The truth over board room pay February 20, 2012 REAL pay to non-executive directors of FTSE 100 companies has fallen, according to figures released this morning. Pay in the year to June 2011 rose by a median of four per cent, Incomes Data Services has found – lower than both the main measures of inflation over the period. In the 12 months to June [...]
Euro finance ministers finally set to agree second Greek bailout February 20, 2012 THE GREEK government hopes Eurozone finance ministers will approve its €130bn (£108.1bn) bailout package this afternoon, bringing to a close months of tense negotiations in which Greece has struggled to find a way to avoid defaulting on its debts. There are also hopes of finalising a deal with private creditors to swap a total of [...]
Sunday launch for 7-day Sun February 20, 2012 NEWS International is launching the Sun on Sunday this weekend – seven months after it closed the News of the World in the wake of the phone hacking scandal. An internal memo sent to staff yesterday said News Corp owner Rupert Murdoch, who flew into the UK last week, would “be staying in London to [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING February 20, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES PFIZER WEIGHS PLANS FOR $3BN PART-IPO Pfizer is weighing plans to raise about $3bn this year through a part-flotation of its animal health division, as the drugs giant examines the best way to spin off a business valued at as much as $18bn. The pharmaceuticals group, the world’s second largest by market capitalisation, [...]
Meaningless numbers hinder meaningful debate over pay February 20, 2012 SOME media organisations are likely to carry a headline along the lines of this today: “City Fat Cats Award Themselves 10pc Pay Rise”. A press release sent out by Incomes Data Services (IDS) does indeed claim that pay increases for FTSE 100 non-executive directors averaged 10 per cent last year. Closer inspection proves the claim [...]
Japan sees biggest trade deficit February 20, 2012 Japan logged a record trade deficit in January, government data showed today, the clearest evidence to date of pain from a firm yen, a global slowdown and rising fuel imports needed to offset declining use of nuclear power. Japan’s exports slumped 9.3 per cent last month from a year earlier, slightly less than the median [...]
Merkel backs Gauck for president February 20, 2012 German chancellor Angela Merkel agreed yesterday to support former East German rights activist Joachim Gauck for the country’s presidency, averting a fight with opposition parties that might have distracted her from tackling the Eurozone crisis. Merkel confirmed her support for Gauck, 72, two days after Christian Wulff, her hand-picked choice for president in 2010, resigned [...]
Brussels adds to UK credit easing woes February 20, 2012 THE government’s £20bn credit easing policy has run into a roadblock in part due to a demand by Brussels that the Treasury force banks to pay a minimum amount to participate. The current model under consideration is also not viable for HSBC because it works by reducing banks’ wholesale funding costs – a source of [...]
The case of one of the costliest lunches ever February 20, 2012 IT was either an innocent lunch between asset management executives or an overt attempt by an outgoing member of staff to get his friend to join him in jumping ship. Now, however, a judge may have to decide exactly what was said after Fahim Imam-Sadeque invited Damian Nixon out for a drink last August. Imam-Sadeque, [...]
Iran protests sanctions by halting oil sales to Britain February 20, 2012 IRAN yesterday ordered a halt to its oil sales to Britain and France in what appeared to be a tit for tat move against tightening EU sanctions. The trade block was announced as a team of UN inspectors flew to Tehran to press the Islamic Republic over its disputed nuclear programme. The European Union enraged [...]
