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Business News
for 02/07/2010

(last updated 7:30am EST 02/07/2010)

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• Report: Toyota to recall Prius for brake... Report: Toyota to recall Prius for brake glitch
02/06/2010
Toyota Motor Corp. has decided to recall its new Prius hybrid in Japan to fix a braking software glitch, according to a dealer and a newspaper report. (11 h ago)

• NYT: Toyota has been slow to respond on ... NYT: Toyota has been slow to respond on safety
02/06/2010
NYT: Toyota’s recalls and disclosures in recent months are part of a lengthy pattern in which the automaker has often reacted slowly to safety concerns. (16 h ago)

• Toyota recall spurs questions on auto ra... Toyota recall spurs questions on auto ratings
02/06/2010
Massive recall of Toyotas shows that even trusted car testers can fail to spot serious safety issues. (1 d ago)

• Debt crisis unsettles European economy Debt crisis unsettles European economy
02/06/2010
Leaders across continent vow fiscal austerity in response to loss of confidence that is pummeling the euro and rippling across global markets. (1 d ago)

• Toyota's chief apologizes for global rec... Toyota's chief apologizes for global recalls
02/05/2010
Toyota's president apologized for the automaker's global recalls and promised to beef up quality control by setting up a special committee he would head himself. (1 d ago)

• Stocks pull out of slump but end week lo... Stocks pull out of slump but end week lower
02/05/2010
A battered stock market recovered from a sharp drop in late trading Friday but still posted its fourth straight weekly drop. (1 d ago)

• JPMorgan CEO gets $16 million pay packag... JPMorgan CEO gets $16 million pay package
02/05/2010
JPMorgan Chase & Co., which reported $11.7 billion in profit in 2009, awarded Chief Executive Jamie Dimon a compensation package worth about $16 million. (1 d ago)

• Ray of hope clouded by 8.4 million joble... Ray of hope clouded by 8.4 million jobless
02/05/2010
The government’s report on the January job market offered fresh hope that the economy is pulling out of its worst downturn since the Great Depression. But it will be a long climb. (1 d ago)

• Consumer credit down for 11th month Consumer credit down for 11th month
02/05/2010
Americans borrowed less for an 11th consecutive month in December, paying off credit cards while increasing borrowing for cars and other products. (1 d ago)

• Senator: Financial reform is at an ‘impa... Senator: Financial reform is at an ‘impasse’
02/05/2010
Efforts to tighten financial regulation ground to a halt in the Senate on Friday, casting one of the top domestic policy priorities of the Obama administration in a stark political light. (1 d ago)

• Banker in supermodel blunder keeps job Banker in supermodel blunder keeps job
02/05/2010
An Australian banker who became an internet sensation after he was caught on live television viewing images of a scantily clad supermodel on his computer will keep his job. (1 d ago)

• Europe’s financial crisis intensifies Europe’s financial crisis intensifies
02/05/2010
Fears of another crisis spiral for the world economy deepened after a Portuguese austerity plan was defeated, triggering concern that the crisis in that country and in Greece could worsen. (1 d ago)

• U.S., Canada to end ‘Buy American’ dispu... U.S., Canada to end ‘Buy American’ dispute
02/05/2010
Canada has reached a tentative deal with the United States to end a dispute over "Buy American" provisions in U.S. legislation, the two trading partners announced Friday. (1 d ago)

• Unemployment rate falls to 9.7 percent Unemployment rate falls to 9.7 percent
02/05/2010
The outlook for jobs became a bit less bleak with January's unexpected decline in the unemployment rate, which fell to 9.7 percent from 10 percent as more people said they had jobs. (1 d ago)

• Obama urges more loans for small busines... Obama urges more loans for small businesses
02/05/2010
Seeking to create more jobs, President Barack Obama on Friday asked Congress to temporarily expand two lending programs for the owners of small businesses. (1 d ago)

• Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig settle over... Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig settle over ad
02/05/2010
Weight Watchers International Inc. said Friday that rival Jenny Craig will end a controversial advertisement campaign as part of a legal settlement between the two weight-loss companies. (1 d ago)

• Running a business despite a chronic ill... Running a business despite a chronic illness
02/05/2010
Lisa Disbrow's doctors urged her to slow down. Could the entrepreneur find a way to manage her illness and her business? (1 d ago)

