Think-tank supports controversial raid on pensions tax relief November 25, 2012 AN INFLUENTIAL think-tank has backed the chancellor’s plans to raid high-earning savers’ pensions tax relief in next week’s Autumn Statement. Centre for Policy Studies research fellow Michael Johnson said in a paper out today that the current incentives to save for a pension are “crude and mis-directed, primarily towards the wealthy”. George Osborne previously lowered [...]
Inflation and poor returns turn screws on defined benefit plans November 25, 2012 FIRMS with defined benefit (DB) pension schemes are still struggling to get their funding holes under control, research out today claims. Low investment returns coupled with heightened inflation has left FTSE 350 firms falling even further behind the funding requirements of their DB programmes. PwC’s pension support tracker has stood at 74 out of 100 [...]
…but coalition struggles with transport work November 25, 2012 AMBITIOUS plans to upgrade the UK’s transport network have become snared in political and planning delays, the British Chambers of Commerce said today. Six key projects remain stuck in the starting blocks, the BCC complained, while a further two have been scrapped for the foreseeable future. The chancellor’s Autumn Statement last year set out details [...]
PwC remains City’s top auditor while JP Morgan holds the top adviser spot November 25, 2012 PWC has retained its position as the City’s most-favoured auditor, figures out today reveal, although KPMG has managed to sign up a number of FTSE 250 clients. Research from data consultancy Morningstar shows that PwC has 367 stock market clients, and 42 of the FTSE 100 – almost double that of second-place KPMG. However, KPMG [...]
City’s big fish at Legal Awards November 25, 2012 LAST Thursday night saw the City’s best lawyers get the weekend off to a traditional early start as Legal Week magazine invited them to Old Billingsgate Market to celebrate the British Legal Awards 2012. The annual black-tie bash, again held at the City fish market, was filled with tables from all the big firms. Host [...]
Row your boat gently down the Atlantic say three City boys November 25, 2012 THREE City boys and former army officers – Ed Janvrin, consultant at PwC, Alex Mackenzie, consultant at McKinney Rogers and Will Dixon, business manager at Barclays – stripped off their suits to row across the Atlantic in aid of charity Row2Recovery earlier this year. The mission, conceived by Janvrin and Mackenzie, was undertaken by a [...]
Dunstone eyes iconic burger chain franchise November 25, 2012 FIVE Guys Burgers and Fries, the cult US burger chain favoured by President Barack Obama, is set to branch out in London after Carphone Warehouse founder Sir Charles Dunstone moved to bring the famous restaurants across the Atlantic. Sir Charles, who founded Carphone Warehouse in 1986, is understood to have struck a deal through his [...]
Savoy close to £290m debt pile refinancing November 25, 2012 THE owners of London’s lavish Savoy Hotel are understood to be closing in on a deal to roll over almost £290m of debt after tapping up two European banks to take on the borrowings. The iconic hotel, which was snapped up in a joint venture by Lloyds Banking Group’s Bank of Scotland unit and Saudi [...]
US probes Swiss bank Pictet November 25, 2012 Swiss private bank Pictet is under investigation by the US authorities, the bank said yesterday, making it the latest Swiss bank to come under scrutiny in a US probe into the use of foreign banks by wealthy Americans seeking to avoid paying tax. Pictet said in a statement the US Department of Justice had made [...]
Egypt stocks plunge after unrest November 25, 2012 Egypt’s stock market plunged yesterday in its first day open since President Mohamed Mursi’s seizure of new powers set off violence and a political crisis, unravelling efforts towards stability after last year’s revolution. More than 500 people have been injured in protests since Friday, when Egyptians awoke to news Mursi had issued a decree widening [...]
