Regulator: I’ll shoot first, ask questions later September 18, 2012 THE CITY’S regulators will get much tougher next year, the incoming boss of the new Financial Conduct Authority warned yesterday, telling financial services firms he will take a “shoot first and ask questions later” approach to the role. Banks could see products banned from sale even before regulators have decided whether they are safe or [...]
Inflation row as UK targets £3bn savings September 18, 2012 A PLAN to reform the way a key measure of inflation is calculated could save the government billions but wreak havoc in the gilts market and threaten pay rises and pensioners, analysts warned last night. The Office for National Statistics is set to decide whether to improve the method it uses to compute the Retail [...]
It is always dangerous to allow inflation figures to be fiddled September 18, 2012 HERE is a rule that never fails: whenever the authorities decide to change the way they measure inflation, reach for your wallet, because you are about to be stealthily robbed. Each revision inevitably discovers that inflation was, in fact, lower than we realised, which means that all is for the best in the best of [...]
Bank of England prepares for capital level powers September 18, 2012 THE BANK of England will soon have major powers to adjust banks’ capital levels as it sees fit, adjusting regulatory requirements to try to match economic conditions, according to new government proposals unveiled yesterday. The new Financial Policy Committee (FPC) is being established to maintain stability in the sector – for example by bursting asset [...]
What the other papers say this morning September 18, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES Noble Foods hit by eggs surplus Noble Foods, Britain’s largest egg producer by volume, reported a 22 per cent slide in pre-tax profits last year, providing further evidence of the squeeze on the egg industry. BP in talks to sell off refinery BP has held talks to sell its Texas City refinery to [...]
Planned FPC powers September 18, 2012 ■ Counter-cyclical capital buffers to try to keep lending steady ■ The FPC will be able to make banks build up capital buffers in good years and run them down in bad years ■ That means banks will not collapse when the economy slows, but instead have a cushion they can use up to keep [...]
China and Japan at loggerheads September 18, 2012 ■ The diplomatic crisis between China and Japan stepped up to new levels yesterday, disrupting trade and even sporting relations. The two Asian giants have been at loggerheads over the island chain known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, after Japan bought the islands from a Japanese family. Destructive protests – which forced [...]
Weidmann finds Faustian fault September 18, 2012 ■ The head of Germany’s central bank Jens Weidmann yesterday spoke out against the ECB bond-buying plan, comparing printing money to the work of the devil. The Bundesbank head cited a passage from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s classic German play “Faust”. He recounted how the devil Mephisto, “disguised as a fool”, convinces an emperor to [...]
Weak investor support clouds BAE/EADS deal September 18, 2012 DOUBTS are growing over whether the multi-billion pound merger of defence giants BAE Systems and EADS can go ahead, with shareholders split over the benefits that the tie-up would bring. Anthony Nutt, head of UK equities at Jupiter, which holds around 1.2 per cent of BAE Systems stock, told City A.M. yesterday that the merger [...]
Lonmin clinches pay deal with its miners September 18, 2012 MINERS at Lonmin’s Marikana yesterday accepted a 22 per cent pay rise from the platinum firm, and said they would return to work this morning following a strike that has crippled the London-listed company since 10 August. Last week, Lonmin offered the miners around 5,500 rand (£413) a month, up from 4,600 rand a month. [...]
