Microsoft dragged into row over corporation tax payments in UK December 9, 2012 MICROSOFT is the latest global firm to be dragged into a row over UK corporation tax payments, after it emerged the US technology group legally channels certain online payments through Luxembourg and Ireland. Payments for the firm’s new Windows 8 operating system are being handled through an office in Luxembourg – where corporation tax is [...]
Fears that new rules may push banks out of US December 9, 2012 EUROPEAN banks fear incoming US capital requirements could drive their costs up to unsustainable levels and force them to leave the country, industry sources said yesterday. New proposals on capital and leverage limits for foreign banks are likely to be unveiled at the end of this week. Federal Reserve governor Daniel Tarullo last month warned [...]
Germany ready to compromise over Eurozone banking union December 9, 2012 GERMAN finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble has signalled a readiness to compromise on the European Union’s planned banking union, German media reported yesterday. “We are working intensely to get the legal framework for a banking supervisor settled before Christmas,” Schaeuble told German newspaper Bild am Sonntag, in an interview published yesterday. Spiegel magazine reported that Schaeuble [...]
HSH Nordbank owners look to more state aid December 9, 2012 THE public-sector owners of Germany’s HSH Nordbank said this weekend they were examining the possibility of increasing state aid to prop up the bank in face of higher potential losses from shipping loans. HSH, one of the world’s biggest shipping financiers, is suffering from a four-year slump in the industry. “All those involved are aware [...]
Osborne mulls tax breaks for online bookies December 9, 2012 THE GOVERNMENT is planning to relax online gambling taxes in a bid to encourage internet bookies that base themselves offshore to move back to the UK. George Osborne’s draft finance bill, due to be published tomorrow, will set a tax on offshore gambling operations, bringing them in line with levies on companies that base themselves [...]
Solving private investment collapse is spur to Euro growth December 9, 2012 A €750bn (£602bn) cash pile sitting idle on European corporate balance sheets must to be unlocked by governments to boost private investment and economic growth, an influential report claims today. A “crisis” of private investment across Europe – which has plunged €350bn since 2007, four times the fall in real GDP and 20 times the [...]
Betfair boss to double down on cost cutting as earnings suffer December 9, 2012 BETFAIR boss Breon Corcoran is set to unveil an overhaul of the business on Thursday, in his first results presentation since taking the reins at the online bookie. Corcoran, who joined Betfair in the summer from Paddy Power, is expected to unveil a round of cost cutting, including job losses. The Irishman has already made [...]
Virgin unveils new routes but no sign of Delta December 9, 2012 VIRGIN Atlantic will begin its challenge to British Airways’ domestic routes in April with 24 flights a day, the firm confirmed today. But the firm remains tight-lipped about reports that US airline Delta is close to buying Singapore Airlines’ 49 per cent stake in Virgin Atlantic. Delta is believed to be in talks with its [...]
Rolls-Royce looked at claims over payment in Indonesia December 9, 2012 THE SERIOUS Fraud Office (SFO) is examining claims that engineering group Rolls-Royce paid millions of pounds to the son of the former leader of Indonesia. Rolls-Royce shares tumbled on Thursday after it revealed that it had handed information to the SFO about claims of malpractice in Indonesia and China. It is understood that Rolls-Royce uncovered [...]
BAE Systems secures further work on Astute submarines December 9, 2012 BAE Systems has secured a total of £1.2bn of work to complete the Audacious submarine for the Ministry of Defence. The defence firm, which has already won £640m of work on Audacious, has sealed an additional £530m contract to deliver the boat, the fourth of seven planned nuclear-powered Astute class submarines. The second Astute boat, [...]
