The Crime Lord: Peter Capaldi on the manosphere, London and rocking out with his band as he approaches 70
RAPID RESPONSES January 17, 2012 The VAT morass On Monday, you mentioned the reduction of VAT were we to join EFTA [With the Eurozone tottering it may be time we signed up for some Norwegian lessons]. VAT is a typical bureaucrat’s way of raising a tax on sales. It is highly complex and applied to almost every transaction. We have [...]
Bringing the renminbi to the City of London January 17, 2012 FOLLOWING a two day visit to China, George Osborne yesterday announced that Britain had agreed to partner with Hong Kong to develop the City of London as an offshore trading centre for the renminbi. Hong Kong is currently the only official offshore renminbi venue, but Osborne hopes to turn London into a second offshore venue [...]
EU WOES WILL WEIGH ON THE EURO-DOLLAR January 17, 2012 UK BRANCH MANAGER, EASY-FOREX STERLING is trading near a 16-month high versus the euro and a new low for the year versus the dollar. Sterling strength versus the euro reflects demand for an alternative to the euro because of the EU debt crisis and the pound also benefits from expectations that the UK will maintain [...]
Accounting for good practices: why effective risk management matters January 17, 2012 HEAD OF ACCA UK THE global attitude towards risk management has changed irrevocably in the last three years. Yet, despite the increasingly stringent regulatory controls and development of sophisticated financial modelling, at the end of the day, risk management must address the human factor. People ultimately make decisions based on the best available information, but [...]
Lean and green but not very mean January 17, 2012 Whenever I see a Toyota Prius, it is travelling in the outside lane on the M6 Toll road at a blistering pace. I have always assumed that the owners are keen to recharge their batteries, or that even worthy eco warriors sometimes like to let loose and cane their cars once in a while, when [...]
CAR TALK January 17, 2012 F1 DRIVERS TAKE TURN OFF PISTE In a display of spectacular silliness Scuderia Ferrari drivers Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa have raced two FF four-seater, four-wheel drive Ferraris down a ski slope in the Italian Dolomite mountains. Alonso said of the 600hp FF: “It’s perfect for everyday use with the whole family in the car.” [...]
King says big bankers’ bonuses not justified by share prices January 17, 2012 Britain’s bankers should not pay themselves big bonuses at a time of poor share price performance, more-or-less explicit tax-payer subsidy and falling living standards for most other workers, Bank of England Governor Mervyn King said. As Britain’s banks gear up for their annual round of bonus payments, King said they should put the money aside [...]
Citigroup profits fall January 17, 2012 Citigroup fourth-quarter profits fell 11 per cent and missed Wall Street estimates as the European debt crisis battered capital markets trading and discouraged clients from doing deals. The third-largest US bank by assets reported net income of $1.16bn (£754.47m), or 38 cents per share, down from $1.31, or 43 cents per share, a year earlier. [...]
IG profits up on volatile market January 17, 2012 Spread betting firm IG Group has announced a 28 per cent rise in pre tax profits to £103.2m for the six months to November 30. The FTSE 250 company benefited from overseas growth, a volatile market and investment in mobile betting technology. Spread betting involves gambling on market moves and greater market volatility provides the [...]
Miners fuel FTSE gains after China boost January 17, 2012 THE FTSE 100 was up this morning as better-than-expected economic data from China offset the damage caused to investor sentiment by S&P’s downgrade of the Eurozone’s rescue fund. China’s gross domestic product grew at an annual rate of 8.9 per cent from 9.1 per cent in the previous quarter, beating expectations for a 8.7 per [...]
