Carbon credit scam crackdown November 6, 2013 19 firms selling carbon credits have been shut down in the past 15 months for ripping off investors, UK regulators said yesterday. The Insolvency Service said more than 1,500 investors had been defrauded out of £24m, and together with the Financial Conduct Authority, warned investors against buying the products. Firms selling the credits, which are [...]
Growth fears as credit cards drive recovery October 28, 2013 HOUSEHOLD borrowing is set to grow this year for the first time since the credit crunch struck, according to forecasts out today from the Ernst and Young ITEM Club. But business borrowing and investment remains weak, raising concerns over an imbalanced, consumer-credit fuelled recovery. The economists predict consumer credit will gradually pick up pace, growing [...]
Insolvencies down on recovery October 21, 2013 THE ECONOMIC recovery and ultra-low interest rates are keeping insolvencies low, as Experian data today shows the fifth consecutive monthly fall. A total of 1,609 firms became insolvent in September, a rate of 0.07 per cent – down from 0.08 per cent or 1,679 in the same month last year. Large firms, with over 501 staff, [...]
Zombie estate agents at risk from rate rise October 14, 2013 ALMOST half a million British firms are now zombies, only able to stay afloat because interest rates are so low, insolvency practitioners Begbies Traynor estimated yesterday, with estate agents the worst affected. One in seven firms can barely cover their interest payments and are at risk of going under if rates go up, amounting to [...]
Spotlight on Financial Fair Play in Football: Giant-killing lawyer sets sights on Euro regulators October 2, 2013 A COURTROOM battle that threatens to derail European football’s new Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules before they have had a chance to change the sport’s landscape is set to start today. Ground-breaking Belgian lawyer Jean-Louis Dupont, who irrevocably altered the transfer system by winning the Bosman ruling in 1995, is leading a challenge to FFP’s [...]
Begbies Traynor warns of lower earnings due to insolvency fall October 1, 2013 RESTRUCTURING specialist Begbies Traynor yesterday said revenues were currently lower than last year due to “suppressed” conditions in the insolvency market. The company, which helps businesses restructure when they fall into insolvency, said a 13 per cent decline in insolvency appointments across the country had been bad news for its own business. The gloomy prediction [...]
Coeure calls for limited national control on bloc’s banking union September 30, 2013 EUROPEAN Central Bank (ECB) board member Benoit Coeure argued in favour of limiting Eurozone nations’ discretion over new bail-in rules during a speech yesterday. Coeure said: “The degree of discretion national resolution authorities will have in applying the bail-in rules… in my view should be as constrained as possible.” Some leaders have dragged their feet [...]
Insolvency hits 12-month low as firms thrive September 29, 2013 BUSINESS insolvencies fell in August compared with the same month in 2012, marking 12 months of falling insolvency rates, according to data out today from credit information firm Experian. A total of 1,632 firms failed in the month, down on the 1,723 that failed in August 2012, and the 12th month in a row that [...]
City Moves for 19 September 2013 | Who’s switching jobs September 18, 2013 Baker & McKenzie The law firm has announced the appointment of Paul Hibbert as a partner in its London office. Hibbert specialises in acquisition and leverage finance. He joins from Clifford Chance, where he was a senior associate in its London banking practice. Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management The wealth management business has made two [...]
Innovation Diary: Three things we can learn from the high growth small business gazelles September 15, 2013 OVER 350,000 new firms have been launched in the UK this year, and confidence is rising. Aldermore Bank research, released on Friday, saw small to medium-sized enterprise (SME) confidence in the economy climb for the fourth consecutive quarter. Yet this tells us little about what it takes to succeed as a UK startup. As Mark [...]