• Newsweek: Crisis will only make the euro... Newsweek: Crisis will only make the euro stronger
02/05/2010
Speculators have begun betting on an early euro-zone exit by Greece, and the European Commission has warned that it could risk the very existence of the euro itself. That's wrong: Currency unions don't collapse because weaker members leave them. (1 d ago)

• NYT: World markets fall on Europe fears NYT: World markets fall on Europe fears
02/05/2010
Just as America’s recession begins to ebb, trouble is brewing in Europe that may prolong a downturn and ricochet through the global economy as it struggles toward a recovery. (2 d ago)

• Editorial | The Tories' sums on the econ... Editorial | The Tories' sums on the economy don't add up
02/06/2010
Downing Street is right to be hinting that recession under Labour has felt less savage than recessions felt in the early 1980s and 1990s, when the Conservatives were in power Most of the time, people can dislike an incumbent government irrespective of whether a plausible alternative is available The equation changes in an election campaign. When voters come to evaluate the Labour government this year, they will have to weigh it against a real Conservative offer. For some, the simple fact of change will be attractive enough. But many will pause to ask what kind of change the Tories actually represent. Hesitation of that kind surely explains a slight narrowing in the Tory lead in recent opinion polls. David Cameron is still more likely to be prime minister than Gordon Brown come June, but he has reached the limit of what he can achieve purely on the back of Labour's failings. Mr Brown, meanwhile, having explored the lowest depths of unpopularity, is feeling more buoyant as the economy starts to recover. In an interview with the Observer today , the prime minister sets out the case that he insists can win Labour a fourth term. The argument, in essence, is that Labour took the right decisions to steer Britain out of a global recession and that the Tories would have taken the wrong ones. Mr Brown feels his economic judgment is vindicated, while Mr Cameron's is discredited. That assertion is supported by Tory confusion over pledges to reduce the deficit. George Osborne spent most of last year parading his plans for an "emergency budget" within weeks of taking office, on the grounds that the public finances need uncompromising cuts. Then Mr Cameron compromised. Cuts would be cautious at first to avoid choking off a fragile recovery. That was a humiliating U-turn, bringing Conservative economic strategy into line with what the government has said all along. A difference of substance has been downgraded to a difference of tone. That is a big problem for Mr Cameron, because substantial ideas to clarify the Conservative position are in short supply. Often, when the Tories try to strike a distinctive pose, they prove unable to hold it without wobbling. On marriage, for example, indecision has left Mr Cameron in the absurd situation of being firmly committed to a policy, but not knowing what it is. When Chris Grayling, shadow home secretary, tried to lash out at the government over rising crime last week, he was cut down to size by the head of the independent national statistics authority for "misleading" use of data. Mr Cameron should be worried that his party misfires in key policy areas so close to an election. He should be downright scared by the lack of credibility on economic matters. The Tories were disoriented by the financial crisis. They resisted measures – bank nationalisation, fiscal stimulus, quantitative easing – that are now generally accepted as having been vital. Mr Cameron and Mr Osborne still haven't got their story straight about the role of government in using public money to cushion the economy when the private sector collapses. They oppose it on principle, it seems, except when it works. And even then they are late converts. There is evidence that government intervention has worked in the past 18 months, limiting the rise in unemployment, preventing home repossessions and keeping small businesses afloat. The downturn has caused much misery. But Downing Street is right to be hinting that recession under Labour has felt less savage than recessions felt in the early 1980s and 1990s, when the Conservatives were in power. Mr Brown believes that will swing things in his favour. But arguments based on history play a limited part in deciding elections. Voters' grudges against Labour are fresher than memories of bygone Tory governments. Yet, with so little substance in Mr Cameron's current prospectus, voters are bound to recall the old Tory way of doing things as a guide to what the party believes and what it might do in office. That undermines the message of change – Mr Cameron's strongest weapon. And if the Tory leader were forced to fight purely on his record of judgment in opposition, the contest would surely be much closer. Conservatives Labour Economic policy Gordon Brown George Osborne David Cameron Politics General election 2010 Chris Grayling Recession guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (15 h ago)

