Brownonomics makes a shock return November 21, 2011 AT one point yesterday, I had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn’t having a nightmare. Is Gordon Brown still Prime Minister, I asked myself? The reason for my madness, dear readers, was the coalition’s dreadful neo-Brownite plan to part-guarantee 95 per cent mortgages. It was the kind of policy reminiscent of tax credits [...]
Banks told to snub Iran November 21, 2011 THE TREASURY yesterday ordered all UK financial institutions to stop trading with Iran, in response to growing fears over the Middle Eastern nation’s possible nuclear arsenal. From 3pm yesterday, all UK credit and financial firms were required to halt transactions with Iranian counterparts and all their subsidiaries, including the Central Bank of Iran, under the [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING November 21, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES REVIEW LOOKS TO TACKLE THE COST OF WORKPLACE ILLNESS Action to curb the financial and social costs of long term illness and make it easier for employers to get staff back to work was recommended yesterday, in a government-commissioned review of sickness absence which also urged ministers to review the generosity of public-sector [...]
Greenberg firm sues government November 21, 2011 A company run by former American International Group (AIG) chief executive Maurice “Hank” Greenberg is suing the US government for $25bn (£16bn), calling the 2008 federal takeover of the insurer unconstitutional. The lawsuit marks an unusual effort to force the government to pay shareholders, who have seen AIG’s stock price tumble 98 per cent since [...]
Commission calls for open pay November 21, 2011 Companies should include workers on remuneration committees to mak setting executive pay more transparent, the independent High Pay Commission said in its report yesterday. The HPC, set up by left-of-centre pressure group Compass with backing from the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, includes a range of respondents, from fund managers and pension funds to trade unions. [...]
MF Global set to face $1.2bn fund shortfall November 21, 2011 THE APPARENT shortfall of customer funds at MF Global Holdings’ broker-dealer unit may be around $1.2bn (£1.04bn), about double the initial estimate from regulators, the trustee liquidating the company said. The amount of money MF Global should have segregated for customers may be short by “$1.2bn or more”, trustee James Giddens said in a statement. [...]
PM: tackling public debt has proved harder than thought November 21, 2011 DAVID Cameron yesterday vowed to stick unflinchingly to the government’s deficit reduction plan as he promised new measures to boost the housing market and bring forward infrastructure projects, despite gloomy growth figures expected from the Office for Budget Responsibility next week. He admitted tackling the public debt had proved “harder than anyone envisaged”, in an early [...]
Gilead to spend $11bn on firm November 21, 2011 GILEAD Sciences yesterday struck a deal to buy biotechnology company Pharmasset for about $11bn (£7bn) in a huge and risky bet on the next generation of hepatitis C treatments. Gilead, the world’s largest maker of HIV drugs, will pay $137 per share for each Pharmasset share, an 89 per cent premium for a company with no [...]
Egypt cabinet offers to resign November 21, 2011 CAIRO police fought protesters demanding an end to army rule in a third day of violence yesterday, as the civilian cabinet tendered its resignation. The military council did not say whether it would accept the resignation, but a military source said it was seeking agreement on a new prime minister. The loss of the cabinet, [...]
Phoenix coy over many approaches for assets November 21, 2011 SHARES in life insurance specialist Phoenix Life jumped more than ten per cent in morning trading yesterday after it admitted it had broken off takeover talks with one bidder but had been approached by at least one other. FTSE 250-listed Phoenix is considering an early stage approach from private equity group CVC Capital Partners, after [...]
