Visa pushes new mobile phone payment systems September 19, 2010 VISA will roll out a network that will allow its customers to pay for goods using their mobile phones in time for the 2012 Olympics. The world’s biggest payment processing firm hopes the new technology will allow it to corner the small transactions market, which is still dominated by cash purchases. The firm believes the [...]
Boris in advanced talks with mobile firms over getting signal on the Tube September 19, 2010 MAYOR of London Boris Johnson is nearing an agreement with the UK’s biggest mobile phone operators to provide a network signal on the entire Tube network by the time the Olympics come to London in 2012, it emerged at the weekend. Johnson is still in discussions with the companies over the final details of funding [...]
M&B pub sale brings profit September 19, 2010 PUB and restaurant group Mitchells & Butlers (M&B) will release its fourth quarter results on Thursday, a week after the firm started spending the fruits of its £500m asset sale. M&B, which owns Harvester and All Bar One, is expected to post a profit after more than a year of volatile results. The firm announced [...]
World’s 500 biggest firms guilty of carbon footprints September 19, 2010 THE WORLD’S 500 largest companies are responsible for more than 10 per cent of global emissions, new research by the Carbon Disclosure Project has found. Figures show that the world’s largest businesses contribute 11 per cent of global emissions. Roughly 65 per cent of these companies have implemented carbon emission reduction targets but a meagre [...]
Accountancy firms could face hit from mass exodus of audit staff September 19, 2010 A RAFT of disillusioned accountants are currently seeking new employment, citing a lack of effort made by senior management to help nurture career development, new research will reveal today. Accountancy firms could be faced with a mass exodus of employees if management don’t make greater efforts to retain staff, research by recruiters, CareersinAudit.com, found. The [...]
Sweden sees a newly hung parliament September 19, 2010 SWEDEN’S centre-right government has won re-election but lost its overall majority in parliament after an anti-immigrant party earned its first ever seats in yesterday’s election, preliminary results showed last night. Official preliminary results showed the centre-right coalition government won 173 seats in the 349-seat parliament and the Social Democrat-led centre-left won 156 seats. Reinfeldt, who [...]
Tempting M&A deals can risk wrecking value September 19, 2010 THE return of global M&A in 2010 has been cited as unambiguous evidence corporations are feeling more confident about themselves. The wealth of mega-deals on both sides of the Atlantic is surely a sign we are on the path to the broader macro-economic recovery we all crave. However, the tragedy is that a large amount [...]
Ireland slams IMF speculation as tension looms over its budget September 19, 2010 IRELAND’S finance ministry and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have sought to calm markets after a report on the possibility of an IMF bailout spooked investors. The cost of insuring Irish sovereign debt against default hit a record high and the Irish/German spread reached a euro lifetime peak after the Irish Independent newspaper said Ireland [...]
Basel III will be a step in the right direction September 19, 2010 LAST week marked the second anniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers. It was also the week the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision chose to release their Basel III recommendations that will shape the future regulation of the global industry for years to come. This is no coincidence; Basel III is designed to prevent a [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS September 19, 2010 DTZ The property advisory group has appointed Hugh Radford as head of UK retail – a division whose clients include the Crown Estate, Land Securities, Hermes, Aviva and Henderson. It is also currently leasing Westfield’s newest shopping centre development at Stratford. Radford has been a director at DTZ since 2007, when the firm acquired retail [...]
