Q & A : THE BANK BONUS TAX December 13, 2009 Q. WHICH FIRMS ARE CONCERNED THEY MAY BE AFFECTED BY THE BONUS TAX? A.The Treasury originally said the tax would only hit the 397 deposit-holding banks and building societies which hold a banking licence from the Financial Services Authority, as well as their subsidiaries. However, the rules have since blurred; the Treasury has already stipulated [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING December 13, 2009 THE SUNDAYS The Sundays Telegraph DEBENHAMS DIRECTORS GET BUMPER PAYOUTS Directors of Debenhams have received bumper payouts, despite the retailer cutting its dividend payment to shareholders last year. Rob Templeman, chief executive, saw his package increase by a third to £1.24m after he was granted a bonus of £428,073. Michael Sharp, deputy chief executive, saw [...]
People don’t come here for the weather December 13, 2009 In 1733, Voltaire, one of France’s greatest thinkers, wrote a series of letters on the English nation, describing some of the extraordinary going-ons he had discovered during his exile to this country. The findings scandalised many of his French readers, then a truly statist and anti-capitalist nation. “Go into the London Stock Exchange – a [...]
THE TIPSTER December 7, 2009 GOLD bugs will have been disappointed with the sharp correction in the precious metal as it was unable to sustain its record highs above $1,200 an ounce. But for now gold seems to have found some support around the 23.60 per cent retracement when drawn from the April low so this could present a good [...]
FTSEdrops as windfall tax worries offset mining gains December 7, 2009 Britain’s top shares ended 0.2 per cent lower yesterday, with banks weak on concerns over a possible windfall tax, offsetting modest gains in miners and energy stocks which rebounded from earlier losses. The FTSE 100 closed 11.70 points lower at 5,310.66 points, paring some losses from earlier in the session when the index dropped to [...]
Foreign banks urged to lend to UK firms December 7, 2009 FOREIGN banks were yesterday asked to provide billions of pounds in loans to cash-strapped small businesses at a secret meeting with chancellor Alistair Darling and business secretary Lord Mandelson. The government lobbied senior executives from Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan Chase, UBS, and BNP Paribas at a covert meeting in a bid to get [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS December 7, 2009 Reed SmithThe law firm has appointed Graham Green as a partner in its employment group in London. Green joins from rival McDermott Will & Emery, and has also worked in the employment department at Linklaters. His practice covers all types of discrimination claims, including race, sex, age and disability discrimination, as well as claims over [...]
BANKS BRACED FOR 1BN WINDFALL TAX December 6, 2009 CHANCELLOR Alistair Darling was this weekend mulling a £1bn windfall tax on the banks as part of a “class war” strategy to depict the Tories as a party for the “rich”. The windfall tax, versions of which were still being worked on by officials last night, is likely to be for a year only and [...]
$1.1bn haul as Kuwait dumps Citi December 6, 2009 Kuwait’s sovereign wealth fund made a $1.1bn (£669.5m) profit when it sold its stake in Citigroup yesterday, becoming the latest Gulf investor to offload foreign investments as markets improve. The Kuwait Investment Authority transferred the preferred shares it owned in Citigroup into common stock and sold the entire holding for $4.1bn. It had invested $3bn [...]
WHAT ARE YOU EXPECTING FROM THE PRE-BUDGET REPORT? December 6, 2009 MICHAEL SAUNDERS CITIGROUPThis would be a good time to detail a phased fiscal consolidation for the next few years. However we do not expect this to happen in the PBR. Fiscal policy in the PBR will aim to reinforce Labour’s pre-election political strategy, rather than to re-establish fiscal sustainability.SIMON HAYES BARCLAYS CAPITALThe report provides the [...]