ISPs slam Ofcom’s piracy rules June 1, 2010 OFCOM yesterday confirmed it will apply tough new anti-piracy laws only to internet service providers (ISP) with over 400,000 subscribers. The controversial Digital Economy Bill (DEB), passed after Gordon Brown had dissolved his government, will force ISPs to write to users suspected of piracy and could eventually force them to cut the users off. The [...]
BT workers vote for a strike ballot… May 26, 2010 BT workers could take industrial action after its union delegates unanimously backed a strike ballot over pay yesterday. The firm’s “blue collar” workers, represented by the Communication Workers Union (CWU), rejected BT’s two per cent pay rise at its annual conference. Now all 55,000 CWU members will vote on whether to escalate the dispute to [...]
… as top executives take home millions in bumper bonuses and share packages May 26, 2010 TOP BT executives received bumper bonuses yesterday, pouring petrol on the fires of unrest among the firm’s rank and file. Chief executive Ian Livingston topped up his £850,000 basic salary with a bonus of £1.2m. He also qualifies for £1.2m in shares that he can collect in three year’s time. He was offered a six [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS May 25, 2010 INVESTEC Citigroup reiterates its “buy” rating for Investec and said that the bank’s client franchise businesses should benefit from an expected cyclical recovery in 2011. Moreover, Citi believes it is in a stronger competitive position than it was before the global financial crisis given the misfortunes of many of its peers. SANTANDER Evolution Securities maintains [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING May 24, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES AIA CHIEF IN THREAT TO QUIT OVER PRU DEAL AIA’s chief executive has told friends and industry executives that he would quit if the UK’s Prudential succeeded in its $35.5bn (£24.6bn) takeover of the Asian businesses of AIG. Mark Wilson has said he would step down once the deal closed because the proposed [...]
Room with a brilliant view May 24, 2010 Paramount Centre Point, 101-103 New Oxford Street WC1A 1DD. Tel: 020 7420 2900, www.paramount.uk.net Cost per person without wine: £45 IN the food’n’drinkosphere, the days of exclusivity seem to be numbered – just last week, private casino Les Ambassadeurs opened its restaurant, The Milroy, for the hoi polloi’s lunchtime pleasure. Bureau, another swanky bar/lounge that [...]
BT boss Livingston in £1m bonus boon May 23, 2010 BT is set to anger its unions this week with the announcement that bonuses for its top executives have tripled. In its annual report, due on Wednesday, Britain’s biggest phone company will reveal chief executive Ian Livingston was awarded about £1m – up from £343,000 last year. He also received a £808,000 salary. Meanwhile Gavin [...]
Eurozone debt fears weigh on FTSE as investors flee from risky asset classes May 20, 2010 MOUNTING fears on Eurozone debt and doubts about the global economic recovery sent investors fleeing from riskier assets, shoving Britain’s top share index 1.7 per cent lower by close yesterday. In a volatile session, the FTSE 100 ended down 84.95 points at 5,073.13, its lowest close since 5 February having fallen 2.8 per cent on [...]
Canvas gets the all clear from the OFT May 19, 2010 THE Office of Fair Trading (OFT) will not investigate Project Canvas, a tie-up between large media players, over fears it will stifle competition. The proposed joint venture by firms including BBC, BT, TalkTalk and ITV will offer video-on-demand content through a viewer’s Freeview box. The scheme has come under fire from rivals Sky and Virgin [...]
LISTED PRODUCT NEWS May 19, 2010 COOKING UP A WINNER AT ISHARES The ETF provider iShares launched a new educational campaign this week in novel fashion. If you were around the City earlier this week then you may have seen two chefs, former contenders on MasterChef no less, cooking up a storm to promote the benefits of ETFs. The chefs used [...]