Irish police arrest men for following INM boss June 5, 2011 INDEPENDENT News and Media (INM) yesterday confirmed Irish police have detained a number of individuals who were following the car of its chief executive Gavin O’Reilly. It is not yet clear who is behind the surveillance operation tracking O’Reilly. The news came as INM distanced itself from speculation chairman Brian Hillery is preparing to quit [...]
The rock’n’roll banker that is set to chair Aviva June 5, 2011 FORMER Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) chief executive John McFarlane is being touted as the next chairman of insurance group Aviva, after Sir Richard Broadbent passed over the role last month in favour of a move to Tesco. The appointment of McFarlane, who currently sits on the board of RBS, is believed to [...]
Merkel ally: Greece needs firmer hand June 5, 2011 EUROPE must be more hardline with Greece to push the country towards economic reform, according to the parliamentary leader of Germany’s ruling Christian Democrats. Valder Kauder, an ally of Chancellor Angela Merkel, said that Germany has not yet decided whether to boost its bailout loan to Greece, despite a statement by the IMF, European Commission [...]
Brits probed over Swiss bank assets June 5, 2011 THOUSANDS of HSBC customers with money in Swiss bank accounts are to be investigated by the taxman. The details of 7,000 British clients have been obtained by HM Revenue & Customs, after a whistleblower leaked the data. The accounts in question hold combined assets of about £13bn and could net HMRC millions of pounds in [...]
Critics hit out at economists’ Plan B letter June 5, 2011 A LETTER to a Sunday newspaper calling on the chancellor to consider a “Plan B” for the economy has been exposed as a publicity stunt, after it emerged that just 15 of the 52 signatories were practising economists. According to an analysis by the Adam Smith Institute, only 15 of the authors behind the letter to [...]
New private university in £10m placing June 5, 2011 SOME of Britain’s most celebrated academics have secured almost £10m in a private placement to launch a for-profit university that will charge £18,000 a year in tuition fees. AC Grayling, the famous philosopher, will become Master of the Bloomsbury-based New College of Humanities, which will offer degrees in English, history, philosophy, economics and law. He [...]
UK loses out in competitive league tables June 5, 2011 BRITAIN’S international competitiveness has plummeted since 1997, a Westminster think-tank will claim today. The UK has dropped out of the top 10 countries for business conditions in three leading international comparisons, the Centre for Policy Studies (CPS) states in a new report. As well as reducing the government’s mammoth annual deficit, the coalition must “open [...]
Wealthy individuals fear they lack financial rigour June 5, 2011 WEALTHY people are more likely to have misgivings over their lack of financial self-discipline, despite having more spare cash, a survey from Barclays Wealth reveals today. One third of wealthy individuals wish they had more self-control over their financial behaviour, it said. Almost half (45 per cent) of people worth over £10m expressed a desire [...]
Job vacancies dropped in May June 5, 2011 JOB opportunities have slipped for the second straight month, yet remain 18 per cent higher than the same stage last year, a survey by Reed showed today. Vacancies have increased by 21 per cent since December 2009, the recruitment firm said. “Private sector growth is responsible for this increase across the board,” Reed said. Vacancies [...]
Calls to reform tribunal awards June 5, 2011 PAYOUTS for discrimination cases should be capped at £50,000, a senior City of London policy official has said. Employees that lose discrimination cases should be liable to pay some of the employer’s legal costs, Sir Michael Snyder has advised the government. Snyder’s comments echo the sentiment of many business groups in calling for swift reform [...]
