Q&A CURRENCY June 24, 2010 CAMILLA DELL MANAGING PARTNER AT BLACK BRICK Q.Dear Camilla, I am a London property developer and in light of this week’s Budget, what will the week’s announcements mean for the capital’s housing market? A.Well, the rise in capital gains tax (CGT) was far, far less than everybody expected, which is a great relief for those [...]
Cameron asks public workers how he should cut spending June 24, 2010 PRIME Minister David Cameron and his deputy Nick Clegg wrote to six million public sector workers yesterday asking for ideas on how to save money and tackle a record peacetime deficit. Chancellor George Osborne’s Budget suggests 25 per cent spending cuts in all government departments except health and international development to balance a deficit of [...]
Cable to refresh Royal Mail privatisation plans June 24, 2010 VINCE Cable has asked the man behind plans to part-privatise the Royal Mail to see whether a full stock market flotation or sale to a trade buyer could unlock more value in current market conditions. In his first report, former deputy chairman of Ofcom Richard Hooper recommended a strategic partnership with a private player, essentially a part-privatisation. [...]
How Osborne’s budget affects the housing market June 24, 2010 THERE are not many ways to make a 10 per cent tax hike look business-friendly, but Chancellor George Osborne pulled off a neat trick this week by doing just that. Expectations of a massive capital gains tax (CGT) rise had been building since the Liberal Democrats, who had promised to raise CGT to close to [...]
Bank debt could hurt UK June 24, 2010 THE largest UK banks will need to refinance or replace around £750bn worth of term loans and liquid assets by the end of 2012, warned the Bank of England yesterday. The scale of the required refinancing is greater than that of banks based in the US, Germany, France or Italy and could hurt the UK’s [...]
FSA oversight set to persist June 24, 2010 ALL major FSA policy initiatives and its intensive supervisory approach will be adopted within the new regulatory structure, FSA chief executive Hector Sants confirmed yesterday. Speaking at the watchdog’s annual public meeting, Sants said the FSA would take forward all its major policy initiatives within the new structure, including plans to eliminate commission for most [...]
There’s nothing that says well done me quite like a bodacious one-man palace June 24, 2010 YOU’VE given your life to work – and you’ve made a mint in return. It’s high time you rewarded yourself with a show-stopper of a home.?Don’t beat around the property bush – buy yourself a bachelor pad with all the bells and whistles, a home you love so much you’d be happy to live in [...]
Morgan Stanley pays $102m to end subprime lending case June 24, 2010 MORGAN Stanley agreed yesterday to pay $102m (£68m) to end an investigation in Massachusetts into unfair lending practices. Martha Coakley, the state’s attorney general, said Morgan Stanley, which funded subprime loans throughout the country, improperly loaned billions of dollars to New Century which then sold loans to unqualified borrowers in the state. Morgan Stanley also [...]
Five-year prison term demanded for trader Kerviel June 24, 2010 CALLING Jerome Kerviel a liar and a cheat, the Paris prosecutor yesterdfay demanded a five-year prison sentence for the rogue trader whose high-profile trial is nearing its end. Prosecutor Jean-Michel Aldebert termed Kerviel a “manipulator” and a “cheater” for having built up unauthorised bets worth €50bn (£41.3bn) that nearly brought French bank Societe Generale to [...]
Oracle revenues jump as Sun unit boosts profits June 24, 2010 ORACLE posted quarterly profit that exceeded Wall Street projections yesterday, as its recently acquired Sun Microsystems hardware division added to earnings. The company said Sun added more than $400m (£268m) to Oracle’s operating profit, excluding items. Oracle posted profit, excluding items, of 60 cents per share, for its fiscal fourth quarter ended 31 May, handily [...]
