French minister Arnaud Montebourg claims Brussels backing for new takeover laws July 10, 2014 Arnaud Montebourg, France’s economy minister, said yesterday that the country had won the approval of the European Commission for a controversial law which gives the government more power to block takeovers. Montebourg told a French conference that the EU had given the country the green light on a decree passed in May. The ruling allows the [...]
Shock dip for EU industrial firms July 10, 2014 FURTHER signs that industrial production slumped in May emerged yesterday, with French and Italian manufacturers reporting a decline and adding to analysts’ concerns for the sector. Industrial output dropped 1.7 and 1.2 per cent between April and May in France and Italy respectively. The figures follow a 1.7 per cent drop in Germany announced earlier [...]
Jump in tourist numbers to the UK, and they’re spending more July 10, 2014 The amount of money spent by international travellers to the UK rose by 9.4 per cent during the first quarter of the year, according to official figures released yesterday. Visits to the UK by people living abroad rose by 11.7 per cent in comparison to the first three months of 2013. Although there was a similar [...]
Mortgage lending growth still firm despite new regulations July 10, 2014 The number of loans for house purchases rose by a quarter in the year to May, according to figures released yesterday, suggesting no dramatic effect from the raft of new regulations for the sector. The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) announced that house purchase lending was up in value by 25 per cent to £9.6bn [...]
BNP Paribas offers guilty plea to US for violating sanctions July 9, 2014 BNP Paribas last night pleaded guilty in a New York court to charges that it conspired to violate US international sanctions against Sudan, Cuba and Iran. The admission was part of a deal by the French bank, including a whopping $8.97bn (£5.23bn) charge for breaking sanctions against several countries for an eight- year period. US [...]
Fed to finish $10bn monthly QE in October July 9, 2014 THE FEDERAL Reserve revealed yesterday that its quantitative easing (QE) will finally finish in October, putting a date on the end to tapering for the first time. The end date was made official by the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) yesterday. The timeline means the last $15bn (£8.76bn) in QE asset purchases remaining will be [...]
Euro central bank boss Mario Draghi rejects Renzi reforms for deficit rules July 9, 2014 EUROPEAN Central Bank (ECB) chief Mario Draghi weighed in on the debate over Eurozone deficit reduction yesterday, slapping down Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi’s push for a more lenient approach. Speaking in London yesterday, Draghi stressed the importance of sticking to the currency bloc’s existing fiscal rules. Recently, Renzi and other European politicians had suggested [...]
Morrisons’ sale of floundering Kiddicare could come this week July 9, 2014 Morrisons is said to be on the brink of a deal to sell struggling maternity wear outlet Kiddicare to turnaround investor Endless. The likely sale, which has not yet been formalised, was reported by Sky News yesterday with the suggestion that an announcement could come as soon as the end of this week. Kiddicare was [...]
Salaries slump further than UK officials believe July 9, 2014 The squeeze on British earnings since the financial crisis could be even worse than official figures indicate, according to a concerning report released this morning. The Resolution Foundation suggests that official measures underestimate the slump in real incomes since 2008 by a fifth, since they do not take into account the boom in self-employed [...]
Forecasters predict UK GDP to jump at fastest pace in four years July 8, 2014 The British economy grew at the fastest rate in four years during the past quarter, with the recovery still picking up speed, according to a respected group of forecasters. In the three months to the end of June, the National Institute for Economic and Social Research (Niesr) said it expected that UK GDP would increase to 0.9 [...]