Virgin media nets more money per user October 27, 2010 Cable operator Virgin Media added fewer net new customers in the third quarter than expected but managed to extract record sums from each user. Virgin Media, which competes in Britain with BT and BSkyB in the provision of broadband, telephony and pay-TV, said it had added 14,100 net new customers in the period ending September, [...]
ICB puts the spotlight on competition October 24, 2010 THE INDEPENDENT Commission on Banking (ICB) has written to the Treasury to underline the importance of promoting competition after the shake-up of the UK’s regulatory structure is complete. In its first public recommendation, the commission – headed by former Office of Fair Trading boss Sir John Vickers – called on the government to ensure that [...]
Rolet to speak out on regulation October 20, 2010 London Stock Exchange chief executive Xavier Rolet will appear next week before the Treasury select committee, to give evidence on its inquiry into financial regulation in the UK. Rolet has been vocal in his opposition to new proposals to split the regulation of the primary and secondary capital raising markets, under which the former will [...]
World Bank attacks US currency policy October 19, 2010 Surging capital inflows threaten Asia’s economic stability, the World Bank has warned, a day after US treasury secretary Timothy Geithner sought to draw the venom from a global row over currencies by vowing not to devalue the dollar. The World Bank buttressed the argument made by China and others that US policies are sending a [...]
The accountant who sees EU rules as a chance to transform his firm October 18, 2010 For a man less than three months away from retirement, BDO’s policy board chairman – in effect, the firm’s international chairman – can’t wait to get into the issues. And to be fair, there is much for Dermot Mathias, who joined the accountancy giant 37 years ago, to discuss. What excites him most is the [...]
Enter the corporate entrepreneur: Britain’s best hope for real recovery October 17, 2010 CO-FOUNDER, MARKET GRAVITY THE UK’s recovery from the deepest recession in eighty years is dependent on sustained private sector growth. Corporate earnings may be recovering, but too much is due to cost cutting, not real growth, and this trend is not sustainable. Recent analysis from Market Gravity illustrates that while 75 per cent of FTSE [...]
Government wields axe on nearly 200 quangos and plans to merge many others October 14, 2010 ALMOST 200 quangos face the axe as part of government proposals to save millions of pounds while a further 481 face reform, the Cabinet office revealed yesterday. The closures will lead to thousands of job losses and are likely to create a substantial redundancy bill for the government, although it claimed yesterday in the long [...]
DO-GOODING HEDGE FUND AUTHORS STRIP MEAT OFF MERVYN’S BONES October 14, 2010 FOLLOWING on from The Capitalist’s coverage of the launch of The Gathering Storm – a compilation of essays by hedgies, with all proceeds going to charities chosen by the writers – the book’s august authors gathered yesterday for cucumber sandwiches and wine at the Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation. As the discussion galloped [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING October 11, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES BLOW TO BANK CRISIS PLANS Regulators are struggling to create a global mechanism that could wind down a big financial institution without the disruption caused by Lehman Brothers’ collapse in 2008. The US is due to propose its own “resolution” regime. But policymakers attendingmeetings around the Internationa Monetary Fund have criticised the regime [...]
Why Gatwick Airport’s new chief has Heathrow lined up in his sights October 10, 2010 SOME people need to have a lot on their plates if they are to thrive – and Stewart Wingate, Gatwick’s newish boss, is clearly one of these. The 39-year-old took up his post last December when the airport was bought by US investment fund Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) for £1.5bn from Ferrovial-owned airports operator BAA, which [...]