• The big issue | Times are tough for baby... The big issue | Times are tough for baby boomers, too
02/06/2010
Don't blame us baby-boomers, Andrew Hankinson ("How graduates are picking up the tab for their parents' lives", Observer Magazine), for the tough circumstances you and many young people are now experiencing. We grew up in the postwar years; food was rationed, there was little to buy in the shops and nothing was open on Sundays; houses were freezing in winter; toys, outings and treats were few and far between. University education was free, but not accessible to most young people, and there was no easy credit to supplement the grant. We worked in vacations and never even considered such luxuries as gap years. We learnt to live within our means and not to spend what we did not have. Houses were not cheap relative to incomes and mortgages were impossible to come by unless you had savings with the building society. We had to save for what we wanted and this discipline enabled us to build up nest eggs for the future. And what has happened to these savings? They have been devalued by the current crisis, just at a time when we need them to support our retirement. Our savings and investments have been the victims of greedy bankers . John Pawsey and Janet Galley Milton Keynes ■ Tell Andrew Hankinson to start counting his blessings. He has an inspirational father, a loving girlfriend, a good education, his youth and his health. Take a year out from job search and volunteer his services to a working party in Haiti and help to build a home for a devastated family. He may find life afterwards truly rewarding. Pat Lambert (Mrs) Kenilworth, Warks ■ An excellent article. The politicians have devastated an entire generation. It was obvious that policies that favoured the financial industry and diminished all else would bring us crashing down – and they did. Get the heck out of England, kids. The wealthy have won; you have been pushed out of your own country. Name and address witheld ■ Andrew Hankinson should see another lost and angry generation. These are people in their 50s and 60s, whose dreams of retirement have vanished through redundancy, illness or pension fund evaporation. But unlike him, they have no time left to catch up. He should know that the period between the devaluation of sterling in 1967 and the intervention of the International Monetary Fund a decade later was also no bed of roses for new graduates. I started in tedious non-graduate jobs and took my opportunities as they came along. I did have the common sense to switch industries a couple of times, though. Mervyn Leah Rugby, Warwickshire ■ Inflated house prices have occurred not because of an intention by baby boomers to neglect or rob the next generation but because of a massive undersupply of new houses – for which governments of both parties should feel deep shame – and an irresponsible and extended lending spree by financial institutions. Richard Harris Watlington, Oxon ■ As a current university student, I find Andrew Hankinson's attitudes towards graduate employment unjustifiable and totally misguided. Anyone who expects to walk into a job upon leaving university with any degree is deluded. His disdain of perfectly acceptable employment is unpalatable particularly from someone of his age. His total fascination with such a narrow career path is obviously his downfall. I am sure that any employer would much prefer someone who has shown hard graft in any job to someone who merely sits at home awaiting his perfect vocation. Edmund Cassidy University of Oxford Unemployment and employment statistics Job hunting guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (15 h ago)

• Internet's unique user losers turn to th... Internet's unique user losers turn to the paywall game
02/06/2010
As web newspapers search for engaged users, some should ask whether they will find them among the masses Simple logic makes complex things easy. Thus, as paywalls go up around editorial content online, so the number of "unique users" clicking through to a site every month goes down. In turn, monthly unique user counts become a less accepted way of assessing site reach for advertisers. Mr Murdoch builds paywalls. Unique usage loses big numbers and credence. The Telegraph finds itself almost 7 million users behind the Guardian in December. Perhaps that helps prompt it to leave the unique race, as well, singing more meaningful hymns at the new altar of "engagement" – clubs, subscription services, regular visitors – that ad men can measure. It's almost two years since increasing user figures meant increasing ad gain, says its digital supremo: the old model's bust. There couldn't be a clearer fork in the road. The Times, Sun, Telegraph and Mail all hail the virtues of engagement (in their slightly different ways). The Guardian , piling on unique users past 37 million a month, is top of a premiership league other players may soon want to leave. But as unique users grow worldwide, do engaged users within that headline total also increase? Is it one, the other, or both? It's not an exciting question, like the wonders (or otherwise) of pay walls. But, in its nerd-like way, it could hardly be more important. ■ Sometimes you fear for the sanity of media management. Here (last week) is a great new gadget, the iPad. Let's give it to magazine subscribers to lock them in as long-term readers. One two-year subscription, one pad. But whoops! now we've done the figures, that means we'll be giving our readers $20-plus every month. It doesn't look like salvation, does it? Especially when you hear that Apple may be working on a second iPad with a 15.4 inch screen. Why not give those out with subscriptions next year - and retire to a small flat in Carey Street almost immediately? Newspapers & magazines Rupert Murdoch Internet Apple Peter Preston guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (15 h ago)

