Outlook for sterling is getting even grimmer January 5, 2010 BAD noises have been rumbling around sterling for months now, but they got considerably uglier in the past days. The world’s biggest bond fund, Pacific Investment Management Co (the cutely-acronymed Pimco), announced earlier this week that it is to cut its exposure to UK government bonds. This raises the spectre of other large investors losing [...]
Why the UK’s factories are back to 1973 January 4, 2010 EVERYBODY knows that financial services have been the hardest hit sector during the recession, right? Wrong. Manufacturing has been by far a greater drag on UK plc than services, including finance; factories have suffered more than offices, including trading floors. Virtually all our beliefs about the slump turn out, on closer scrutiny, to be incorrect. [...]
OFT attacks Ryanair over fee loopholes January 4, 2010 BUDGET airline Ryanair has been branded “puerile and childish” for using a legal loophole to hit online customers with an extra credit card charge. Office of Fair Trading (OFT) chief executive John Fingleton yesterday attacked the company for hitting customers with a £5 booking fee for using all but one credit card. The fee has [...]
Mining and oil stocks drive London to a 16-month high January 4, 2010 Strength in commodity stocks and banks drove Britain’s leading share index to a 16-month closing high yesterday, the first session of 2010, outweighing falls from real estate firms and life insurers. The FTSE 100 closed up 87.46 points, or 1.6 per cent, at 5,500.34, its highest close since Sept. 2, 2008 – the month when [...]
Ryanair branded “puerile and childish” over credit card charges January 4, 2010 BUDGET airline Ryanair has been branded “puerile and childish” for using a legal loophole to hit online customers with an extra credit card charge. Office of Fair Trading chief executive John Fingleton attacked the company for the £5 fee charged on all but one credit card. The fee has been added to payments with Electron [...]
Call for probe into collapse of Flyglobespan December 20, 2009 SCOTTISH finance secretary John Swinney has called for an investigation into the failure of collapsed airline Flyglobespan. The Edinburgh-based business went into administration on Wednesday leaving thousands of passengers stranded and 550 staff facing redundancy a week before Christmas. Swinney said that a probe into the failure should look at the role of credit card [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS December 20, 2009 PricewaterhouseCoopers The accountancy firm has appointed Martin Caddick to lead its risk and business continuity management services team. Caddick joins from insurance broking and risk advisory firm Marsh, where he developed a successful business continuity practice and worked with numerous Fortune 500 companies in the UK and overseas. He also previously held director roles at [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING December 17, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES STRICKEN SCOTTISH AIRLINE’S £30M IN QUESTION Administrators of Globespan, the collapsed Scottish airline that has left thousands of passengers stranded abroad, were investigating last night why £30m of its funds were being held by E-Clear, the company that handles its credit card transactions. Bruce Cartwright, of PwC, said he understood that about half [...]
FSA in derivatives clean up December 16, 2009 FINANCIAL authorities yesterday called for improved transparency on over-the-counter derivatives products as well as higher charges for non-centrally cleared trades. In a paper called “Reforming OTC Derivatives Markets”, the Treasury and the Financial Services Authority (FSA) said the financial crisis had highlighted “shortcomings in the management of counterparty credit risk and the absence of sufficient [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS December 16, 2009 Prudential The insurer has appointed Margaret Coltman as general counsel and company secretary. Coltman, who will also be on the executive committee, was initially appointed to the role in July on an interim basis, having formerly worked as general counsel and company secretary at Lloyds Banking Group. She started her career at law firm Norton [...]