Seafaring Britain’s future prosperity depends on international cooperation April 18, 2016 Having been born in Sweden, with a Norwegian grandmother, and after visiting Finland countless times on business, my current trip to these Nordic nations almost feels like a homecoming. Many of the topics to be discussed during this week-long trip are equally familiar. The growing global maritime industry will be one of them, and, as [...]
Libor scandal: Those trading with Barclays would have felt cheated by accused bankers if they had heard about alleged actions April 6, 2016 Those trading with Barclays would have felt cheated if they had got wind of what the five accused bankers had allegedly done, said the lawyer for the fraud squad today. Former Barclays traders Stylianos Contogoulas, Jay Merchant, Alex Pabon and Ryan Reich, along with one of Barclays' former Libor submitters Jonathan Mathew, have been charged with conspiracy to [...]
Five top US women footballers have accused US Soccer of wage discrimination March 31, 2016 Five stars of the successful US women's football team have accused US Soccer of wage discrimination. Co-captains Carli Lloyd and Becky Sauerbrunn, forward Alex Morgan, midfielder Megan Rapinoe and goalkeeper Hope Solo have filed a federal complaint to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), which enforces civil rights laws against workplace discrimination. They intend to [...]
Leverage is all the rage: The crucial future task for central banks March 31, 2016 People who believe that banks just move other people’s money around, and those who draw comfort from high savings levels, will tell you that bank lending is not critical to economic growth. And they’ll argue the issue is demand, not supply. This is a very old argument. You’ll find it in the remarkable Report of [...]
The UK legal sector is vital to the City’s international success March 17, 2016 The City of London’s position as a world leader in finance and business is widely acknowledged. I know this only too well from my own work, both as an international commercial barrister and as the current chairman of the Bar of England and Wales. But the City is being challenged by other financial centres in [...]
Eurozone employment hits highest level since 2009 but financial sector job growth stalls March 15, 2016 Employment in the Eurozone climbed at the end of last year as the currency-bloc's moderate economic recovery continued. However, the Eurozone's financial sector failed to register a growth in job numbers. There were 151.9m people in work in the Eurozone between October and December, according to figures published by EU statistical office Eurostat this morning. It is 0.3 [...]
A third of business chiefs think they’ll be hacked with telecoms and utility companys most at risk March 15, 2016 More than a third of business chiefs in the UK believe their companies will be hacked at some point in the next 12 months and it's telecoms and utility firms that are most at risk. More than half of top executives working in the two sectors believe they will be targeted – more than those in the banking, [...]
Personality clash: Dealing with conflict in the workplace March 3, 2016 Most of us will encounter difficult individuals at some point in our careers. Whether it’s an overly negative colleague or an overbearing contact, the confines of the modern workplace give us little choice but to face these people head on. Behind the headlines of employment lawsuits, there often lies a clash of personalities. And there [...]
Red tape workers rejoice: Compliance salaries rose sharply during 2015, as employers also increased the number of lawyers on their payrolls February 25, 2016 Those working in compliance had reason to celebrate last year as salaries shot up for red tape focused roles, according to research out today. Morgan McKinley's 2016 UK Salary Guide has revealed that salaries in compliance roles shot up 20 per cent in 2015, while those in particularly niche positions saw their pay packets rocket by as [...]
Brexit would make red tape worse but lawyers are not doing very much in advance to prepare, warns city law firm White & Case February 3, 2016 Legal experts are warning that Britain leaving the EU would not help to cut red tape, although many have opted to adopt a wait and see approach to preparation. According to a report released today by city law firm White & Case, four out of five (84 per cent) in-house lawyers believe that leaving the [...]