Coalition caps payday lenders November 25, 2013 CHANCELLOR George Osborne announced a surprise cap on payday loan costs yesterday, turning the government’s previous policy towards the short-term lending firms on its head. In the face of growing pressure from both the Labour party and an influential group of peers including the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, Osborne now plans to amend the [...]
We must help those in financial crisis – but loan caps won’t work November 25, 2013 SOMETIMES I really do wonder who is in power in this country. Is it a Tory-Lib Dem coalition, dedicated to ensuring the UK is open to business, or is it the Labour party? Whenever the opposition starts to campaign on an issue, especially one with cost of living or emotional undertones, the coalition eventually caves [...]
Barclays to pay monthly top up to account for EU’s bonus cap November 25, 2013 HUNDREDS of Barclays’ highest paid staff are in line for extra payments to top up their salaries and replace the income lost by the EU’s incoming bonus cap, the bank has told workers. The level of the monthly payment, known as Role Based Pay according to an email to staff seen by City A.M., will [...]
RBS referred to City watchdog by Vince Cable November 24, 2013 TAXPAYER-backed bank RBS has been referred to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) by the business secretary Vince Cable over claims in a report out today from Lawrence Tomlinson, enterprise adviser to the Department for Business. Tomlinson claims RBS has forced good businesses into difficulties purely to strip their assets and gain more profit for the [...]
TSB draws up prospectus ahead of 2014 stock market flotation November 24, 2013 LLOYDS’ spin-off TSB bank has drawn up the first drafts of its prospectus to investors ahead of its initial public offering, as it prepares to float on the stock market next year. The lender was established as a standalone entity in September and says it has benefitted from the seven day switching scheme which allows [...]
Sport Comment: BT and Sky TV wars boost English sides in Euro competition November 21, 2013 Concerns that main effect will be to polarise Premier League are misguided, argues Soccernomics author in our exclusive article BT SPORT’S mammoth bid for Champions League and Europa League rights in Britain is more than double the amount paid in the previous round – Sky and ITV paid a combined sum of around £135m per [...]
University has become an arms race: We must give students an alternative November 20, 2013 THESE are not great times to graduate from university. Against the backdrop of a declining graduate premium (the difference between the earnings of graduates and non-graduates), university fees have shot up, and both the graduate unemployment rate and the share of graduates who have ended up in non-graduate jobs have increased (from 37 per cent [...]
Errors must be punished – but US justice is becoming arbitrary November 19, 2013 IMAGINE the following scenario. It’s 2024 and we are in the middle of a major banking crisis caused by a political implosion in China. Banks are going bust left, right and centre, with the regulators trying to offload failed institutions to stronger ones to contain the chaos. If you were in charge of one of [...]
UK’s zombie firms taking a bite out of productivity November 18, 2013 THOUSANDS of heavily indebted firms are holding back the UK’s recovery, kept above water by historically low interest rates, according to a new report published today. According to research by the Adam Smith Institute, a Westminster think tank, 108,000 so-called zombie businesses across the country are only able to service the interest on their debt, [...]
Communicator and Rhombus in perfect shape for November Handicap November 7, 2013 RICHARD Hughes will be doused with champagne by his fellow jockeys for the second year running at Doncaster tomorrow afternoon after another fantastic season. He takes the ride on Hughie Morrison’s Nearly Caught in the November Handicap (3.35pm), but he has plenty of weight for a three-year-old and I’m inclined to look elsewhere. John Gosden [...]