Labour loses union money September 4, 2013 THE GMB union yesterday said it will slash its donations to Labour by £1m a year, in protest at Ed Miliband’s attempts to weaken the role of the trade unions in the party. Its existing £1.2m contribution to party coffers will be reduced to just £150,000 – and it will also curb spending on other party campaigns. [...]
US trade gap widens in July September 4, 2013 AMERICA’S trade deficit widened slightly more than expected in July as exports dipped, but a rebound in imports pointed to some firming in underlying domestic demand. The trade gap increased 13.3 per cent to $39.1bn (£25bn). June’s shortfall on the trade balance was revised to $34.5bn from the previously reported $34.2bn. Imports of goods and [...]
Shadow MPC against a change in rates in first vote after guidance September 4, 2013 IN THE first vote by City A.M’s shadow monetary policy committee (MPC) since the Bank of England’s forward guidance was announced, our panel of economists have voted to hold interest rates. Seven votes on our board were for no change in rates, while one was for a 0.25 per cent hike in the bank rate, [...]
City A.M. shadow MPC votes to hold rates September 4, 2013 ALLISTER HEATH | CITY A.M. “The time has come to raise bank rate to 0.75 per cent. With such obvious signs of strength emerging, and growth likely to rise in the third quarter, we cannot afford any more of the distortion caused by ultra-loose policy.” GRAEME LEACH INSTITUTE OF DIRECTORS “The economy is clearly strengthening, but [...]
Tough job kicks off for India’s new governor September 4, 2013 INDIA’S new central bank governor Raghuram Rajan arrived at his new post yesterday, beginning the difficult job of organising monetary policy for the country’s struggling economy. The country has suffered from a rapid depreciation of the rupee over recent months, with foreign investment leaving the country as expectations for the tapering of the Federal Reserve’s [...]
Bosses defend big bank firms September 4, 2013 THE CHIEF executives of Deutsche Bank, Societe Generale and Unicredit have defended the need for large banks even as global regulators seek to force lenders with large balance sheets to shrink. SocGen chief Frederic Oudea said large banks were needed to maintain Europe’s capacity to finance large companies and its infrastructure. “On these markets, the [...]
Top watchdog warns banks have dangerously short memories September 4, 2013 THE FINANCIAL system can be very short-sighted, forgetting lessons learned in crises and so failing to improve stability and wealth in the long-term, top regulator Andy Haldane said last night. The senior Bank of England official argued that institutions are vital to hardwiring these lessons into the system, to keep the economy moving in the long-run [...]
Swift Key secures new funding round led by Index Ventures September 4, 2013 LONDON-BASED startup SwiftKey, creators of an alternative keyboard app for Android, has raised £11.3m in a funding round led by Index Ventures. “Index Ventures has an incredible track record of backing exciting, innovative businesses so we are pleased to have their team alongside us as we take our business through the next phase of growth,” [...]
Bullish rights issue statement from Barclays September 4, 2013 BANKING giant Barclays published a rather bullish announcement yesterday, when it released a statement on its latest rights issue. Rather than linking to the Barclays website, all the links appearing to direct to Barclays, in fact sent readers to a site called Hereford.com, an Idaho-based company that sells bull semen. A Barclays spinner was tight-lipped [...]
City and sporting stars tee off for 16th annual Tullow golf day September 4, 2013 TO THE green fairways of Sunningdale golf club in Berkshire yesterday, for the 16th annual Tullow Oil golf day, which raises money for charity Clic Sargent. City and celebrity players alike turned out in their plus fours for the game, including rugby player Mike Tindall, Olympic rowers Sir Steve Redgrave and Matthew Pinsent, Tullow founder [...]
