The grass is not always greener for shareholders in low-tax states October 12, 2010 RELOCATING overseas is becoming a fashion. This week it was reported that online bookmaker Betfair is considering a move after a row over tax. It follows building services firm Wolseley’s recent announcement that its base will move to Switzerland for tax reasons. Wolseley’s decision was welcomed by analysts and shareholders who saw a company seeking [...]
OBR set to move from Treasury October 12, 2010 The Office for Budget Responsibility is to move out of the Treasury to stress its independence, chancellor George Osborne said. The chancellor has also named his preferred candidates for the committee, to sit alongside OBR chairman Robert Chote. They are Stephen Nickell, a former member of the Bank of England monetary policy committee, and Graham [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING October 12, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES NIGERIA APPROVES $2.5BN BID FOR NITEL Nigeria has approved a controversial $2.5bn offer for the country’s main fixed-line telecoms group, but has demanded that the winning consortium come up with a $750m downpayment to secure the sale. The approval follows years of ill-fated efforts to sell off Nitel, which has withered since liberalisation [...]
Patents the smart option in mobile skirmishes October 12, 2010 IN the past few days Motorola has announced that it is suing Apple under several of its smartphone patents. Normally, a clash of such technology titans might raise eyebrows, but not in this market, and not now. In recent months there has been a spate of patent lawsuits between the big players, which was kicked [...]
Rights issue on the cards for StanChart October 12, 2010 ALL EYES will be on Standard Chartered today following suggestions that the Asia-focused bank is ready to launch a rights issue to raise up to £7bn so it complies with new capital rules. Standard Chartered had a core tier one capital ratio of nine per cent at the end of June, which is within the [...]
Confidence fell in September October 12, 2010 FEARS among consumers of imminent government measures to slash public spending have intensified, prompting confidence to plummet last month and wiping out the gain seen in August, the Nationwide September survey will say today. The headline confidence index slumped nine points to 53, its weakest in more than a year and well below its long-term [...]
Eco-dazzle at Paris Motor Show October 12, 2010 Two key trends revealed themselves at this year’s Paris Motor Show. First, while the carmakers have showed eco concepts for years, this year was the first Paris Show where so many production versions of hybrid and electric cars were launched. Second, the sports and supercar brands proved that they too have a place in this [...]
Switch to CPI measure set to reduce benefits October 12, 2010 MILLIONS?of pensioners will feel the pinch from April, when the government switches the measure used to shield them from rising prices. The changes, which will also affect the unemployed and other benefit claimants, will see payments rise in line with inflation as measured by the consumer price index (CPI), as opposed to the retail price [...]
JOHNSON VS OSBORNE: ROUND 1 October 12, 2010 NEW shadow chancellor Alan Johnson laughed off his poor knowledge of economics in his first exchange with George Osborne at Treasury Questions yesterday. While Osborne quipped that he hoped Johnson spends longer as shadow chancellor than he did, Johnson attacked Osborne’s Budget proposals for public spending cuts as “entirely wrong” and claimed the deficit was [...]
Wall Street pay to reach a record high October 12, 2010 WALL Street pay is expected to reach a record high this year, for the second year running. The 35 top public securities and investment-services firms expect to pay staff $144bn (£90.4bn) in compensation and benefits in fiscal 2010, up four per cent from the $139bn paid out in 2009, a new Wall Street Journal study [...]
