Bank rules eased to spur lending January 7, 2013 TOUGH new banking rules will be eased in an effort to stop red tape hitting lending and damaging the economic recovery, the world’s top regulators announced last night. Banks will get more time to build up their liquidity buffers and can use a wider range of instruments, making it easier for them to hit the [...]
City finance chiefs fear triple dip January 7, 2013 THE FRAGILE UK economy still has a two-fifths chance of sinking back into what would be a triple dip recession, chief financial officers warned today. Rocked by financial and economic uncertainty, which 93 per cent of finance chiefs judged above normal, firms surveyed by Deloitte in the fourth quarter of 2012 said there was a [...]
Zurich chief calls for tax breaks for long-term care January 7, 2013 THE GOVERNMENT will not be able to meet the crushing cost of long-term care for the elderly and must introduce tax breaks to avert the looming crisis, according to one of the UK’s leading insurers. Gary Shaughnessy, chief executive of Zurich’s UK life insurance business, told City A.M. that demand for long-term care is set [...]
Basel III at a glance January 7, 2013 ■ Banks are being forced to raise liquidity buffers to make sure they can survive a month of tough conditions without getting central bank help ■ Bank argue that diverting resources into that buffer could harm lending at a time when the economy is already weak ■ After yesterday’s meeting, banks will now been given [...]
What we really need is to reintroduce capitalism into banks January 7, 2013 REGULATORS are a bit like retired generals, always refighting the last war. It will take another economic catastrophe before we find out for sure whether the global banking reforms, agreed at Basel yesterday, are truly fit for purpose. I’m not optimistic – no centrally planned, crude attempt at making a complex system safer ever works [...]
Coalition plans £2,000 voucher for childcare January 7, 2013 A PLEDGE to drive down the cost of childcare for working parents is at the heart of today’s relaunch of the coalition. Policies could include a flat-rate childcare voucher paid through the tax system, worth up to £2,000 per child, and allowing childminders to look after more children. Details were vague last night but the [...]
What the other papers say this morning January 7, 2013 FINANCIAL TIMES Terra Firma plans to sell Odeon chain Terra Firma, the private equity fund founded by Guy Hands, is planning to sell assets this year that are likely to include Odeon & UCI group, the European cinema chain, which could raise more than £1bn. The plan is a bid to return cash to backers. [...]
Jobs crisis as City hiring falls to record low January 7, 2013 CITY job vacancies plunged to new lows last year as incoming regulations took their toll on financial services firms, making 2012 a worse year for job seekers than even the height of the credit crunch, recruiters Astbury Marsden revealed today. Just 35,115 new jobs were advertised last year, down 35 per cent on the 54,025 [...]
Vodafone faced with $2.5bn tax demand from Indian authorities January 7, 2013 VODAFONE’S tax dispute with the Indian government has escalated, with the country’s authorities repeating calls for the telecoms giant to pay $2.5bn (£1.6bn) India claims it is owed. The company said this weekend that Indian tax authorities had sent a reminder to Vodafone, demanding it pay the sum, relating to 2007’s purchase of Hutchison Whampoa’s [...]
Anglo-American closes in on Cutifani as next chief executive January 7, 2013 THE world’s largest platinum miner Anglo American is on the verge of appointing the head of gold miner AngloGold Ashanti Mark Cutifani as its new chief executive. It is understood Cutifani, who has led South African AngloGold since 2007, is leading a pack of candidates to the fill the role left vacant after current chief [...]
