Drop tax relief for rich says paper November 1, 2011 Tax relief on pension lump sums disproportionately benefits the wealthy at taxpayers’ expense, claims a report out today from liberal think-tank CentreForum. From 2012/13, wealthy retirees will still be able to take £375,000 from a £1.5m pension pot, tax-free. The think-tank argues instead that individuals taking lump sums above the higher rate income tax threshold [...]
Russian IPOs in spotlight as FTSE probes free float November 1, 2011 COMPANIES that float only a small proportion of their shares in London could be barred from FTSE stock indices in future under new proposals from the index group yesterday. FTSE is to consult on whether to make UK-based firms list at least 25 per cent of shares, rather than the current 15 per cent, to [...]
SFO: help us to unmask fraud November 1, 2011 THE SERIOUS Fraud Office (SFO) yesterday unveiled a new service it hopes will “unmask fraud and bribery” in the City. SFO Confidential is an online whistle-blowing tool that allows City workers to anonymously tip off the watchdog to any activity they think may be suspect. The service, which also includes a telephone hotline, promises to [...]
Supermarkets vie to promote value for money November 1, 2011 WITH the economic outlook still looking bleak and consumers (as shown by YouGov’s Household Economic Activity Tracker) increasingly price conscious it is not surprising that a number of big supermarkets are keen to emphasise their value. Sainsbury’s launched its “live well for less” advertisements on 15 September and Tesco’s “Big Price Drop” campaign came out [...]
Lamprell wins North Sea work November 1, 2011 Lamprell, an engineering firm serving the oil and gas industry, has been awarded two new construction contracts by Nexen Petroleum UK worth in excess of $200m. The first of the contracts relates to the Golden Eagle Development in the North Sea and will involve the construction of a two level Wellhead deck. The second contract [...]
Soco slows ramp up in production November 1, 2011 British oil firm Soco International has delayed a ramp up in production at its oil field off the Vietnam coast but said it was confident of achieving target output during 2012. Soco, which in August said it could reach its target of producing 55,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd) from its Te Giac Te [...]
Bakrie in $1bn Bumi sell-off November 1, 2011 INDONESIA’S Bakrie group has announced a $1bn (£626.5m) deal to sell half its stake in London-listed coal miner Bumi – its venture with Nat Rothschild (pictured) – to help tackle its debts. The stake is being bought by Indonesian rival Borneo Lumbung Energi and will allow Bakrie to avoid a default on $1.35bn of loans [...]
BHP and Mitsubishi to put $4.2bn into Australian coal mining sector November 1, 2011 BHP Billiton and Mitsubishi Corp will invest a total of $4.2bn (£2.6bn) to expand coal mining in Australia and are looking at further investments, BHP said yesterday. The project initially will add 8m tonnes per year capacity in exports of metallurgical coal used in making steel, with an expectation of a rapid, low-cost expansion to [...]
THE SHOW MUST GO ON SAYS FOREX FINANCIER November 1, 2011 DIGITAL downloads decimating album sales, Russian born tycoon Len Blavatnik poised to swoop on the UK’s last major domestic music label – it’s fair to say the music industry has seen better days. Here to help the sector’s financially challenged artistes make the most of their remaining revenue sources – touring, merchandise and ticket sales [...]
Bank CEOs hit back at ethics accusations November 1, 2011 BANK chiefs clashed with a committee of MPs and peers yesterday to defend the industry from what they called unfounded “generalisations”. Responding to an accusation from the Conservative peer Lord Maples that the crisis had involved “a failure of ethics… particularly within investment banking”, Barclays chief Bob Diamond said that the query was rife with [...]
