What the other papers say this morning January 23, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES AUDITORS SEEK TO EASE FEARS The four biggest auditors have denied that their dominance of the market for large companies had created a systemic risk akin to that posed by the leading banks. Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG and PwC have told the European Commission that they are willing to help draw up [...]
Balls begins his attack January 23, 2011 Labour’s new shadow chancellor Ed Balls wasted no time yesterday in getting stuck in to his new portfolio, accusing his opposite number George Osborne of “cutting too far too fast”. But the combative economist faced plenty of criticism, with deputy prime minister Nick Clegg leading the offensive, branding him as the man in charge when [...]
Fair fuel stabiliser considered January 23, 2011 Transport secretary Philip Hammond said the government is still considering a “fair fuel stabiliser” – which reduces duty on fuel at times of high prices to even out prices at the pumps. His comments come after the Federation of Small Businesses warned a quarter of its members could be forced to lay off staff because [...]
Finance Bill safe as Irish coalition fails January 23, 2011 IRELAND’S economy was once again thrown into turmoil yesterday afternoon, as the country’s minority Green Party pulled out of its coalition with Fianna Fáil, destroying the ruling party’s majority and making an early election likely. But the Green Party made it clear that passing the Finance Bill remained its priority, and urged Prime Minister Brian [...]
Hayward in talks to join Glencore board January 23, 2011 FORMER BP chief executive Tony Hayward is in early talks about joining the board of commodities trader Glencore as part of its planned initial public offering, it emerged yesterday. Hayward, who is a non-executive director for Russian oil venture TNK-BP, recently met with Glencore chief executive Ivan Glassenberg to discuss taking a non-executive role, according [...]
Inflation is no way to fix the deficit: OBR chairman January 23, 2011 HIGH inflation is not a cure for Britain’s deficit woes, according to Robert Chote, the chairman of the office for Budget Responsibility (OBR). In an interview with the Financial Times, he also gave his opinion that cutting petrol duties to counteract soaring fuel prices would make public finances “less stable rather than more stable”. Many [...]
Vickers rules out break-up January 23, 2011 SIR John Vickers, chair of the Independent Commission on Banking (ICB), ruled out breaking up the financial industry into “narrow banks” on Saturday in his first official speech since the commission was convened. But Vickers’ speech, which gave a glimpse of the ICB’s thinking three months before its preliminary report is due out, did discuss [...]
Cocoa to rise as Ivory Coast halts exports January 23, 2011 THE PRICES of cocoa and coffee could rise sharply this morning after the president-elect of the world’s biggest producer of the beans declared it had suspended exports. The president-elect of the Ivory Coast, Alassane Outtara, yesterday ordered exporters to suspend operations for a month from today in an attempt to cut off funding from rival [...]
Ireland must erase uncertainty over its banks January 23, 2011 The next couple of weeks, ahead of the upcoming Irish general election, are going to be crucial for Fianna Fail, the ruling Irish party. Prime Minister Brian Cowen may have received a vote of confidence from his fellow party members last week, but over the weekend he resigned from his leadership post. What happens next, [...]
Permira and Axa plan a joint bid to buy Opodo January 23, 2011 PERMIRA and Axa Private Equity are planning to make a joint €500m (£425.5m) bid for Opodo tomorrow, as they seek to compete against US internet travel giants Expedia and Orbitz. However the two private equity groups are likely to face bidding competition from their US rival Carlyle, according to the Financial Times. The newspaper added [...]
