Business support continues to flood in for CGT campaign June 13, 2010 MORE business leaders have added their voices to the growing body of support behind City A.M.’s campaign against the government’s proposed hikes to capital gains tax (CGT). Ed Wray, the entrepreneur who co-founded Betfair, has backed the campaign, claiming that the planned increases to CGT are likely to be “self-defeating”, discouraging enterprise and investment in [...]
Cowdery set to pay £2.8bn for AXA UK June 13, 2010 RESOLUTION, the insurance buyout vehicle, will ask the London market to suspend its shares this morning as it negotiates a £2.8bn takeover of AXA’s UK life and pensions business. The group, led by entrepreneur Clive Cowdery, will also give a brief update on talks with the French company. But a Rule 2.5 announcement providing full [...]
Zurich mulls Irish move for UK life business June 13, 2010 INSURANCE giant Zurich has taken another stride towards making Ireland its overreaching business hub, approaching the Financial Services Authority with a view to moving the domicile of its UK life assurance business over to Dublin. The move comes after Zurich last year brought all its European general insurance businesses under a single Irish “risk-carrying” domicile. [...]
Sir Stelios to meet easyJet in High Court June 13, 2010 EASYJET founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou will come face to face with the budget airline today in front of a High Court judge over an ongoing branding dispute. Haji-Ioannou, who is expected to give evidence either tomorrow or Wednesday, is taking on the airline he set up more than 15 years ago over a branding licence [...]
Acas offer may help BA ground union dispute June 13, 2010 CONCILIATION services group Acas has sent a proposal to British Airways (BA) and Unite that could see an end to the long running and crippling dispute. It is understood that the proposal from Acas centres on travel perks for BA cabin crew, which were removed by the airline during the March strike and remain as [...]
Mayor warns against cuts in the capital June 13, 2010 INVESTMENT by the government into London’s infrastructure is crucial to maintaining the city’s competitiveness, according to Mayor Boris Johnson. Ahead of the emergency Budget, Johnson has urged chancellor George Osborne to avoid slashing spending in the capital on major projects like Crossrail and the tube maintenance. “I want to remind the government that growth is [...]
Business prefers VAT hike over NI rise June 13, 2010 MANUFACTURING and industrial bosses would overwhelmingly prefer a Vat rise to any other tax increase in the 22 June budget, according to accountant KPMG. A survey of 202 executives found 61 per cent saw a Vat hike as the lesser of several taxation evils, with a higher levy on national insurance viewed as the least [...]
EU leaders in an attempt to calm markets June 13, 2010 EUROPEAN Union leaders will make a new attempt this week to convince financial markets they can contain a debt crisis by agreeing how to tighten economic policy coordination and strengthen budget discipline. The 27 EU member states and the executive European Commission will also set out plans for boosting economic growth and creating jobs at [...]
Swiss bank UBS hands over 500 accounts in US probe June 13, 2010 SWISS authorities are understood to have already handed over 500 accounts of UBS clients to the United States under an agreement to end a tax dispute that has threatened the bank’s existence. The Swiss lower house rejected the agreement on Tuesday, triggering a new parliamentary debate next week and delaying a final decision on whether [...]
Mid-market firms feel the upturn strain June 13, 2010 MIDDLE market lawyers and consultants are struggling to tap into the nascent economic recovery, according to the second monthly City A.M./Begbies Traynor health monitor for the Square Mile. While bigger players are benefiting from the return of property development and corporate activity, our numbers show smaller operations are fighting to survive as clients demand more [...]
