Revenue clawed back from tax probes surges to a fresh high December 15, 2013 HER MAJESTY’S Revenue and Customs (HMRC) raked in £20.7bn from its investigative work on tax avoidance and evasion this year, the highest amount ever collected. During 2012-13, the tax authorities beat its own target for revenue acquired through investigations by £2bn, topping 2011-12’s £18.6bn by a similar amount, according to new research by UHY Hacker [...]
Asmussen exits ECB as he joins Merkel coalition December 15, 2013 EUROPEAN Central Bank (ECB) board member Joerg Asmussen yesterday accepted a job as deputy labour minister in the new German coalition government, stepping down from his banking role. Asmussen, who has two young daughters, cited family reasons for the switch. He will form part of the Social Democrat Party’s wing in Germany’s grand coalition, which [...]
Prince Harry got to the Pole – but you can still help December 15, 2013 Last chance to take part in the Walking Home For Christmas appeal to help raise money for wounded troops AFTER four weeks trekking across the Antarctic Plateau, the Virgin Money South Pole Allied Challenge teams arrived at the South Pole just after noon on Friday. Prince Harry described it as an “amazing feeling” to have [...]
RSA seeks calm from investors after stock slide December 15, 2013 RSA INSURANCE yesterday scrambled to reassure shareholders about its future after investors wiped more than £260m off the company in the wake of chief executive Simon Lee’s resignation. Chairman Martin Scicluna and senior executives have spent the weekend speaking with top investors about the next steps for the firm after it flagged a £130m black [...]
Bottom Line: Japanese firms are hungry for UK assets December 15, 2013 JAPAN’S demographic challenges are nothing new. For years the country has been struggling with an ageing population, with the IMF predicting that its working-age headcount will fall to just 55m by 2050 – well below its peak of 87m in 1995. The country’s leaders are well aware of the problem. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s programme [...]
Ringfence could hike bank costs and end free current accounts December 15, 2013 SPLITTING up retail banks from their investment arms could end up costing consumers dearly, as it would end the subsidies given to current accounts from other parts of banking groups, think tank Policy Exchange warned today. The ringfence could mean the end of free banking, with customers instead being charged by lenders to use their [...]
Ashley scores in the weird world of business tiffs December 15, 2013 MIKE Ashley is not happy with Adidas, after the German sports company refused from next season to let Ashley’s retail giant Sports Direct sell its replica Chelsea kits – incidentally one of Sports Direct’s bestsellers. Ashley is understandably miffed, and it has even been suggested the billionaire plans to build a hostile stake in Adidas [...]
How to get your name into the Tower without losing your head December 15, 2013 LONDON has more historical sites than you can shake an A-level text book at, but the chance to be more involved in the capital’s history is a rare thing. Step forward the Tower of London and its newly launched 1535 Society, which aims to restore the Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula (the resting palace [...]
Three things you didn’t know about… December 15, 2013 Moneycorp chief executive Mark Horgan 1 He was almost a physicist. Mark’s first job was industrialising the colour coating process of Smarties at Rowntree. This involved spending six months watching Smarties dry. Enough to put anyone off. 2 He’s the first person to say he’s “non musical” but that didn’t stop him going for a [...]
Ireland’s leader hails the end of €85bn bailout December 15, 2013 IRELAND’S exit from its international bailout has restored national pride and set the stage for a swift recovery, Prime Minister Enda Kenny said in a televised address yesterday to mark the end of three years of economic policy dictated from abroad. The first Eurozone country to leave a bailout, Ireland’s exit has been hailed by [...]
