Low red tape keeps UK open December 18, 2011 RED TAPE and bureaucracy might regularly be attacked by businesses and politicians, but in international terms the UK is one of the most free and open economies in the developed world, according to new research from Maplecroft. Among G8 countries, only Canada is more open to business, while Britain comes ahead of Germany and France, [...]
Widest stocks sell off in years December 18, 2011 ALL sectors saw a net sell off of equities for the first time in four years from September to November, as investors took a major hit according to data out today from Capita Registrars. Private investors saw £24bn wiped off holdings since May, selling £695m in the three months to November. The sell-off represents a [...]
HOUSE PRICES SOAR ACROSS LONDON December 18, 2011 LONDON’S house prices rose 6.4 per cent in the last 12 months – an average of £500 a week – and have further to rise next year, according to Rightmove. Nationally, prices rose 1.5 per cent, and are expected to go up by two per cent in 2012.
China relaxes over foreign investment December 18, 2011 FOREIGN investors will be able to purchase shares in China with currency held offshore, authorities announced on Friday. The move follows data out last week showing that year on year, foreign direct investment fell for the first time in 28 months as the economy continued to slow down. Gradual internationalisation of the renminbi is a [...]
Tributes pour in after Czech freedom fighter Havel dies December 18, 2011 TRIBUTES poured in last night after the death of Václav Havel, the man who helped topple Communism in former Czechoslovakia over twenty years ago. Dissident author Havel became President following the bloodless Velvet Revolution of 1989, and was head of state of the Czech Republic for a further decade following political separation from neighbouring Slovakia [...]
Companies up cash buffers in uncertain year December 18, 2011 ONGOING uncertainty over the Eurozone’s future is forcing UK businesses to build up their cash reserves going into the New Year, according to new research. To combat the tighter lending conditions that are typical of nervous markets, the UK’s top 100 corporates have added a combined £20bn to their balance sheets – almost a 20 [...]
SINGING PROFESSOR UPSTAGES THE SOPRANOS AT LORDS OPERA NIGHT December 18, 2011 LESLEY Garrett led an evening of opera at the House of Lords last Thursday, as part of an evening sponsored by Fordham Business School in aid of dementia charity Lost Chord. “There is so much music can do for dementia sufferers,” said the soprano, a patron of Lost Chord whose aunt Joan suffered from the [...]
BILL OF THE WEEK December 18, 2011 IT WAS such a big night at Raffles on the King’s Road last Tuesday that the general manager had “only just got in” at 3.30pm the next day. To be fair, however, it was only twelve hours after a local Chelsea resident, believed to be a ship broker, had left the club after creating one [...]
Big free float for Ruspetro December 18, 2011 RUSSIAN oil firm Ruspetro would have a free float of more than 25 per cent if it lists in London in the first quarter of next year, sources told City A.M. yesterday. The group is planning a London listing, making the company the latest Russian resource company to seek liquidity and international profile on the [...]
Pension funds begin to climb out of the red December 18, 2011 THE TOTAL pension fund black hole at FTSE 100 firms has fallen by nearly a third, according to new research. Firms in the index are carrying a deficit of £47bn, down £19bn or 29 per cent, on defined benefit pension schemes, a report from JLT Pension Capital Strategies said. During the year to 30 September [...]
