Russia to launch £22bn economy rescue package January 28, 2015 RUSSIA is to commit 2.3 trillion roubles (£22bn) to a plan to support its sanction-hit economy. It comes just days after its debt was downgraded to a “junk” rating by Standard and Poor’s ratings agency. The government also plans to set up a bad bank to take on troublesome loans from the banking sector. The [...]
Bonuses rocket for banks’ risk controllers as new rules kick in January 28, 2015 RISK controllers at major banks and finance houses were typically paid more than £100,000 last year, Emolument.com revealed yesterday. Salaries are rising slowly, but risk and compliance staff have seen their bonuses rise sharply, as top banks and other financial institutions demand more from the professionals. Increased tiers of regulation, combined with the after-effects of [...]
Rightster stock rises as its chief executive and founder departs January 28, 2015 AIM-LISTED London technology startup Rightster yesterday announced its chief executive Charlie Muirhead has stepped down with the firm’s commercial chief, Patrick Walker, taking over with immediate effect. Rightster specialises in the distribution of online video and operates one of the largest multi-channel networks on YouTube, with a client list that includes The Press Association, The [...]
Haldane: Rate rises will be slow for years January 28, 2015 INTEREST rates will only rise very slowly over several years, Bank of England chief economist Andy Haldane said yesterday. “When that rise comes it is going to be very gradual,” he told the Daily Post on a visit to Wales. “It could be half a per cent a year, for several years.”
New property website has to conquer Google – Bottom Line January 28, 2015 ONTHEMARKET.com, the new property website from the Agents’ Mutual group of estate agents, launched this week with an apparent threat to the “duopoly” of Rightmove and Zoopla. Zoopla, as the less well-visited of the two, seemed in danger as one of the requirements of OnTheMarket.com meant participating agents could only list on one other rival. [...]
Former housing ministers Mark Prisk and Nick Raynsford call for 2.5m more houses by 2025 January 28, 2015 The government needs to do more to encourage house building, two former housing ministers have said. The Lloyds Banking Group Commission on Housing released yesterday outlines a programme to tackle the shortage of new homes. “The UK housing market is facing a range of interlocking problems relating to the general shortage and quality of new [...]
German shoppers and investors start 2015 in a confident mood January 28, 2015 GERMAN consumer confidence has reached its highest level for 13 years, new data shows. The forward-looking consumer confidence index compiled by market researchers GfK edged up to a score of 9.3 for February 2015, according to figures released yesterday. That is up from January’s score of nine. GfK said “significant increases were recorded in both [...]
IAG offer to buy Aer Lingus facing political obstacle January 28, 2015 THE PROPOSED takeover of Irish airline Aer Lingus by International Consolidated Airlines Group (IAG) has come under fire in the Irish parliament. The Irish government owns a 25.1 per cent stake of the national flag carrier, which is close to agreeing a €1.36bn (£1.01bn) sale to IAG. Timothy Dooley, transport spokesman from the opposition Fianna [...]
Severn Trent reveals new plan to comply with Ofwat ruling January 28, 2015 WATER company Severn Trent has agreed to lower its bills after accepting the price determination for 2015 to 2020 delivered by utilities regulator Ofwat in December. The average bill will fall by £4 in the next year, and by around £60 over the next five years. The firm described the price review carried out by [...]
Labour’s Corbyn eyes UK Syriza January 28, 2015 IN THE days since Syriza stormed to victory in Greece, the British left has become increasingly enamoured with the anti-austerity party and its rock star leader Alexis Tsipras. A number of Labour MPs have signed a motion to parliament welcoming their election, and 15 also signed a letter calling on Labour to take on some [...]
