Poor Britons turn to pricey payday loans December 7, 2011 THE DIRE state of many Britons’ personal finances has been underlined by new research that shows 3.5m people are considering taking out payday loans over the next six months. Concern over personal debt has reached the highest level since insolvency body R3 began making records, it said yesterday as it warned of “zombie debtors” who [...]
Commodities drag FTSE 100 down as euphoria wears off December 1, 2011 THE UK’s leading share index closed lower yesterday, led by weaker commodity prices, as earlier gains were reversed in tandem with a weaker showing on Wall Street as Wednesday’s boost from central bank intervention moves proved short-lived. At the close, the FTSE 100 index was down 16.08 points or 0.3 per cent at 5,489.34, just [...]
HOPING FOR A CHANGE IN ECB POLICIES November 28, 2011 EQUITY markets bounced back yesterday, but last week was another grim period. Anyone hoping for an equity market rally into Thanksgiving will have been severely disappointed. The major stock indices across Europe, the US and Asian Pacific countries all fell sharply, with many breaking below significant support levels. From a technical perspective, last week’s sell-off [...]
Lehman lawyers think insolvency regime too weak November 24, 2011 THE high profile failure of MF Global has once again highlighted the intractable problems that arise when an investment firm fails. The latest reports suggest that the shortfall on client funds may be as much as $1.2bn (£0.7bn). Staggeringly, that represents a quarter of all the funds that the firm was supposed to be holding. [...]
MADE IN CHELSEA DIAMOND HEIR DIGS DEEP FOR HIS NEXT VENTURE November 15, 2011 HIS FAMILY made their fortune digging for diamonds in the Congo and Sierra Leone, but Made in Chelsea stalwart Francis Boulle is interested in mines of a different kind. Fundmine, to be precise, an online investment platform that allows entrepreneurs to sell their company visions to private investors that has to date attracted £8.7m of [...]
HMRC’s use of powers to seize business assets grows four-fold November 13, 2011 HMRC has massively increased its use of powers, allowing it to seize the assets of late-paying businesses in an urgent effort to increase its tax take, a new report has revealed. Data obtained by law firm McGrigors shows that the number of times HMRC has used its powers of distraint to seize assets of late-payers [...]
MF Global fires 1,066 workers November 11, 2011 All employees of the brokerage arm of collapsed MF Global were fired today, with immediate effect. The 1,066 employees, about half of MF Global’s entire workforce, will be paid through 15 November, according to a statement from James W. Giddens, the court-appointed Trustee for the liquidation of MF Global. About 600 of the remaining MF [...]
The penny drops at last in Europe November 9, 2011 IN a rational market, risk as well as return is at the forefront of investors’ minds. They demand a high rate of interest to lend to risky companies, individuals or countries – and a low one to invest in safe havens. The problem during bubbles is that investors drunk on excessive liquidity – and who [...]
Time to think about euro’s break-up November 6, 2011 IT is finally all over for George Papandreou, the Greek prime minister. Barring yet another u-turn, he will step down and a so-called national unity government will be created with the help of opposition leader Antonis Samaras. It’s not as if the two men are strangers: astonishingly, they were roommates at Amherst College in the [...]
Freddie Mac sees $4.4bn loss November 3, 2011 MORTGAGE giant Freddie Mac said yesterday it will seek an extra $6bn (£3.7bn) from US taxpayers following its worst quarterly loss this year. The US government-owned company reported a comprehensive loss in the third quarter of $4.4bn, it said in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. That compared with a $2.5bn loss [...]