10 days to save the Eurozone, Rehn warns currency’s political leaders November 30, 2011 COLLAPSE looms if Eurozone leaders do not take urgent action to integrate fiscal policy, EU commissioner Olli Rehn warned yesterday. “The economic and monetary union will either have to be completed through much deeper integration or we will have to accept a gradual disintegration of over half a century of European integration,” Rehn said. Emphasising [...]
UK business slams Barnier audit reforms November 30, 2011 A number of business groups, including the CBI, yesterday slammed Michel Barnier’s proposals to shake up the audit market, saying they were “the latest in a long line of unnecessary distractions coming out of Brussels that would only serve to add to business costs”. Matthew Fell, director for competitive markets at the CBI, the employers’ [...]
DRAFT AUDIT REFORMS: KEY POINTS November 30, 2011 ● Mandatory rotation Companies will have to change audit firm after a maximum of six years, or nine years if they employ more than one auditor. Audit firms will not be allowed to tender for the same client’s business until after a four-year “cooling-off” period when the contract ends. ● Mandatory tendering The biggest companies [...]
Britain closes Iran embassy November 30, 2011 BRITAIN shut its embassy in Tehran yesterday saying that Tuesday’s rioters, who burned British flags and ransacked offices, could not have acted without consent from Iranian authorities. The Iranian embassy in London has also been closed and its diplomatic staff instructed to leave the UK within 48 hours. William Hague told parliament: “If any country [...]
FARMVILLE DEVELOPER CLOSES IN ON FLOAT November 30, 2011 Zynga, the developer behind Farmville, has pencilled in a date for its much-anticipated IPO. The firm is starting a roadshow next week, with a view to pricing its shares on the Nasdaq on 16 December. The listing of around 10 per cent of the firm is likely to value the company at a lower-than-expected $10bn [...]
Demand for new laws to defeat unions November 30, 2011 THE coalition is under pressure to introduce new curbs on industrial action as fears grow that union bosses will call a series of winter strikes despite winning the backing of only a minority of members. Dominic Raab, a prominent Tory backbencher, told City A.M. there was an “overwhelming” case for extra “safeguards” after a day [...]
FACT CHECKER | WITH TIM WALLACE November 30, 2011 “Public servants are being asked to accept a permanent deep cut in their living standards,” thundered TUC boss Brendan Barber. Meanwhile George Osborne described the public pay freeze up to 2015 and the one per cent cap on increases in the two years after that as “fair to those who work to pay the taxes [...]
SHOULD STRIKING BE MADE HARDER? November 30, 2011 NICK RADFORD | ROBERT MALATIER “Yes, the requirements should be harder. They have the same problems we do, but we don’t complain about it. We aren’t going to get what we expected in pensions.” SERDAR SENGUL | ISBANK “I don’t think so, because even if it is only 15 per cent voting, they have a [...]
IFS warns of lost decade in wage growth November 30, 2011 INCOMES will be lower in 2016 than they were in 2006, the Institute for Fiscal Studies warned yesterday, following the downgraded economic growth forecasts. The sharpest drop is expected to come in the three years from 2009 to 2012, with real household disposable income declining by 4.7 per cent over the period – a record [...]
Osborne’s plans for recovery November 30, 2011 THIS week we’re asking our panel members for their response to chancellor George Osborne’s Autum Statement, in which he outlined his plans to cut the government’s deficit and promote UK growth. We want to know whether you think Osborne’s plans are viable – from the £5bn planned for infrastructure investment and tax breaks for individuals [...]
