Carr apologises for ‘terrible error of judgement’ June 21, 2012 COMEDIAN Jimmy Carr said he made “a terrible error of judgement” in using a legal offshore tax scheme to reduce his payments to HMRC. “I appreciate as a comedian, people will expect me to ‘make light’ of this situation, but I’m not going to in this statement,” Carr said on Twitter. “Although I’ve been advised [...]
Shop Direct picks banker as new chief June 21, 2012 HOME shopping retailer Shop Direct has hired Lombard banker Alex Baldock as its new chief executive. Shop Direct, which owns Littlewoods and the online guise of Woolworths, said Baldock will join in September when incumbent Mark Newton-Jones retires after nine years. Baldock, 41, has a financial rather than retail background, having worked for Barclays, Bain [...]
Eurozone debt crisis slows Asian progress June 21, 2012 THE FALLOUT from the Eurozone crisis has now spread to East Asia including the world’s second largest economy, according to data released yesterday. The HSBC Chinese manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for June dipped to a seven-month low of 48.1. Any value below 50 marks a contraction, and yesterday’s result means the index has now [...]
BoJ may raise QE to combat weak Eurozone June 20, 2012 MONETARY easing could be on the way, Bank of Japan minutes suggested yesterday, as the country recorded its first ever current account deficit with the EU. Governor Masaaki Shirakawa warned in a speech yesterday that though “major turmoil has been avoided following the outcome of the Greek election…Greece is pressed to implement fiscal and structural [...]
WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS June 20, 2012 Sciens Tim Wilkinson has been appointed president of Sciens Fund of Funds Management Holdings, part of the Sciens Capital Management Group. Prior to joining the firm he was managing director at Russell Investments, and spent 15 years with Citigroup, latterly as global head of transition management. Wilkinson started his career at SG Warburg Securities. Banque [...]
Slowing inflation opens door to money printing June 19, 2012 CONSUMER price inflation slowed again in May to its lowest rate since December 2009, according to official data out yesterday. Prices rose 2.8 per cent in the year to May, down from three per cent in the year to April, the Office for National Statistics revealed, leading economists to forecast a new round of quantitative [...]
Market report: FTSE benefits from caffeine hit as inflation falls June 19, 2012 Coffee and a promise to safeguard the Eurozone from further contagion pushed the FTSE up 0.4 per cent in early trading this morning. As a result London’s blue chip index broke through the 5,500 level – a technical level seen as key for spurring further buying. Last night European leaders at the G20 summit in [...]
Bailout parties stumble toward coalition deal June 18, 2012 GREEK politicians were edging towards forming a pro-bailout coalition last night, after a finely balanced general election left no party with an overall majority. New Democracy leader Antonis Samaras is set to become Prime Minister after winning 29.7 per cent of the vote. As the largest party in parliament is awarded an extra 50 bonus [...]
India refuses to slash rates June 18, 2012 THE RESERVE Bank of India has flouted calls to cut interest rates or to reduce banks’ cash reserve requirements, opting yesterday not to provide more monetary stimulus for the country. India’s central bank chose to keep the repo rate at eight per cent and the cash reserve ratio at 4.75 per cent, in order to [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS June 18, 2012 Duncan Lawrie Jane Parry has been appointed to the UK board of Duncan Lawrie Private Bank. She joined the business a year ago and is now director, head of marketing and new business development. Parry started her banking career at Barclays, where she became marketing director of Premier banking in 2006. She has also held [...]