The wait to see how Carney voted on QE July 17, 2013 The Bank of England will today release its minutes from the Monetary Policy Committee held earlier this month. The meeting was new governor Mark Carney’s first, and the minutes will show whether or not he voted to extend quantitative easing. It will also be interesting to see if managed to persuade any other members to [...]
Barclays hires finance chief from JP Morgan July 16, 2013 BARCLAYS’ group finance director Chris Lucas will step down early next year, the bank announced yesterday, the final member of Bob Diamond’s top team to quit following last year’s Libor fixing scandal. He will be replaced by Tushar Morzaria, who is currently chief finance officer in corporate and investment banking at JP Morgan. Morzaria will [...]
Michael Page sees tough job market ahead July 16, 2013 RECRUITMENT firm Michael Page posted a rise in quarterly profits in Britain yesterday but said the next three months are likely to be tough. Michael Page, which makes 40 per cent of its profits from finance and accounting, said gross profit was up 0.3 per cent in the UK. However, this was wiped out by [...]
Travel money: the benefits of credit and prepaid currency cards July 16, 2013 THE PROLIFERATION of credit, debit, and prepaid currency card deals means changing holiday money is no longer a matter of simply comparing rates along the high street. While the majority still prefer to take cash with them – 60 per cent, according to research by Halifax – debit and credit card providers widely facilitate the [...]
Simplify planning laws and Garden Cities could solve our housing crisis June 19, 2013 BRITAIN’s planning regulations are a lawyers’ banquet. A tangled web of 118 Acts of Parliament govern them and, while the legal profession and a new breed of lobbyists known as “planning consultants” may prosper from this quagmire, the economy suffers. This is the theme of a new policy report on Britain’s antiquated planning regime I [...]
Russian and Kazakh firms set for relegation from FTSE 100 | City A.M. June 10, 2013 ALL THE Russian and Kazakhstan-based firms listed on the London Stock Exchange are expected to leave the top FTSE 100 index in the coming months in a stunning reversal from the tide of eastern giants entering the blue chip London market in recent years. Mining firms Polymetal and Evraz are widely expected to fall out [...]
Five myths about Margaret Thatcher that must be refuted April 14, 2013 FAR too much nonsense is being spoken about Lady Thatcher’s time in office. Here is my take on five key myths. MYTH 1: POPULARITY Thatcher won 43.9 per cent of the vote in 1979, 42.4 per cent per cent in 1983 and 42.2 per cent per cent in 1987, landslide results that contemporary politicians can [...]
Thatcher saved UK from slow decline April 12, 2013 When Margaret Thatcher won the 1979 election, Britain was a country on its knees, a discredited, impoverished post-imperial nation in seemingly terminal decline, with ruthless union bosses imposing their will on a gutless establishment, cripplingly high inflation, a tax regime that forbade entrepreneurship and ambition, and an antiquated class system still in full sway. Dozens [...]
UK branches of Cypriot banks reassure savers March 29, 2013 CYPRIOT banks with British operations reassured customers yesterday that their deposits were safe, with at least some savings covered under guarantee schemes. The Bank of Cyprus UK, which has three branches in London and another in Birmingham, said there would be “no effect on deposits” for its UK account holders, describing itself as a “separately [...]
London is most expensive place for finance firms March 13, 2013 TAXES and fees are making London by far the most expensive location in the world to set up a financial firm, according to figures released this morning. Looking at rents alone, Hong Kong tops the table of world cities for locating a company in the financial sector, Savills said, but including the impact of fees [...]