City balks at shock rise in Capital Gains May 12, 2010 THE City yesterday lashed out at the decision by the Conservative led coalition to increase Capital Gains Tax (CGT), warning that it would seriously inhibit investment. After the coalition government said CGT would be raised as part of a rejigging of the tax system Simon Walker, Chief executive of the British Private Equity and Venture [...]
Bank surprised by resilient inflation May 12, 2010 THE Bank of England yesterday raised its short-term inflation forecast as part of its quarterly Inflation Report and it now expects the consumer prices index to stay above the two per cent target until the start of 2011. The central bank admitted that it had been surprised by how resilient inflation had been and suggested [...]
Claimant count falls again but jobless total still rising May 12, 2010 THE number of unemployed Britons rose again in the three months to March to a 15-month high of 2.51m, taking the jobless rate to eight per cent, official data showed yesterday. Even more worryingly, the employment rate fell to a 13-year low of 72 per cent, suggesting that the rise in unemployment has been limited [...]
David Miliband begins Labour leadership bid May 12, 2010 FORMER foreign secretary David Miliband yesterday officially threw his hat into the ring to become the next leader of the Labour party. Miliband, the favourite to succeed Gordon Brown, said he hoped the race would be a “genuine contest” with many candidates. “I believe I can lead Labour to rebuild itself as the great reforming [...]
CITY VIEWS: WILL THIS COALITION DELIVER A STABLE APPROACH TO FINANCIAL REFORM? May 12, 2010 ALEX PICKARD | PMI HEALTH GROUP “It remains to be seen what will happen as the coalition is made up of parties from opposite ends of the political spectrum. It’s now more a question of what they will compromise on. The Lib Dems want to look at capital gain tax increases, while the Tories want [...]
StanChart mulls a $5bn Nedbank bid May 12, 2010 STANDARD Chartered is considering an audacious bid for more than half of South Africa’s Nedbank. The emerging markets specialist is interested in snapping up the 54 per cent stake in the bank owned by Old Mutual. The bank, which would represent a crucial foothold in Africa’s biggest economy, would cost it more than $5bn (£3.4bn). [...]
Morgan Stanley denies investigation but shares plunge May 12, 2010 MORGAN STANLEY failed to stop its shares sliding five per cent yesterday, even though it denied being investigated by US authorities over the sale of mortgage-backed securities. A report by the Wall Street Journal claimed the investment bank was being probed by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Manhattan US Attorney’s office over its [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING May 12, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES INDIAN TELECOMS GROUPS HIT OUT AT CHARGES Telecoms companies in India have raised alarm over a threat of retrospective charges for users of mobile spectrum that analysts warn could cost them hundreds of millions of dollars. The move by the Indian telecoms regulator has provoked interest from Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Essar. MICROSOFT [...]
Record April budget gap for US May 12, 2010 The United States posted an $82.69bn (£55.74bn) deficit in April, nearly four times the shortfall registered a year earlier and the largest on record for that month, the Treasury Department said yesterday. Some Wall Street economists had expected a much smaller deficit, but others said the record April gap was no surprise and should not [...]
SAP to buy Sybase for $5.8bn May 12, 2010 Germany’s SAP has agreed to spend $5.8bn (£3.9bn) to buy database software maker Sybase in a move that will help boost growth at the company. SAP, the world’s biggest maker of accounting and other business software, said yesterday it would pay $65 per share in cash for Sybase, the fourth largest provider of database software.
