Loss for F&C as assets fall August 5, 2009 F&C ASSET Management said yesterday it swung to a pre-tax loss of £11.3m in the first half of the year, after client withdrawals from its funds ballooned to £3.3bn in the second quarter. The group held its interim dividend at 2p yesterday after reporting the loss, which compared to a £3.4m gain in the same [...]
Why Goldman Sachs is doing so well July 14, 2009 SO Meredith Whitney was right. The high-profile Wall Street analyst upgraded her advice to potential Goldman Sachs investors from “neutral” to a “buy” – and the investment bank, whose European operations are based in Fleet Street, responded with a hugely positive set of numbers. Net profit for the three months to June hit $3.4bn from [...]
It would be mad to hike capital gains tax July 5, 2009 FOR all of Gordon Brown’s increasingly laughable attempts at dissembling on the matter, there is absolutely no doubt that public spending will have to be slashed after the general election, regardless of who wins. Alistair Darling said as much yesterday, and that was also the implication of the comments from John Hutton, the former defence [...]
Tax code may become law if banks resist July 5, 2009 THE GOVERNMENT’S code of practice for banks on tax could become law if financial institutions do not behave in a manner consistent with the voluntary scheme, Treasury sources said yesterday. The code, unveiled by financial secretary to the Treasury Stephen Timms last week, asks banks to act in a manner consistent with “both the letter [...]
MP expenses are censored June 18, 2009 OVER a million pages of MP expenses were made available to the public yesterday in a bid for transparency, but the government was hit by accusations of a cover up after huge swathes of crucial information was censored. Items hidden under thick black blocks include addresses of second homes, destinations on train tickets and the [...]
Treasury minister quits over expenses June 17, 2009 TREASURY minister Kitty Ussher resigned from the government last night after it emerged she avoided paying £17,000 capital gains tax on her Burnley constituency home when she sold it in 2007. Ussher denied she did anything wrong, but said she was stepping aside to prevent causing the “government any embarrassment.” Ussher, a former City Minister, [...]
Osborne hits out at City in key speech June 9, 2009 TORY shadow chancellor George Osborne yesterday said the City’s focus on “illusory” short-term gains had damaged the financial sector and the entire economy. Speaking at the Association of British Insurers (ABI) conference, Osborne said that City regulation needed to be reformed to “reduce the risks the financial sector poses to the rest of the economy”. [...]
GPE executives get big bonuses while slump hits profits June 7, 2009 GREAT Portland Estates, the West End property group, has handed out a total £1.3m in executive bonus payouts, despite sinking to a £436m pre-tax loss last year. The property group is expected to face clashes when it meets shareholders at its annual meeting next month. Since the downturn bonuses have been in the spotlight as [...]
Cash in on Euro parliament with Brussels buy-to-let June 4, 2009 IF you think that politicians in this country have a good life, then take a look at the European Parliament. It is estimated that, if they have little shame, Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) can take home €200,000 (£173,000) a year. The first reaction to this might well be outrage. But the second should [...]
MPs should show how to use pay to reward talent May 25, 2009 May has been a very embarrassing month. People keep talking about money. Not the anonymous multi-trillion pound bailout/quantitative easing/fiscal stimulus piles of money, but the cringingly personal “my house is bigger than yours” monthly pay-cheque sort of money. One of CNBC TV’s guests last week hit the nail on the head when he said; “the [...]