Taxpayers face £50m bill from Comet failure December 16, 2012 THE owners of Comet are set to recover £50m from the collapse of the electricals chain while taxpayers are expected to fork out around £50m in unpaid tax and redundancy costs. A report by administrator Deloitte due to be published today is expected to show that Hailey Acquisitions Limited (HAL), Comet’s parent company, is entitled [...]
Rules against aggressive tax avoidance delayed December 11, 2012 NEW rules that will ban companies and individuals from engaging in aggressive tax avoidance schemes will not be implemented until at least summer 2013, according to draft legislation released yesterday. The General Anti Avoidance Rule (GAAR), which will give HMRC the power to identify and act against legal tax arrangements that are “abusive”, was due to be enforced [...]
What the other papers say this Morning December 11, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES Call for cleaner succession strategies Companies must improve their succession planning and make sure they have strong candidates ready to take the helm as chief executive, or risk undermining shareholder value and damaging market performance. The Association of British Insurers (ABI), which represents some of the UK’s biggest investors, gave the warning as [...]
Insurance firms fight bank-style rules on capital December 11, 2012 LARGE insurance companies do not pose the same threat to global economy as big banks and should not be designated as systemically important financial institutions, according to a study published yesterday by the Geneva Association, an industry-funded think tank. Global regulators plan to impose stricter capital rules on banks in order to avoid a repeat [...]
AIG to sell lease firm to Chinese group at a loss December 10, 2012 AMERICAN International Group will sell nearly all of aircraft leasing business ILFC to a Chinese consortium for up to $4.8bn (£2.9bn), in a deal that gives the fastest growing aviation market easier and cheaper access to planes. But the sale is at a far cheaper price than AIG sought and will lead to a substantial [...]
The poorest will suffer if we ignore the real evidence on payday loans December 10, 2012 THE non-stop tide of new regulation from the government continues. It now appears to be preparing to accept an amendment to the Financial Services Bill, which will allow the Financial Conduct Authority to cap interest rates on payday loans. A recent intervention by the incoming archbishop of Canterbury (who is strongly in favour of the [...]
Who’s switching jobs December 4, 2012 Aon Hewitt The human resources consultancy has appointed Andrew Woolnough as client development director in its flexible benefits team. He was most recently head of flexible benefits at Enrich Reward, and has also held senior roles at Jelf Group. JP Morgan Private Bank The private bank has announced two new appointments to its London-based South [...]
Lawyers warn planned regulations on shadow banks could result in a renewed credit crunch December 2, 2012 INVESTMENT funds and insurers could become a major new source of credit, particularly in the loan-starved European economy – but finance regulators risk choking off the flow of funds with heavy-handed new rules, law firm Allen and Overy warns in a new study published today. The so-called shadow banking sector is made up of financial [...]
New broom Mark Carney has a lot of paperwork to sweep up November 28, 2012 FROM the forthcoming report of the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards to a possible resignation letter from Paul Tucker: Mark Carney has an unenviable reading list before he sets foot in Threadneedle Street as the new Governor of the Bank of England. If he wants a genuine cold-towel moment ahead of his arrival, however, he [...]
US firm Affinion drops out of takeover talks for CPP November 28, 2012 US firm Affinion Group last night pulled out of takeover talks with credit card insurer CPP. Affinion, which had revealed it was in preliminary takeover talks at the end of last month, said it had no intention of making an offer. CPP, said it would continue to actively pursue a range of financing options. “We [...]