Private pensions system is facing crisis as final salary schemes are scrapped January 4, 2010 THE private pensions system is in crisis with virtually all final salary schemes now closed to new entrants, according to the Association of Consulting Actuaries (ACA). A survey of 309 employers published by the ACA showed that nine out of 10 defined benefit schemes have shut the door on new employees. The data also showed [...]
Japan Airlines soars on hopes of rescue funding January 4, 2010 JAPAN Airlines’ shares jumped 31 per cent yesterday as the government looked to secure funds to prevent the carrier from running out of cash as it awaits a possible bailout. The stock lost a quarter of its value last Wednesday, the last trading day of 2009, after sources said a government-backed turnaround fund was leaning [...]
OFT attacks Ryanair over fee loopholes January 4, 2010 BUDGET airline Ryanair has been branded “puerile and childish” for using a legal loophole to hit online customers with an extra credit card charge. Office of Fair Trading (OFT) chief executive John Fingleton yesterday attacked the company for hitting customers with a £5 booking fee for using all but one credit card. The fee has [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS January 4, 2010 CARNIVAL Cruise operator Carnival’s full year results were ahead of market expectations and Charles Stanley expects yields to continue to recover with the US economy in 2010. It believes cruising remains a structural growth industry with good prospects for growth in Europe and Asia. Booking and occupancy levels remain strong, it said. J SAINSBURY Shore [...]
RBS £53m Pakistan unit sale collapses January 4, 2010 THE £53m sale of Royal Bank of Scotland’s Pakistan unit to Muslim Commercial Bank has fallen through, the beleaguered bank confirmed yesterday. The bank, which is 84 per cent owned by the taxpayer, said the deal had collapsed because it had not obtained the necessary regulatory approvals by the 31 December deadline. MCB announced on [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS January 4, 2010 Coutts & Co The private bank has appointed Maggie Bradley as a client partner for its Oxford office, focusing on the local entrepreneur, professional and executive markets. Bradley joins from Coutts’ head office in London, where she has worked for the past five years, latterly as a business partner for international clients. Prior to that, [...]
PADDED BRA MAGNATE IS TOP WOMAN IN BUSINESS January 4, 2010 PLENTY of lists of the most powerful women in business are published each year now that we ladies have (almost) succeeded in cracking that glass ceiling, so The Capitalist was somewhat surprised by the novel value of the latest addition to the pack. A sneak peek at ladies’ magazine Glamour’s upcoming list of the five [...]
Airline search schemes boosting security firms January 4, 2010 IT is probably fair to say that 2009 was a bad year for the airline industry. Afflicted by strikes, falling passenger numbers and fluctuating fuel prices, the year was topped off with a security alert onboard a Detroit bound Delta Airlines flight on Christmas Day. In the aftermath of another terrorist attempt, European and American [...]
BEWARE OF BOND MARKET VIGILANTES January 4, 2010 CFD MARKET STRATEGIST, GFT LAST year was an extraordinary one in the markets. Following a two-month stock market plunge as investors dumped risky assets, global indices have surged since March and proved surprisingly resilient. Every time they lost momentum or struggled to break up through resistance, they got another boost. The S&P is up 63 [...]
Slimmed down RBS?and Lloyds are attracting clever money January 4, 2010 BANKS have had a torrid time for the past year and a half. But there were signs of life yesterday, at least for some. Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Lloyds Banking Group had a good start to the first trading day of 2010, rising more than 9 per cent and 3 per cent respectively. [...]
