Small firms to be exempt from staff enrolment rule November 27, 2011 SMALL companies are to be exempted from the government’s automatic pension enrolment scheme, the chancellor is expected to announce tomorrow. The scheme will be rolled out from 2012, but allowing small firms to delay the changes should help them through the economic downturn without the additional burden of paying for more pensions. Ministers had previously [...]
Rail fare rises cut to 6pc November 27, 2011 COMMUTERS will gain slight relief in George Osborne’s Autumn Statement as he is expected to announce peak and season ticket price rises will be capped at a lower level. Rises will be kept below six per cent, it is thought, rather than the eight per cent previously anticipated. This will cost the Treasury £300m, but [...]
Pension funds look to invest November 27, 2011 TALKS are beginning to work out how the government can harness tens of billions of pounds in pensions funds’ cash to boost infrastructure spending, the Treasury and pensions industry announced yesterday. A memorandum of understanding was signed by the Treasury, the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) and the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) signalling that [...]
I’ll streamline safety rules, says Grayling November 27, 2011 EMPLOYMENT minister Chris Grayling has revealed plans to dump dozens of health and safety rules, telling the Sunday Times: “Health and safety legislation should be all about saving lives and preventing people from serious injury, but we have a bad record on unnecessary red tape.” ”Regulations expected to be cut include “strict liability” rules, under [...]
Item Club says 100,000 more jobs will be lost November 27, 2011 THE NEXT five years will see far more public sector job cuts than the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) currently expects, according to a new report from the Ernst and Young Item Club, out yesterday. GDP growth will grind to a halt, the respected economists believe, but one factor keeping the government relatively close to [...]
Miner plans London listing in New Year November 27, 2011 A MONGOLIAN coal miner is considering a multi-billion flotation in London in a deal that will please investment bankers who have been largely starved of new issues in London’s faltering IPO market. According to banking sources, Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank, are working on the potential listing of the state-owned Tavan Tolgol, with hopes that [...]
Cash hope for British clients of MF Global November 27, 2011 CLIENTS of the British arm of collapsed US broker MF Global today move one step closer to getting back some of their money as the administrator publishes a timetable for dealing with claims. KPMG, the special administrator, said clients could submit claims from 8 December until 30 March next year. Joint administrator Richard Heis said: [...]
Murdoch set to survive at Sky says Odey November 27, 2011 JAMES Murdoch will be comfortably re-elected as a director of BSkyB at tomorrow’s annual general meeting, says one of the broadcaster’s biggest investors, despite shareholder calls for him to resign in the wake of the phone hacking scandal. Hedge fund boss Crispin Odey, who holds a 2.7 per cent stake in the satellite business, says [...]
BSkyB investors have reasons to stick with their under-fire chairman November 27, 2011 So should James Murdoch remain as a director of BSkyB or should he go? On one level, it is an easy story for shareholders: the dividend of £353m plus the share buyback of £750m adds up to a nine per cent payout to investors of the company’s market cap of £12bn. Murdoch also has a [...]
Bluefin Advisory may be sold November 27, 2011 Axa UK has hired advisors to decide whether to sell its Bluefin Advisory Services. Following reports of a possible sale, the company said it had appointed Fenchurch Advisory Partners to consult on “the firm’s strategic options”. “Working closely with the senior management team in BAS, Fenchurch will consider both the prospects for the continued growth [...]
