Loans plan won’t work July 22, 2012 BORROWING by British business is set to fall again this year, casting doubt on the government’s latest efforts to boost credit for companies, according to figures out today. Economists at the Ernst & Young Item Club expect corporate borrowing to slump 6.2 per cent, as the uncertain economic outlook wipes out any incentive to lend [...]
Green under pressure to speak out on laundering July 22, 2012 FORMER HSBC boss Lord Green could at last make a statement this week on his time at HSBC and his knowledge of the money laundering scandal, it emerged yesterday. Business secretary Vince Cable yesterday said “I’m sure he will say what has to be said about his own oversight of this,” and a departmental source [...]
Coalition’s lack of courage threatens a triple-dip recession July 22, 2012 SOMETHING quite astonishing happened yesterday – and no, I’m not referring to the gorgeous weather, or to Bradley Wiggins’ Tour de Force. The real miracle was that supermarkets opened for much longer than they are normally allowed to on a Sunday, with shops describing these as “summer opening hours” (out of fear of being prosecuted [...]
Prosecutors close to making Libor arrests July 22, 2012 US PROSECUTORS and European regulators are close to arresting individual traders over the Libor scandal and charging them with colluding to manipulate global benchmark interest rates, according to people familiar with the investigation. Federal prosecutors in Washington DC have recently contacted lawyers representing some of the individuals under suspicion to notify them that criminal charges [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING July 22, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES Electricity market reforms unworkable The Treasury’s refusal to back the energy department’s low-carbon agenda has made flagship electricity market reforms “unworkable”, “vacuous” and counterproductive, the government has been told. A draft bill designed to spur billions of pounds of spending on power sources such as wind farms and nuclear plants is so flawed [...]
Murcia to seek Spanish funds July 22, 2012 Tiny Murcia was on course yesterday to be the second Spanish region to request help from the central government to keep it afloat, as media reported half a dozen local authorities were ready to follow in the footsteps of Valencia. How Spain’s 17 indebted autonomous regions, locked out of international debt markets, refinance €36bn in [...]
Dairy farmers continue protests July 22, 2012 More than 2,000 dairy farmers took part in a further night of protests yesterday over the price they are paid for milk. Members of protest group Farmers for Action have staged a series of blockades at milk processing plants since Thursday over a recent 2p-a-pint cut in the price of milk, which they warn will [...]
Anthony Salz to lead Barclays’ culture inquiry July 22, 2012 LEADING solicitor and Rothschild vice-chairman Anthony Salz will today be appointed to investigate staff ethics at Barclays and create a new code of conduct. Meanwhile it emerged that leadership favourites Rich Ricci and Sir Michael Rake have ruled themselves out of the running in the race to become chief executive and chairman of the bank [...]
Kay report to call for measures to tackle firms’ short-termism July 22, 2012 A GOVERNMENT report due out today is expected to recommend an end to the practice of companies reporting results every quarter. The proposal is one of a range of measures put forward by economist John Kay that aim to incentivise long-term performance over short-term returns at listed firms. Other suggestions include forcing institutional investors to [...]
French Prime Minister to meet Peugeot chief executive today July 22, 2012 FRENCH Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault will meet Peugeot Citroen’s chief executive Philippe Varin today amid growing tensions between the car maker and the country’s new Socialist government. The meeting comes ahead of a government rescue plan for the ailing car sector due next week. Peugeot, which last week said it would cut 8,000 posts in [...]
