London still outperforms the rest of the country June 28, 2012 Q What is happening to London prices at the moment? A London property continues to outperform the rest of the UK market. The latest official data showed that average house prices across the capital are up 5.1 per cent year on year, compared to a one per cent fall across England and Wales. The average [...]
Libor manipulation scandal is a disastrous own goal for City June 28, 2012 WHAT preposterous emails. What were these traders thinking? That they would get away with it? Barclays and the entire banking industry have been badly damaged by the Libor manipulation scandal – and this time it is entirely a crisis of their own making. This is not like some previous rounds of banker-bashing, where lenders were [...]
Libor manipulation scandal is a disastrous own goal for City June 27, 2012 WHAT preposterous emails. What were these traders thinking? That they would get away with it? Barclays and the entire banking industry have been badly damaged by the Libor manipulation scandal – and this time it is entirely a crisis of their own making. This is not like some previous rounds of banker-bashing, where lenders were [...]
Falling tax receipts show that we’ve forgotten Laffer’s lesson June 27, 2012 SOMETHING very worrying is happening to the UK’s public finances. Income tax and capital gains tax receipts fell by 7.3 per cent in May compared with a year ago, according to official figures. Over the first two months of the fiscal year, they are down by 0.5 per cent. This is merely the confirmation of [...]
National debt goes up as income tax takings drop June 26, 2012 THE UK’S public finances took a hammering last month, according to data released yesterday by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). A budget deficit of £17.9bn for May pushed the net national debt to £1.013 trillion, hitting 65 per cent of GDP. Just one year ago, net debt stood at the comparatively low figure of [...]
Falling tax receipts show that we’ve forgotten Laffer’s lesson June 26, 2012 SOMETHING very worrying is happening to the UK’s public finances. Income tax and capital gains tax receipts fell by 7.3 per cent in May compared with a year ago, according to official figures. Over the first two months of the fiscal year, they are down by 0.5 per cent. This is merely the confirmation of [...]
JOBS of the WEEK June 20, 2012 HR MANAGER LONDON £55k-£75k pa, plus bonus and benefits An asset management firm requires an HR manager to take control of its UK region. Applicants to this new position must have a strong generalist skill set and experience of financial services. http://www.cityamcareers.com/job/16538 PRODUCT LITIGATION LAWYER LONDON £90k-£130k pa A niche litigation and insurance practice requires [...]
Why Germany could eventually lose patience with the euro June 18, 2012 FORGET about Greece, Spain or even Italy. And no, I haven’t gone mad: if somebody ends the euro, it will be Germany. This would be a great paradox. So far, Germany has been the big winner from the single currency – but it may soon find that the costs of membership are becoming greater than [...]
UK received no corporation tax from Vodafone June 10, 2012 VODAFONE, one of the FTSE 100’s biggest companies, did not pay a penny of corporation tax in the UK last year. But the telecoms giant said it makes it main contribution to the UK economy via investment rather than taxes. “Last year, Vodafone’s UK capital expenditure went up from £516m to £575m – which means [...]
Johnson Matthey proposes a special dividend as profit lifts June 7, 2012 JOHNSON Matthey, the world’s largest supplier of catalytic converters, yesterday posted larger than expected profits and proposed its first ever special dividend. The company was buoyed by sales of trucks in North America and more diesel cars in Europe. Johnson Matthey, which makes catalysts to convert toxic engines emissions, sells pharmaceutical ingredients and refines platinum, [...]