G20 scraps global tax on banks June 6, 2010 THE government has vowed to press ahead with its plan to tax British banks – even though the world’s top finance chiefs have scrapped a universal levy on financial firms. Speaking after the G20 summit in Korea, chancellor George Osborne said: “We’ll introduce a levy regardless of whether other countries will or will not. It’s [...]
Browne wins Whitehall role June 6, 2010 LORD Browne, the former chief executive of BP, is set to be appointed as the government’s most senior independent director in a massive shake-up of Whitehall. He is being enlisted as part of plans to inject private sector thinking into the senior civil service, which is often accused of being wasteful and over-staffed. Browne will [...]
G20’s failure was all too predictable June 6, 2010 IT is funny how quickly moods change. It was not that long ago that the G20, courtesy of Gordon Brown’s spin machine, was being hailed as a quasi-mythical authority that was about to solve all of the world’s economic problems. There would be a new era of enlightened global coordination, we were told – in [...]
Kerviel trial set to begin June 6, 2010 JEROME KERVIEL, the rogue trader blamed by the French bank Société Générale for clocking up losses of more than £4bn, defends himself in court tomorrow facing a possible five year prison term. 33 year-old Kerviel is being defended by one of France’s best known criminal lawyers Olivier Metzner. Metzner is seen as having a tough [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING June 6, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES CROP SQUEEZE TO LIFT ORANGE JUICE PRICE The price of orange juice will rise in coming months as Brazil’s citrus crop, the world’s largest, sees its worst harvest in seven years because of bad weather and diseases, according to Cutrale of Brazil, the leading orange juice producer. Orange juice is a $20bn industry [...]
HSBC to fully back BoCom rights issue June 6, 2010 HSBC signalled its strength and further commitment to the East after spending $921m (£639m) to maintain its shareholding in China’s Bank of Communications (BoCom) after it launched a rights issue. The UK banking giant currently owns 19 per cent of BoCom and once the $4.8bn capital raising exercise is complete, HSBC will have invested $3.42bn [...]
Lloyds shareholders in claim over HBOS June 6, 2010 SHAREHOLDERS in state-backed bank Lloyds Banking Group have launched a £14bn claim against the government and the bank’s directors, saying they were misled into voting in favour of a takeover of rival bank HBOS. The group has written to the Treasury, Lloyds chief executive Eric Daniels and former chairman Sir Victor Blank, stating the takeover [...]
New questions on Glazer debt June 6, 2010 A PANORAMA programme is set to cast further doubt on the Glazer family’s control of Manchester United by revealing the American owners are struggling with debts of £1.1bn. The BBC investigation, due to be aired tomorrow, exposes £400m of previously unknown debt and questions how much cash will be available for Sir Alex Ferguson to [...]
PwC asks Cable for rules clarity June 6, 2010 PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS’ (PwC’S) chairman Ian Powell has urged business secretary Vince Cable to clarify ground rules for auditors as fears escalated over a potential competition inquiry into the “Big Four” firms. In an interview with the FT, Powell said PwC would like to work with Cable to know what the ground rules are around audit reporting [...]
BP claims it is catching over half spilt oil June 6, 2010 BP is currently capturing just over half of the oil leaking into the Gulf of Mexico after it successfully placed a containment cap over the damaged blow out preventer. The embattled oil giant said over the weekend that it was already siphoning 10,500 barrels of oil a day through the new cap to a ship [...]
