Thirteen people facing charges over tax claims for film losses January 30, 2014 THIRTEEN people including seven investment bankers were charged yesterday over a film tax scheme that HMRC claims cheated the exchequer out of £2.5m. The Crown Prosecution Service said that the charges relate to two partnerships, through which the defendants allegedly conspired to submit false tax returns as far back as 2007 to claim tax relief [...]
Santander’s UK switch to small loans takes off January 30, 2014 SANTANDER’S British profits grew over 2013 as a whole, the bank reported yesterday, as it continued its move out of mortgages and into small business lending. The bank benefited from another 1.1m customers joining its high-profile 123 World account offering, with 232,000 moving their main account from a rival to Santander. SME loan balances increased [...]
Second quarter of growth for embattled Spanish economy January 30, 2014 THE SPANISH economy expanded at a modest rate again in the last three months of 2013, the second quarter of growth since the country emerged from recession in the middle of last year. The rate of Spain’s growth also rose marginally, up to 0.3 per cent from the 0.1 per cent recorded between July and [...]
Virgin Money hires Deutsche’s Marilyn Spearing as non-exec January 30, 2014 CHALLENGER bank Virgin Money appointed payments veteran Marilyn Spearing to its board yesterday. She has been global head of trade finance and cash management at Deutsche Bank for the past six years. Before that she spent more than a decade at HSBC as global head of payments and cash management. And prior to that Spearing was [...]
New Scots deal with EU would cost over £1bn January 30, 2014 AN INDEPENDENT Scotland would lose £1.1bn a year and 17,000 jobs as the price of renegotiating terms with the European Union, according to a report by Europe Economics and an EU-funded think tank. The New Direction report concluded that the costs an independent Scotland would face if it had to renegotiate its terms with the Brussels would [...]
Strikes over air traffic changes cause delays at French airports January 30, 2014 HUNDREDS of flights in France were cancelled yesterday as air traffic control staff across Europe walked out over plans to unite the continent’s air space. The French civil aviation authority asked airlines to axe a fifth of flights into Paris airports yesterday, while passengers in Italy and Portugal also faced disruption. UK services, however, were [...]
Game of loans as Bean reads aloud January 30, 2014 THE GRAVELLY northern tones of Sean Bean are something we’re not often treated to in the City, but anyone who happened upon Waterstones on London Wall yesterday was privy to a rare Bean scene. The Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings star gave a reading of ex-financier Richard Old’s first novel, The Fat Chancer, [...]
Rugby lad comes back to the City January 30, 2014 SEAN Bean wasn’t the only hard man in the City yesterday. Ex-England rugby international Will Greenwood was down at the Gherkin, banging the drum about the Rugby World Cup 2015 (hosted in the UK) and the vast hospitality opportunities it presents to the capital. Greenwood was at home in the Square Mile, having started his [...]
United Utilities on track to hit targets as its revenues rise January 30, 2014 UNITED Utilities yesterday said that trading is in line with expectations and that it is ahead of schedule in meeting targets set by the water regulator. The FTSE 100-listed firm said that its revenue had increased since 1 October last year and that it continues to make good progress with its investment programme, remaining on [...]
Renishaw dented by China orders January 30, 2014 Engineering company Renishaw yesterday reported a 65 per cent fall in first-half profit after its China division failed to better its last year’s stellar performance. Pre-tax profit fell to £25.6m in the six months to the end of December from a restated £42.2m a year earlier. However, the company said it was expecting an improvement [...]
