Osborne urged to scrap index links to slash pension deficits January 29, 2013 SCRAPPING index linking for pensions could cut the UK’s £1trillion funding deficit in half at a stroke, a leading accountant and former government advisor claimed yesterday. City A.M. understands Richard Farr, head of pensions advisory at professional services firm BDO, has written to George Osborne to urge him to abandon the index link and ease [...]
Ombudsman in difficulty as the rate of PPI claims doubles January 29, 2013 OFFICIALS tasked with judging rejected PPI misselling claims received 10,000 new complaints a week in the final quarter of 2012, the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) reported yesterday, double the rate seen in the previous three-month period. The continued boom in claims means the FOS expects to receive over 350,000 complaints by the end of the [...]
Pension industry asks for help with £90bn deficit hit from QE January 29, 2013 TOP DOGS in the pension industry yesterday called for government help in dealing with the £90bn hole in pension schemes driven by quantitative easing (QE). Talking to MPs on the Treasury Select Committee, representatives from pension groups including the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) said that Bank of England gilt purchases had widened funds’ [...]
Just a third of private sector have pensions January 29, 2013 ONLY a third of private sector workers are currently contributing to a pension, data revealed this morning. But despite not paying enough in already – only 14 per cent thought their current plans were adequate – and the tough economic climate, some 63 per cent of these private sector employees told the National Employment Savings [...]
Bumi sets date for battle with Nat Rothschild January 29, 2013 COAL miner Bumi has set the date for its boardroom showdown with co-founder Nat Rothschild and urged shareholders to reject his proposals for a board overhaul. The London-listed miner, which will meet on the 21 February in London, recommended that shareholders reject Rothschild’s proposals, which would see 12 out of 14 current directors of Bumi [...]
Watchdog says boards should look for risks on the horizon January 29, 2013 COMPANY boards and auditors need to be more vigilant about long-term risks to financial health, according to tighter rules from the Financial Reporting Council written in the wake of the credit crisis. The FRC said today it wants directors to consider threats to their business models and capital levels at least a year into the [...]
Billionaire duo shortlisted for $4bn Polyus Gold shareholding January 29, 2013 TWO Russian billionaires have been shortlisted to buy a stake in Polyus Gold, sources said, in a deal which could pave the way for a merger with rival Polymetal to create a national gold mining champion. Sources close to the matter said retail boss Zelimkhan Mutsoyev and fruit juice magnate Gavriil Yushvayev wanted to buy [...]
Petra Diamonds tumbles as it revises down output goal January 29, 2013 MINER Petra Diamonds yesterday revised down its full-year production guidance, sending its shares tumbling. The diamond miner said it expected its full-year production for 2013 to be around seven per cent – or 200,000 carats – lower than previous guidance of 2.85m. The FTSE 250 firm yesterday posted a buoyant trading update, with production up [...]
Output drops at Severstal January 29, 2013 RUSSIAN steelmaker Severstal yesterday posted a one per cent drop in crude steel output over 2012, with the biggest drop seen in its Russian operations. The steelmaker said that crude production of the metal fell to 15.14m tonnes last year, down from 15.29m tonnes over the previous year. Russian steel output plunged seven per cent [...]
Chemring nets $28.5m US deal January 29, 2013 Chemring Detection Systems, the US subsidiary of London-listed defence services firm Chemring, has won a $28.5m (£18m) multi-year contract to supply detection systems to the US Army. The company will provide more than 100 chemical detectors, which remotely detect and identify chemical vapour clouds at ranges up to 5km.
