze Britons’ purse strings even tighter this year, according to a leading group of economists. Rising energy and commodity prices mean that disposable incomes will fall in real terms for the third year in a row, the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) will warn today. Inflation is likely to [...]
Accountants hit out at Clegg’s tycoon tax March 11, 2012 INDEPENDENT accountants have shot down deputy prime minister Nick Clegg’s call for a “tycoon tax”. Addressing his party faithful at their spring conference in Gateshead, Clegg attacked “multimillionaires avoiding tax by moving their money around” and claimed that many pay less than 30 per cent or even 20 per cent tax. Yet tax experts at [...]
Trader event set for May March 11, 2012 Our annual Active Trader conference, sponsored by IG Index, will bring leading traders, strategists and industry insiders together at a top-notch London hotel to share their insights on 24 May. City A.M. has combined its intimate knowledge of the City with the full range of expertise featured in its regular trading pages to produce a [...]
Economy is being knocked off course March 11, 2012 IT is not looking too good for George Osborne. The Budget is next week and the economy remains mired in stagnation. It is hard to know for sure what is happening, but all the indications are that growth so far this quarter has been weak. Industrial production actually fell in January, despite a rise in [...]
Michael Heseltine returns March 11, 2012 THE GOVERNMENT has drafted in former deputy prime minister Michael Heseltine, who is said to be tasked with drafting a report on the competitiveness of the UK economy. Heseltine has also teamed up with business secretary Vince Cable to formulate an “industrial policy” that would aim to boost Britain’s manufacturing industry. His re-emergence in government [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING March 11, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES SEC LAUNCHES EXCHANGE PROBE The US market regulator has launched a broad investigation into whether exchanges favour large trading companies at the expense of smaller customers. The enforcement inquiries emerged from examinations by the Securities and Exchange Commission of how exchange operators, some of which also regulate their customers, manage conflicts of interest [...]
