Asian growth boosts KPMG December 11, 2011 BIG four accountancy firm KPMG today reports a strong rise in annual revenue on the back of increased sales in emerging markets. The practice said revenue rose 10.1 per cent to $22.7bn (£14.5bn) for the year to 30 September. As well as financial services, the results were driven by member firms seeing work grow in [...]
David Cameron was right to say No December 11, 2011 THIS column is often critical of David Cameron – but not today. The prime minister was at his best on Friday; his decision to veto the European treaty was inspired. It will be remembered as a turning point: the day the UK started a long journey towards a more global, more prosperous place in the world, [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING December 11, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES TNK-BP WARNED ON LEGAL ACTION Two of the independent directors in TNK-BP, the Russian joint venture of BP, warned the board that legal action by the company against either set of shareholders could destabilise the group, according to a letter seen by the Financial Times. In the letter addressed to Mikhail Fridman, TNK-BP’s [...]
Whitehaven buys Aston for $3bn December 11, 2011 Whitehaven Coal has agreed to take over Aston Resources and another miner in a $3bn deal to create Australia’s biggest independent coal miner, looking for scale as it taps into booming Asian coal demand. Whitehaven will get Aston’s 75 per cent stake in the Maules Creek project close to Whitehaven’s mines in New South Wales [...]
Executive pay soars over 25 years December 11, 2011 The average pay of company bosses in the FTSE 100 has risen 27-fold since 1988 – a 1200 per cent increase over less than 25 years. A study by the University of Exeter Business School has found average pay has risen from £150,000 to £4m, based on interviews with bosses at some of the UK’s [...]
Marshall Wace December 11, 2011 In Friday’s edition of City A.M. we wrongly stated that senior traders at hedge fund Marshall Wace shared £38.58m for the year to February 2011. The profit pool for sharing among 10 partners was in fact £6.9m.
IMF: solution is still eluding the Eurozone December 11, 2011 THE WORLD is still waiting for a solution to the Eurozone crisis following last week’s make-or-break summit, IMF chief economic Olivier Blanchard said yesterday. While he said there has been “progress”, Blanchard added: “What happened last week is important: it’s part of the solution, but it’s not the solution.” “A lot of the volatility is [...]
UK business fears over Europe’s plans for pension funding December 11, 2011 TWO thirds of business leaders are concerned about the prospect of the EU enforcing plans to increase pension funding requirements for firms operating a defined benefit pension scheme, according to a survey conducted by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and Towers Watson. The survey, which covered firms employing a total of 1.3m people, showed [...]
Q&A: WERE THE CITY’S INTERESTS PROTECTED BY CAMERON? December 11, 2011 Q. SO CAMERON SAFEGUARDED THE CITY FROM BRUSSELS’ RED TAPE, RIGHT? A. Well no, not necessarily. Cameron also wants UK authorities to have the power to impose “gold-plated” regulations on the financial sector, including capital requirements that go even further than the proposed maximum discussed by the European Union. However, the Prime Minister did push [...]
Rumours spark bank run on Swedish lender December 11, 2011 SWEDISH lender Swedbank said yesterday that queues of people withdrawing money at its cash machines in Latvia were due to a false rumour spread by social media that Swedish banks had problems. “These are totally irrelevant rumors coming out of social media. The bank’s position is more than solid,” Swedbank spokesman Thomas Backteman said. “The [...]