• John Terry and the papers: freedom to cr... John Terry and the papers: freedom to criticise or freedom to humiliate?
02/06/2010
Superinjunctions have come into disrepute over Trafigura – but is the John Terry story a similar cause in the fight for freedom? The reason superinjunctions have fallen from grace is that they were used to deter newspapers and broadcasters from raising clear matters of public interest such as Trafigura's ways with toxic waste. The reason why newspaper editors hate such injunctions pleading privacy law is that they shield public figures – such as England football captain John Terry, who shouldn't be able to pay for a blanket of silence. There needs to be better balance here. To quote Mr Justice Tugendhat , democracy needs "the freedom to criticise – within the limits of the law – the conduct of other members of society as being socially harmful or wrong". But after so many good reasons to welcome a freedom affirmed, here's one less good reason – as the Daily Telegraph reveals that Portsmouth FC's manager visited a Thai brothel and the Sun publishes the pictures, running through standard patter from the News of the World circa 1965. Freedom is a noble cause, one worth fighting for, but, when all's said and duly exposed, is it only about humiliating minor soccer characters for the equally minor thrill of it? Newspapers & magazines Trafigura John Terry Law Privacy Privacy & the media Peter Preston guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (15 h ago)

• How did Toyota veer so far off course? How did Toyota veer so far off course?
02/06/2010
Why things went so wrong so fast for Toyota – and why the company seemed so slow put them right When Catherine Block took her Toyota Aygo to her local dealer after a terrifying drive between Folkestone and Canterbury, she told mechanics: "It was a good job my brakes worked. Otherwise I would be dead." They laughed, she recalls. "They probably thought I was being melodramatic." This was hardly the case: during the 35-minute drive, she was able to drive up a steep hill at full pelt without pressing on the pedal once because the accelerator had stuck fast. Block, a 28-year-old student, had already taken her car into the Toyota dealership at least three times last autumn because of the sticky accelerator. On her first visit, mechanics said the problem was caused by the floor mat, then they wondered if the specialist radio equipment she had installed was the cause. Eventually, at the beginning of December, the mechanics replaced the pedal and the problem seems to have been solved. The dealership said hers was an isolated case. It has since emerged that Toyota had known about customers complaining about such "sticky" accelerator pedals in the UK since late 2008. Toyota admits that 26 of the cases it encountered in Europe had been reported as "customer satisfaction issues" at the time. The company now admits that between November and January – the fault appears to surface during cold weather– 20 more vehicles were affected in the UK alone. Car companies are obliged to alert the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (Vosa), which registers recalls on faulty cars, of any safety issue that may merit a recall. Toyota UK only went public following pressure from British government safety officials who were alerted by their US counterparts handling a deluge of complaints about stuck accelerators. The carmaker gave detailed information to Vosa on 22 January, leading to the recall of 180,000 cars in the UK last week. Toyota's failure to tell its dealers about the fault is what angers Block most. "The dealer did not have all the information available. This was a one-off as far as I was concerned." Since the fault is partly caused by wear and tear, as well as cold weather, she cannot be certain that the accelerator will not stick again. Toyota's public relations efforts, which accompanied its first public announcement in the UK about the faults late last month, have hardly reassured her. "I'm left in the dark – no one has bothered to contact me to check that the repair has worked. When I did ring the Toyota helpline, they said ring your dealer, who told me: 'It sounds like you know more about it than we do.' " When it finally came, Akio Toyoda's apology fell some way short of the dramatic mea culpa some had demanded from the Toyota president. "I apologise from the bottom of my heart for all the concern that we have given to so many customers," he said, having emerged to address a global safety recall that threatens to inflict almost irreparable damage to his firm's brand. But there were no tears, no lingering semi-prostration or pleas for forgiveness. The only bows of the evening were made in greeting, not contrition. Toyoda's performance was a case study in the subtle difference between an apology and an admission of culpability. Still, his appearance on Friday came as a surprise. The 53-year-old, who was made president last June as the firm looked to its founding family to revive flagging sales, had for two weeks resisted calls to speak publicly about the biggest crisis in Toyota's 73-year history. All the media had managed to cajole