Spain sells off 10-year bonds December 5, 2012 SPAIN was unable to sell all the bonds it wanted to in a sale of 10-year paper yesterday, but still saw big drops in bond yields. The Spanish treasury managed to shift €4.3bn out of the €3.5bn (£2.17bn) to €4.5bn of 10-year bonds it had planned to sell, but this did not stop yields falling [...]
EU is the least corrupt area December 5, 2012 WESTERN Europe and the European Union is seen as the least corrupt region in the world, a study out yesterday revealed. Just 23 per cent of countries in the region score less than 50 (out of 100) in the Corruption Perceptions Index, compared to 66 per cent of those in the Americas, 68 per cent of [...]
Red carpet is rolled out for charity traders December 5, 2012 IT is not everyday on a lunchtime stroll down Broadgate that a shark, cowgirl and giant armadillo can be spotted drinking beers outside Icap’s City offices. However yesterday was no usual trading day, but the firm’s 20th annual charity extravaganza, which has grown into something of a City institution. Among those hurtling through the revolving [...]
Party’s over for retiring Bwin co-chief Ryan December 5, 2012 ONLINE gaming company Bwin.party said yesterday that Norbert Teufelberger will head the company on his own from January when current co-chief executive Jim Ryan retires and goes back to his native Canada. Teufelberger and Ryan have run the company together since PartyGaming merged with Bwin in March 2011 to create the world’s largest listed online [...]
Television makers hit with €2bn in EU fines for price fixing cartel December 5, 2012 THE EC imposed the biggest antitrust penalty in its history yesterday, fining six firms including Philips, LG Electronics and Panasonic a total of €1.47bn (£1.2bn) for running two cartels. The Commission said executives from the European and Asian companies met until six years ago to fix prices and divide up markets for TV and computer [...]
Asian growth makes up for woe in Europe at Innovation Group December 5, 2012 INNOVATION GROUP, the business software and processes firm, reported a 10 per cent rise in annual revenues yesterday, as it said growth in Asia had made up for tough conditions in southern Europe and the US. The company, which provides outsourcing services to the insurance, automotive and property industries, has expanded its reach via multiple acquisitions. [...]
More austerity needed to hit borrowing goal December 5, 2012 BRITAIN’S economic growth forecasts were slashed yesterday, as the spending watchdog warned the budget deficit will be higher than expected in the coming years, meaning the government will miss its key debt target and must extend the fiscal squeeze by another year. Output will shrink 0.1 per cent this year, not grow 0.8 per cent [...]
Osborne’s axe on pensions tax relief extends beyond wealthy December 5, 2012 GOVERNMENT plans to limit tax-free pension saving could hit a wide swathe of society, not just the wealthiest, industry experts warned. The maximum amount a saver can put into a pension over their life, without facing tax, will be sliced from £1.5m to £1.25m in 2014-5, having already been cut from £1.8m. And the annual tax [...]
Consultation launched on plan for flat-rate state retirement pot December 5, 2012 A CONSULTATION on replacing the means-tested state pensions with a simpler universal flat rate system will be launched this month. This announcement in the Autumn Statement brought a key part of the coalition’s pension reform closer to being realised, though it will likely be months before the end of the consultation. A paper from the Department [...]
Private hiring far exceeds public firing December 5, 2012 STRONG private sector jobs growth means 500,000 more people are now employed than the government thought in March, meaning the benefits bill could be lower than feared, while public sector job losses have not had as severe a social impact as expected. Employment rose to 29.6m in the three months to September, well above the [...]
