Osborne must show his true colours June 15, 2010 THERE will be plenty of banker-bashing from George Osborne when he delivers his first Mansion House speech to the City tonight. The audience of movers and shakers will barely notice; financiers are used to the abuse by now. Most of the proposals have been well trailed: a new levy on balance sheets (which could raise [...]
Rating overhaul averted June 15, 2010 US lawmakers crafting the final regulation bill voted yesterday to kill a controversial Senate provision to match rating agencies with debt issuers. The Senate measure was designed to crack down on perceived conflicts of interest at the largest credit rating agencies, which are paid by the issuers whose debt they rate. The measure was also [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING June 15, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES SONY COMMITMENT BOOSTS GAMES SECTOR Sony, one of the largest computer games developers in the UK, has committed to remaining in the country in a boost to a sector hit by an exodus to lower-cost countries. The Japanese maker of PlayStation, which has its European game design headquarters in Liverpool, is to receive [...]
Spanish banks forced to tap ECB June 15, 2010 In a worrying sign of their inability to get funding from international capital markets, Spanish banks are borrowing record amounts from the European Central Bank. Iberian institutions borrowed €85.6bn (£71.3bn) from the central bank in May, double the amount extended to them in the run-up to the Lehman Brothers collapse in 2008 and the highest level [...]
Miliband: Give unions pay roles June 15, 2010 David Miliband, the favourite runner for the Labour Party leadership, has written a provocative blog post suggesting union leaders should be given seats on companies’ remuneration committees in a bid to curb excessive pay deals. Miliband, who is up against his brother Ed, Diane Abbott, Ed Balls and Andy Burnham for the top Labour job, [...]
Osborne set to confirm plan for bank levy June 15, 2010 GEORGE Osborne will confirm plans to introduce a banking levy when he delivers his inaugural Mansion House Speech tonight. The chancellor will tell banks he is prepared to impose a tax on the industry even if other countries refuse to follow suit. Although he is not expected to flesh out the full details of the [...]
BCC backs our CGT campaign June 15, 2010 A LEADING business lobby group yesterday backed City A.M.’s campaign against damaging government proposals to raise capital gains tax (CGT) to levels in line with income tax. The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) said that business prosperity would suffer if the coalition does not introduce taper relief, indexation or entrepreneurial relief along with the changes, [...]
Jupiter valued at £750m as bankers fill IPO book June 15, 2010 BANKERS covered the book on Jupiter Asset Management’s initial public offering (IPO) last night, but were forced to price the float towards the lower end of their expected range. The fund management boutique is this morning expected to confirm it will join the public arena at around 165p per share, valuing the company at £750m. [...]
OFT will not control loan rates June 15, 2010 The Office of Fair Trading has said it will not recommend price controls on expensive forms of short-term borrowing, such as payday loans. The watchdog has been scrutinising immediately available credit since last July, and said although such financing came at high rates, it met a need for a demographic who could otherwise not borrow [...]
Consumer confidence clouded June 15, 2010 The election and the prospect of an emergency budget sent consumer confidence plummeting to its lowest level in almost a year in May, according to a survey by Nationwide Building Society. Nationwide’s consumer confidence index fell to 65 in May, the lowest reading since June last year, from an upwardly revised reading of 75 in [...]
