Vodafone will appeal Indian tax decision September 14, 2010 Vodafone has filed an appeal with India’s Supreme Court after its petition over a tax feud with authorities was dismissed. The lower court ruled that the Indian tax system has jurisdiction over tax bills in cross-border mergers. Vodafone, which is fighting a tax bill in India from its 2007 purchase of Hutchison Whampoa’s mobile business [...]
UK shares surge as global deal boosts banks and China data cheers investors September 13, 2010 THE UK’s top share index ended higher yesterday after banks rose sharply in response to a new deal over global banking rules while mining shares gained on the back of bullish China industrial data. The FTSE 100 closed up 63.89 points, or 1.2 per cent, at 5,565.53 points, a fresh four-month closing high. “It has [...]
Still ahead of the curve: Art Laffer rises as Obama hits America’s rich September 12, 2010 WE SPEAK across the gleaming sweep of a boardroom table. Arthur Laffer has grabbed time for an interview while visiting CQS, a hedge fund. He is 70 this year, and the man who transformed the case for lower taxes with one sketch is in demand on this rare visit from the US. Today Laffer has [...]
The zero-point spread has arrived September 12, 2010 INTENSE competition within the spread betting industry has driven providers to narrow their spreads. A decade ago, eight-point spreads were the norm, today the industry average is just two to three basis points. The most liquid markets such as the European indices and currencies often incur a spread of just one point, making it extremely [...]
FTSE’s winning streak comes to an end after Barclays and mining shares sink September 7, 2010 BRITAIN’S top share index fell from a four-month closing high and ended a seven-session winning run yesterday, led lower by Barclays after management changes and miners on concerns over Australia’s tax plan. In positive news, Invensys climbed 7.4 per cent, with traders citing a newspaper report that the engineering group is a takeover target. An [...]
David Miliband: The least bad option August 31, 2010 ONE of the stories of the summer has been just how far the Labour party is moving to the left, as its leadership candidates appeal to grassroot members and trade unionists angry at the perceived betrayals of the Blair years. With the coalition’s honeymoon long since over, and the Lib Dems’ popularity in freefall, who [...]
Heir to Blair says Labour has not fallen out of love with business August 31, 2010 WITH a week to go until MPs return from their summer break, Westminster is a ghost town. Its tearooms and canteens, normally buzzing with political gossip and intrigue, sit deserted. David Miliband cuts a lonely figure as he strides purposefully across the empty atrium of Portcullis House, the modern extension to the House of Commons. [...]
S&P CASTS DOUBT ON BANK REVIVAL August 26, 2010 RATING agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) cast doubt on the strength of the UK banking sector’s recovery yesterday, saying lenders had been buoyed by a rising economic tide. The claim, made after this month’s bumper first-half earnings season, was immediately rebuffed by banking industry figures. While institutions realise they have been helped by an improving [...]
Tullow slides on Ugandan project delay August 25, 2010 OIL explorer Tullow faced tough questions over its plans in Uganda yesterday, as shares dipped despite a 152 per cent increase in pre-tax profit in the last six months. Its $10bn (£6.6bn) project on oil fields once owned by Heritage stalled in January, after the Ugandan government disputed Heritage’s capital gains tax payments on the [...]
Cameron takes stock after 100 days in power August 17, 2010 TONY Blair, who releases his memoirs next month, says his biggest regret was not doing enough during his early years in power. He wasted his first 100 days – and indeed much of his first term – basking in the glory of Labour’s landslide win. By the time he turned his attention to public service [...]