City expects lower bonuses November 27, 2011 City workers expect their bonus to be equal to about a quarter of their salary this year, down from 35 per cent last year, according to a survey by recruitment firm Astbury Marsden. That translates to an average bonus of some £20,000 (assuming average pay of £83,000). However, managing directors think they will get bonuses [...]
Eurozone in rush to draw up fund rules November 27, 2011 EUROZONE leaders are hoping to stimulate demand for the debt of their bailout fund by rushing out newly drawn-up plans for how it will work. The European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) was forced to cancel an auction of its debt recently due to little interest from investors, with details scarce on how its capital will [...]
Lloyds hire in line for £6m package November 27, 2011 LLOYDS has put a maximum £6m pay package on the table for George Culmer, its incoming chief financial officer, and is negotiating with his current employer, RSA Group, to enable him to join before his 12-month notice period ends. It is understood that the pay will be made up of a base salary of around [...]
CIC: China ready to invest in ageing Western infrastructure November 27, 2011 CHINA is keen to invest in the ailing infrastructure of Western countries, especially Britain, the chairman and chief executive of the Asian country’s sovereign wealth fund wrote in the Financial Times. “Now, infrastructure in Europe and the US badly needs more investment,” China Investment Corporation’s (CIC) Lou Jiwei wrote. He said while China had traditionally [...]
UK will guarantee banks’ debt to boost SME loans November 27, 2011 GEORGE Osborne announced £20bn of guarantees to banks in an effort to cut borrowing costs for small and medium-sized enterprises yesterday. He announced the “credit easing” idea in September’s conference speech, and has now made clear he hopes to cut SME interest rates by around one percentage point. “We are making available £20bn for the [...]
Small firms to be exempt from staff enrolment rule November 27, 2011 SMALL companies are to be exempted from the government’s automatic pension enrolment scheme, the chancellor is expected to announce tomorrow. The scheme will be rolled out from 2012, but allowing small firms to delay the changes should help them through the economic downturn without the additional burden of paying for more pensions. Ministers had previously [...]
Rail fare rises cut to 6pc November 27, 2011 COMMUTERS will gain slight relief in George Osborne’s Autumn Statement as he is expected to announce peak and season ticket price rises will be capped at a lower level. Rises will be kept below six per cent, it is thought, rather than the eight per cent previously anticipated. This will cost the Treasury £300m, but [...]
Pension funds look to invest November 27, 2011 TALKS are beginning to work out how the government can harness tens of billions of pounds in pensions funds’ cash to boost infrastructure spending, the Treasury and pensions industry announced yesterday. A memorandum of understanding was signed by the Treasury, the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) and the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) signalling that [...]
I’ll streamline safety rules, says Grayling November 27, 2011 EMPLOYMENT minister Chris Grayling has revealed plans to dump dozens of health and safety rules, telling the Sunday Times: “Health and safety legislation should be all about saving lives and preventing people from serious injury, but we have a bad record on unnecessary red tape.” ”Regulations expected to be cut include “strict liability” rules, under [...]
Item Club says 100,000 more jobs will be lost November 27, 2011 THE NEXT five years will see far more public sector job cuts than the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) currently expects, according to a new report from the Ernst and Young Item Club, out yesterday. GDP growth will grind to a halt, the respected economists believe, but one factor keeping the government relatively close to [...]
