Osborne ups the ante in job tax stand-off April 5, 2010 SHADOW chancellor George Osborne yesterday stepped up his attack on the government over plans to hike national insurance contributions (NICs), claiming the “job tax” would be the fastest way to reverse the budding economic recovery. George Osborne also insisted that the Tories have no plans for further tax rises, despite repeated claims from Labour that [...]
MODELLING LEAVES METRO BOSS RED-FACED April 5, 2010 MOST of the management over at shiny-new high street lender Metro Bank might be patting themselves on the back over their latest marketing ruse, a giant mascot for the bank, but some of the poor staffers have been left red-faced. The new mascot – an enormous foamy “M” in blue and red, the bank’s colours [...]
Kraft slammed over Cadbury April 5, 2010 THE Business Select committee will today question whether UK takeover laws should be tightened in the light of Kraft’s acquisition of Cadbury. It is expected to criticise the power short-term stakeholders, including hedge funds, can wield over a company’s future. Committee chairman Peter Luff told City A.M.: “I think we need to look seriously at future [...]
Toyota likely to face $16m fine April 5, 2010 US regulators yesterday proposed fining Toyota the maximum penalty of $16.4m (£10.7m), saying the company failed to notify the government in a timely way about accelerator pedal flaws that were the subject of a massive recall in January. The Transportation Department’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration accused Toyota of failing to notify regulators about the [...]
BILL OF THE WEEK April 5, 2010 A GASTRONOMIC feast last Thursday for these four financiers, celebrating with a slap-up pre-Easter lunch at Racine on the Brompton Road. Our diners began with oysters and seabass roe on mini toasts, before moving on to luxurious foie gras with a half bottle of Chateau d’Yquem 2002. They then ordered helpings of cote de boeuf [...]
Deripaska could return to Norilsk April 5, 2010 A billionaire shareholder in Russian aluminium giant Rusal is set to return to the board of Norilsk Nickel, in the latest sign of a possible merger. Oleg Deripaska has been included on a list of candidates for the board, which the company shareholders are due to approve at its general meeting in June, Norilsk said [...]
Gartmore hires former FSA lawyer April 5, 2010 CLIFFORD Chance partner Carlos Conceicao has been appointed by troubled Gartmore to help the fund manager investigate movements made by one of its star players, Guillaume Rambourg. Conceicao, who formerly headed up the Financial Service Authority’s (FSA’s) wholesale enforcement division, has been handed the task of sifting through thousands of pages of documents, which could [...]
A team can still thrive without its star April 5, 2010 WHEN Wayne Rooney hit the turf last week during Manchester United’s game against Bayern Munich, English hearts sank. Not only is the striker arguably the strongest member of the national team, but he is also a talismanic figure. The same can happen in business, and the morale of a team can be seriously affected by [...]
Tesco reveals banking target April 5, 2010 TESCO announced over the weekednd its ambitions to create a full service retail bank as part of plans to make up 10 per cent of the UK’s financial services market within the next ten years. The supermarket’s credit card and motor insurance businesses already makes up 10 and 4 per cent of their respective markets [...]
US government reaps $10bn so far from proceeds of financial bailouts April 5, 2010 THE US government has earned more than $10bn (£6.5bn) so far from repayments of bail out funds to financial firms, according to a report by SNL Financial. The figure – which equates to an annualised return of 8.5 per cent – underscores efforts by the industry to speed up repayments and warrant repurchases. Firms such [...]
