Standard Chartered hit by pay revolt May 8, 2014 BOSSES at Standard Chartered are planning peace talks with investors after rebelling shareholders came close to rejecting the directors’ pay policy yesterday. At the bank’s AGM the vote on pay was opposed by 41 per cent of investors, evoking memories of the shareholder spring and putting pressure on chief executive Peter Sands to improve relationships. [...]
Barclays cuts investment bank jobs in major overhaul May 8, 2014 BARCLAYS yesterday abandoned former chief executive Bob Diamond’s dream of becoming a top global investment bank in every market, revealing plans to lay off 7,000 more staff. As part of his long-awaited strategic overhaul of the bank, chief executive Antony Jenkins also announced plans to focus only on areas where the bank has strong returns [...]
Euro plummets as Draghi hints at rate cuts in June May 8, 2014 THE EUROPEAN Central Bank (ECB) gave the clearest signal yet of even further monetary easing yesterday, prompting a rapid drop in the euro. ECB president Mario Draghi said that the institution is now “comfortable with acting next time”, following his staff’s latest projections of the economic climate, which will be published early in June. The [...]
Job cuts in the City: A case study in political double standards May 8, 2014 IT’S amazing how fashions change. Just a few years ago, prior to the financial crisis, Big Pharma was demonised. It could do nothing right, and was blamed for many of the world’s ills. At the very same time, banks were lionised and lauded as the new saviours of the economy, with Alex Salmond, the leader [...]
Ad titans’ $35bn mega-merger finally crumbles May 8, 2014 ADVERTISING giants Publicis and Omnicom’s $35bn (£20.8bn) merger has reportedly fallen apart due to regulatory troubles, tax status and infighting. First announced with great fanfare in July last year, with Omnicom’s John Wren saying the “stars had aligned” because of Publicis’ growth in recent years, the mega-merger had an original closing date of December 2013. [...]
MPs slam plan to raid accounts May 8, 2014 PLANS to let HMRC recover tax debts from anyone who owes more than £1,000 by reaching into their bank accounts were hit with criticism today. The Treasury Select Committee said that the new powers, outlined in last month’s Budget, were excessive and potentially illegal. Chair Andrew Tyrie MP said the powers were “concerning” adding: “Some [...]
Growth to be even stronger May 8, 2014 THE UK economy will grow at a faster pace than expected just three months ago, according to a forecast released by a respected think tank today. The National Institute for Economic and Social Research had expected 2.5 per cent growth in 2014 during February, but now expects growth to be 2.9 per cent, well above [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 09 May 2014 May 8, 2014 FINANCIAL TIMES Apple in talks for $3.2bn Beats deal Apple will acquire Beats’ streaming music service, which launched this year, and its audio equipment business, which includes its brand of headphones and audio equipment. The Beats management team will report to Mr Cook, sources said. Apple and Beats did not comment. The deal is likely [...]
Demand for UK workers sends wages higher May 8, 2014 THE RAPID drop in UK unemployment is exacerbating the UK’s skills shortage, according to a report released today, with staff availability to fill vacancies plummeting at the fastest rate in more than a decade. The latest report on jobs from the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) and KPMG shows that availability for new permanent positions [...]
Saga outlines plan to sell half of firm to public if demand is high May 8, 2014 OVER-50s holiday and insurance provider Saga could sell up to half of the business to retail and institutional investors if the company prices its forthcoming float on London’s stock market at the top end of its 185p to 245p price range. The business, which was originally listed in London in 1978 before being taken private [...]
