Inflation is like a hole in every saver’s pocket November 18, 2010 INFLATION is a global concern at the moment. In China, rocketing food prices have pushed up inflation to 4.4 per cent, prompting a 50 basis point rise in interest rates and a short crash in global equity and commodity prices. That must be galling for British savers – according to the Office for National Statistics; [...]
Expat expert: Potential offshore tax benefits November 18, 2010 Q.WHAT ARE THE POTENTIAL TAX BENEFITS OF BANKING OFFSHORE? A.An attraction of offshore banking could be the opportunity to receive gross interest since interest on offshore accounts is usually paid without the deduction of tax. This may be tax efficient for you, depending on the tax rules in the country where you are resident. There [...]
How to turn Cameron’s vision of an entrepreneurial decade into a reality November 18, 2010 DAVID Cameron has called on the nation’s “doers-and-grafters, inventors and entrepreneurs” to save us from our troubled finances. He’s not wrong. According to research commissioned by Enterprise UK, a rise of just one per cent in self-employment rates could boost the UK’s GDP by around 1.5 per cent and add approximately £22bn to the UK economy. [...]
Vodafone set to pay £350m in tax dispute November 15, 2010 VODAFONE was yesterday told it must pay £350m in relation to its Indian tax dispute within the next three weeks. The telecoms giant must also make a bank guarantee worth £1.2bn within eight weeks. Vodafone is embroiled in a legal battle with Indian authorities over a disputed capital gains tax bill relating to its 2007 [...]
BHP moves on from Potash takeover bid November 15, 2010 MINING giant BHP Billiton’s shares rose yesterday following its decision to abandon its hostile takeover of Potash Corp and begin a $4.2bn (£2.6bn) share buyback, as analysts pored over the world’s largest mining group’s next move. BHP’s London-listed shares closed 1.8 per cent up at £24.06, outperforming a 0.4 per cent gain in the FTSE [...]
Deutsche Postbank moves into profit November 11, 2010 BONN-based retail lender Deutsche Postbank unveiled a dramatic recovery in its third-quarter results yesterday, with pre-tax profit moving from a €29m (£24.5m) loss to a €71m gain. The bank is 41 per cent owned by Deutsche Bank. Nine-month earnings per share were up 25 per cent to €1 and the bank posted an improved tier [...]
FTSE 100 falls after gloomy import data and debt worries November 10, 2010 BRITAIN’S top share index fell to a one-week closing low yesterday, pressured by miners on fears over softening demand from China after downbeat import data, with worries about Ireland’s debt also darkening the mood. The FTSE 100 closed down 58.25 points, or one per cent, at 5,816.94. The index ended up 0.4 per cent on [...]
Tax dispute forces Tullow Oil to abandon drilling in Uganda November 10, 2010 EXPLORER Tullow Oil said a dispute with the government of Uganda had forced it to abandon drilling at two oil-rich blocks near Lake Albert and that it was unsure when this would recommence. The London-based company added that the government was wary of agreeing to a plan to decouple Tullow’s dispute from another, potentially lengthier, [...]
Stupid policies have destroyed Eire November 8, 2010 IT is starting to look truly grim for Ireland, which is moving ever closer to the abyss. An article yesterday by Morgan Kelly, a professor of economics at University College, Dublin, added fuel to the fire. By next year Ireland will have run out of cash, Kelly claimed, and the terms of a formal bailout [...]
Focus on EMI trial November 4, 2010 JUDGE JED RAKOFF Jed Rakoff provoked the ire of Wall Street when he rejected Bank of America’s $33m attempt to settle a dishonesty probe last year, describing such offers as “half-baked justice at best”. He redeemed himself in the eyes of one American bank yesterday, though his merciless courtroom treatment of long-winded witnesses gained him [...]