Business leaders call for cuts to red tape May 24, 2010 BUSINESS leaders have called the Government to cut back on red tape which cost companies an estimated £88.3bn last year. The British Chamber of Commerce (BCC) said in a report that regulations were costing businesses dear. Director general of the BCC said: “The Burdens Barometer highlights a clear problem for UK business. ‘The cost of [...]
BP miss “deadline after deadline” in oil spill crisis May 24, 2010 BP’s has missed “deadline after deadline” in its tackling of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, a top US official has said. US interior secretary Ken Salazar claimed the company had fallen short on its pledges to stem the flow of oil caused by a drilling platform explosion a month ago. The comments came as [...]
AGE OF AUSTERITY AS FIRST £6BN CUT May 23, 2010 THE GOVERNMENT has started preparing people for an age of austerity, announcing £6bn of immediate spending reductions, paving the way for much tougher cuts further down the line. Details of where the axe will fall began to emerge last night, with Vince Cable’s Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) expected to bear the brunt, [...]
HSBC chair set to quit bank soon May 23, 2010 STEPHEN Green is set to step down as executive chairman of HSBC as part of a massive overhaul of its management structure. Former Goldman Sachs banker John Thornton is understood to have been lined up to succeed Green. The firm will break from tradition by making the chairman a non-executive role. The move is part [...]
BA strike on as talks fail May 23, 2010 A WAR of words broke out between British Airways (BA) and trade union Unite after negotiations between the two fell apart, signalling that BA’s customers will face up to 15 days of disruptions. Unite joint general secretary Tony Woodley called on BA late yesterday to drop the withdrawal of full travel perks for striking cabin [...]
We need more facts and less ranting May 23, 2010 THE end game is fast approaching for the Wall Street reforms, which will have a large impact on all sections of London’s financial and business services industries; the Senate has voted on its bill and we now await reconciliation with the House of Representatives’ version. Most of the measures in the Senate’s version would be [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING May 23, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES PRINCE ANDREW’S TRADE ROLE DEFENDED Buckingham Palace defended Prince Andrew’s globetrotting role promoting British business on Sunday after a newspaper sting appeared to show his former wife selling access to him for £500,000, offered by a reporter posing as a tycoon. Both the royal household and the government said the Duke of York’s [...]
AIG probe is abandoned May 23, 2010 The US Justice Department has dropped a probe of American International Group executives involving the credit default swaps that sent the insurer to the brink of bankruptcy and forced a huge taxpayer bailout, lawyers for the executives said. The criminal probe had focused on whether Joseph Cassano, who ran the financial products unit, and Andrew [...]
RBS in €400m equity sale May 23, 2010 Royal Bank of Scotland is near to agreeing the sale of its European private equity fund portfolio, it is understood. The deal, worth about €400m (£348m) is expected to be announced in the next few weeks. The buyer is Alpinvest, a Dutch pension fund. RBS is 70 per cent government owned.
Business costs up £11bn May 23, 2010 The cost of doing business in Britain rose to £88.3bn this year, up £11bn on last year, according to the British Chambers of Commerce.
