Xstrata under fire for merger bonus package June 21, 2012 XSTRATA urged investors to focus on the business merits of its mega-merger with Glencore yesterday after an influential investor group issued its most severe warning against the firm’s huge pay packages for top staff. The Association of British Insurers issued a “red top” warning against retention payments promised to directors at Xstrata if the merger [...]
Not so helpful banking: clients furious over glitches at Natwest June 21, 2012 NATWEST and RBS were hit by a tirade of angry complaints yesterday after technical glitches prevented customers from accessing their accounts. In a major embarrassment for the banking group, transactions were not processed, account balances were not updated and customers were not able to log into online services. NatWest’s “Ideas Bank”, a forum to encourage [...]
Plans to boost loans risk BoE independence June 21, 2012 EMERGENCY measures to boost growth blur the boundaries between fiscal and monetary policy and could threaten the Bank of England’s independence, top official Martin Weale warned yesterday. The new measures include an emergency liquidity facility for banks, and a “funding for lending” scheme which allows banks to borrow cheaply from the Bank of England, as [...]
Brent crude oil hits mega low June 21, 2012 BRENT crude oil slid nearly four per cent yesterday, dropping below $90 a barrel for the first time in 18 months as weak economic data from China, the US and Europe pointed to slower oil demand. A technical breakdown in crude futures on both sides of the Atlantic spurred further selling, with no bottom in [...]
Facebook settlement on ad case June 21, 2012 FACEBOOK has agreed to allow users more control over how their personal information is used in its “Sponsored Stories” ad feature, part of a deal to resolve litigation against the social networking company. The value to Facebook members resulting from the changes is about $103m, in the opinion of one economist hired by the plaintiffs. [...]
Twitter takes ads worldwide June 21, 2012 TWITTER will roll out its advertising products to 50 countries by the end of this year as it focuses on building revenues from its free-to-use website. The company’s promoted trends, tweets and accounts are currently only available in a few countries, but will become available in western European and Latin American countries by the end [...]
Law firms show strong growth in tough year June 21, 2012 LAW firms have toughed out a challenging year to grow their fee income by an average of 6.6 per cent – a healthy increase on the previous 12 months. An annual survey released today of the top 100 law firms by global revenue has shown that growth in improving across the sector despite operating against a [...]
Rules over redundancy talks set to be relaxed June 21, 2012 THE GOVERNMENT announced plans to cut back red tape surrounding large scale redundancies yesterday, in a move welcomed by business groups but opposed by trade unions. Under new proposals firms will no longer have to consult employees for at least 90 days if planning to lay off more than 100 staff, the department for business, [...]
Sick workers to get extra leave June 21, 2012 WORKERS throughout the EU including Britain have the right to reclaim holiday time affected by illness, European judges ruled yesterday. The European Court of Justice ruling was made after an appeal by a Spanish trade union. The Luxembourg-based court said the EU Working Time Directive grants workers a right to at least four weeks’ paid [...]
LONDON SET FOR BUS STRIKES TODAY June 21, 2012 BUS routes across London are set for severe disruption today after the Unite union promised to go ahead with a day of industrial action. Last-gasp talks with Acas failed last night, and the union said workers at 17 out of 20 firms will walk out today. Three bus firms won an injunction to prevent strike [...]
