EU votes to abolish all mobile roaming fees by Christmas 2015 April 3, 2014 THE EUROPEAN Parliament voted overwhelmingly in favour of proposals to scrap mobile roaming fees across Europe yesterday. Under the new rules voted in yesterday making a call or sending an email from a mobile phone whilst abroad in Europe will cost the same as it does in the UK from 15 December 2015. “This is [...]
Inside Track: City’s tech industry hopes are wrapped up in Just Eat April 3, 2014 JUST Eat shares got off to a very decent start in unconditional trading yesterday in a deal that has demolished some people’s reservations about the London new issues market for technology stocks. Contrary to what a number of experts said at City A.M.’s roundtable on the new issues market last June, London does seem prepared [...]
Miller’s apology over mortgage expense claims April 3, 2014 GOVERNMENT minister Maria Miller has been forced to apologise to the House of Commons after a committee found she breached the MPs code of conduct and failed to fully cooperate with an inquiry into her expenses. Miller will be forced to pay back £5,800 after she overclaimed for mortgage payments in 2009 and some are [...]
MF Global brokerage starts payouts April 3, 2014 Former customers of MF Global’s bankrupt brokerage will recoup all $6.7bn they are owed following the completion of a payout that will begin today, its trustee said. Nearly 26,500 former commodities and securities customers of the MF Global brokerage will share in the payout, which will be made over the next several weeks, the trustee, [...]
Emerging markets come to a halt April 3, 2014 The HSBC emerging markets index hovered barely above the neutral 50 mark in March, at just 50.3, the fourth month in which firms in developing economies have reported slower growth in activity. Output fell marginally in China and India, according to the index, with a minor improvement for Brazil and the most severe drop for [...]
Mozilla boss out over gay rights row April 3, 2014 Mozilla, the US developer behind the popular Firefox browser, announced its chief executive Brendan Eich has stepped down, after just 11 days in post, due to controversy surrounding his donations to opponents of gay marriage. “We didn’t move fast enough to engage with people once the controversy started. We’re sorry,” said Mozilla executive chairwoman Mitchell [...]
Pay hike for Credit Suisse’s boss April 3, 2014 EMBATTLED Credit Suisse boss Brady Dougan received a 26 per cent pay hike this year, the bank’s annual report revealed yesterday, despite ongoing legal woes in the US. The Swiss bank is facing claims in the US that it helped clients avoid taxes. As a result Credit Suisse has set aside SFr895m (£605m) to cover [...]
RBS and NatWest downgrade 84,000 private bank accounts April 3, 2014 TENS of thousands of RBS and NatWest’s richest customers are being downgraded to normal accounts because they do not meet tough new criteria for the private bank, City A.M. has learned. The bank has written to 120,000 customers to tell them about the changes. Under the new rules customers will need an individual income of [...]
Kingfisher bids for French rival Mr Bricolage April 3, 2014 EUROPE’S biggest home improvement retailer Kingfisher has bolstered its presence in France by agreeing to buy smaller rival Mr Bricolage for €275m (£227m) including debt. The B&Q owner, which makes about half of its annual profit in France, said it has entered exclusive talks to buy 26.2 per cent of the share capital from the [...]
Crackdown on payday loans may boost black market, warns MP April 3, 2014 DRIVING payday lenders out of business could push the worst firms – and the most vulnerable clients – into illegal lending, Mark Garnier MP warned yesterday. He fears that moves designed to stop the “more vile” lenders exploiting borrowers could also push decent firms out of business. “The alternative to legal credit is illegal credit,” [...]
