China lodges dispute with WTO over duties on shoes February 4, 2010 China yesterday launched a dispute at the World Trade Organisation against EU duties on shoes, but the European Union insisted its measures were in line with WTO rules and denied they were protectionist. China’s protest against anti-dumping duties extended in December was further evidence of its increasing assertiveness in the WTO. It also indicated that [...]
Hermes to allow clawback of fund fees February 4, 2010 Hermes Fund Managers will allow all its investors to claw back performance fees, the group said yesterday, in a move that could herald fundamental change in an industry battling client anger over excessive charges. The firm — owned by British Telecom’s pension fund — will roll out to its entire range the fee structure recently [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS February 4, 2010 PARTYGAMING Barclays Capital ups PartyGaming to “overweight” citing its improved operational performance. Sets a target price of 330p, suggesting 15 per cent upside to the current share price. Says if recent speculation of a merger between PartyGaming and Bwin proves true the shares would gain 45-55 per cent from their current value. ROLLS ROYCE GROUP [...]
The biker driving ideas in the City February 4, 2010 AFTER spending 10 years talking about the idea of starting his own economic consultancy in the pub with friends and colleagues, Danny Gabay decided to take the plunge. After a road trip around the US in a jeep (he’s also a keen biker), Fathom Consulting, an independent economic and financial market consultancy, was born. Gabay [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS February 4, 2010 Betfair Ian Dyson, finance director of retail giant Marks and Spencer, has taken up a new non-executive directorship at the betting firm. Dyson, who joins the Betfair board immediately, joined M&S in June 2005 as group finance director, becoming group finance and operations director in 2008. He was also formerly finance director at the Rank [...]
Paternity leave threat to firms February 4, 2010 FOR years employers have been wary about giving jobs to women of child-bearing age, but they might soon be casting nervous glances at the males in their offices, too. As of 6 April next year a father will be allowed to take up to 26 weeks additional paternity leave in the first year of their [...]
Q&A CHOOSING A NAME February 4, 2010 Q. I’ve got a great idea for a business, but I’m struggling to find a name. How do I go about it? A.The first step is to look at the nature of the service you are providing and use that as a way to come up with conceptual themes, says David Haigh, CEO of Brand [...]
EU shows Greece who is in charge February 3, 2010 GREECE was yesterday told to begin a spate of savage public sector wage cuts, tax hikes and reduced welfare spending, as the European Commission tries to stave off the worst crisis in the eurozone’s history. Brussels yesterday gave its backing to the desperate measures offered up by Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou aimed at tackling [...]
Bank body slams funds directive February 3, 2010 AN influential body backed by the Bank of England has warned that EU plans to regulate hedge funds and private equity could cause chaos. The Financial Markets Law Committee (FMLC), whose members include partners from Linklaters and Clifford Chance, said the Alternative Investment Fund Managers (AIFM) directive was riddled with ambiguities. Central concepts such as [...]
UK must cut state spending February 3, 2010 BRITAIN needs a more radical programme of spending cuts to slash the budget deficit over the next few years, a leading think-tank urged yesterday. The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) called for an extra £13bn worth of tightening by 2015-16 – or five per cent of GDP. Doing more of the required consolidation sooner would [...]
