WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING March 20, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES CANACCORD AND COLLINS STEWART TO AXE 100 JOBS Nearly 100 staff will be made redundant tomorrow when Canaccord Financial completes its acquisition of Collins Stewart Hawkpoint, as London’s stockbroking industry continues to shed capacity. The Vancouver Group agreed to buy Collins Stewart for £253.5m in December EU DEFIES CARBON TRADE WAR THREAT The [...]
Glencore buys up Viterra March 20, 2012 COMMODITIES giant Glencore yesterday sealed a £3.9bn deal to buy Canadian grain handler Viterra. Glencore, which is also in the throes of a $36bn (£22bn) takeover of FTSE 100 miner Xstrata, has previously said it would like to expand its operations in agriculture. Shareholders accounting for 16.5 per cent of Viterra’s stock, including the company’s [...]
Vodafone wins India tax appeal March 20, 2012 Vodafone yesterday won a fresh review in the Indian courts over its tax dealings in the country, helping send its shares up two per cent to top the FTSE 100 leaderboard. The Supreme Court dismissed an appeal brought by the government, which argued against a decision in January clearing Vodafone of liability for tax on [...]
Romney set for easy Illinois win March 20, 2012 US television networks were last night projecting that Mitt Romney had stormed to victory in the key Illinois primary vote. According to exit polls and early vote counts last night, moderate candidate Romney had nearly twice as many votes as nearest rival for the Republican presidential candidacy, Rick Santorum. Romney yesterday had 521 delegates to [...]
Inflation still above target March 20, 2012 INFLATION remained well above target in February, despite falling for the fifth consecutive month, official figures showed yesterday. However, there may be some good news for the government today as the Office for Budget Responsibility is expected to upgrade its GDP growth forecasts on recent strong data. Consumer prices (CPI) rose by 3.4 per cent [...]
HMRC cost cutting scheme loses taxman over £800m March 20, 2012 A REVENUE and Customs (HMRC) programme designed to increase revenues and cut costs ended up costing the taxman over £800m as cash-generating compliance officers were sacked. The programme, which ran from 2006 to 2011, found the tax-raising body reduced its headcount by 3,387 by 2008-9, saving £116m per year. However, those staff cuts meant HMRC [...]
Britain’s new Swiss deal chimes with tax avoidance clamp-down March 20, 2012 BRITAIN yesterday signed an agreement with Switzerland to begin taxing funds held by wealthy British clients of Swiss banks from next January, after slightly altering the terms of a withholding tax deal to appease Brussels. The deal coincides with George Osborne’s Budget, which is expected to include measures to clamp down on tax avoidance of [...]
What to look out for in the Budget March 20, 2012 ● PERSONAL TAXES The tax-free personal allowance was originally due to go up £630 to £8,105 as part of a long-term plan to take everyone earning below £10,000 out of income tax. That increase will be accelerated – almost doubled, in fact – as part of a plan to help low-earners more. But the scheme is [...]
SVG shake-up as rebels fail to win vote March 20, 2012 PRIVATE equity investor SVG Capital has faced down a shareholder revolt and will continue with plans to diversify beyond Permira, the buyout firm in which it has traditionally invested. SVG won 66 per cent backing for the change yesterday although nearly 34 per cent of the votes went against it. It also won virtually unanimous support to [...]
Direct Line Group set to name Biggs as chairman March 20, 2012 ROYAL Bank of Scotland (RBS) has offered the role of chairman at Direct Line Group, its insurance unit, to Mike Biggs, a former finance director at Aviva. It is understood that Biggs has not yet formally accepted the job but he will be tempted by the chance to lead a firm that is set to [...]