out of him before Friday was a rushed apology on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos last week. Appalled consumers, particularly in the US, made it clear that it was not the bold statement of reassurance that they were seeking. By this weekend events had turned the pressure into an irresistible force: a $2bn global recall of more than 8m cars affected by a faulty accelerator; threats of civil action and new lawsuits in the US; and now, another potential recall of the car that was supposed to define Toyota's future. While Toyoda's comments did little to reassure car owners, it underlined the extent of the public relations nightmare the company has created for itself. Much was written last week about the Japanese aversion to shame that informs the haphazard way executives publicly address safety concerns, from HIV-infected blood products for haemophiliacs to lethal kerosene heaters and tainted food and drink. Toyota's inept PR performance has done little to dispel the notion that it behaved in precisely the way we have come to expect of the most powerful members of corporate Japan. To be fair, Toyota is partly a victim of circumstance. Having found itself plunged into the cultural quicksand of crisis management in a globalised economy, it had little idea of where to turn for help. Yet that has done nothing to dispel the perception that in its pursuit of profit Toyota has lost sight of the principles on which it built its success: quality, reliability and, yes, safety. It is easy to forget, amid the current crisis, that before the bottom fell out of the global auto market Toyota was celebrating record profits on its way to ending General Motors' 77-year reign as the world's biggest carmaker. Its headquarters in the eponymously renamed city once known as Koromo are at the heart of an operation that now employs 300,000 people around the world, making and selling cars in 150 countries. Toyota simply had so far to fall, and in such a short time, that it has been in a state of denial, although that does not excuse the public relations shipwreck of the past fortnight, say industry watchers. At home Toyota has fared rather better at playing down the crisis. The consensus in Japan appears to view the recall as a blip rather than an incubator for a long-term crisis. Some news channels relegated Toyoda to the second item behind the retirement of a scandal-hit sumo wrestler. But in America the woes of Toyota have been met with a mixture of shock and schadenfreude. In a country that has an intimate cultural relationship with cars, the huge Japanese automaker has long been seen as an interloper, even though it makes many of its cars in America and Americans have shown no reservations about buying them. Perhaps that might have explained the first reaction of the US secretary of transportation, Ray LaHood, who confirmed early last week that the US government was considering imposing fines of more than $16m on the giant car firm. "We're not finished with Toyota. We're going to keep the pressure on," he said. He then followed that up with a statement at a hearing in Congress in the middle of the week by telling lawmakers that he had simple advice to any Toyota owners: "If anybody owns one of these vehicles, stop driving it and take it to a Toyota dealer." Not surprisingly, those comments triggered a rush among the owners of Toyota's 2.3m recalled cars, who flooded dealerships with panicked phone calls. Toyota's stock price also slumped dramatically. However, Shinichi Sasaki, who is in charge of Toyota's quality control, said it would have become "even harder to win back the trust of customers, and the damage to the Toyota brand would have been greater" had the US government not applied such pressure to recall the faulty cars. "It was hard, but in hindsight I am grateful to Mr LaHood." Some have speculated that Toyota's problems could provide a much-needed boost to US automakers. In California the state legislature even passed a rule adopting a "Buy American" policy for future government vehicles in its fleet. The subject has quickly become a topic for comedians. Jon Stewart of The Daily Show on television did an impression last week of the likely reaction of bosses at the Big Three, Chrysler, General Motors and Ford, to the Toyota recall news. "Boys, we're back in the game! All we had to do was have the leading competition become a deathtrap," he quipped. But beneath the sound and fury and the wisecracks, the massive vehicle recall has had a sobering impact upon American consumers. Despite its foreign ownership, Toyota operates many car-making plants in America that have been praised for creating thousands of jobs, especially in the south, where it has been credited with reviving the fortunes of several struggling cities and towns. Any threat to Toyota will threaten those jobs. Toyota brands have also become a staple part of the American consumer landscape. The biggest risk for Toyota lies in how it is handling the crisis. If it were proved that executives had actively tried to cover up the problem, the consequences could be huge. Eighteen months ago the former chairman of truck-maker Mitsubishi was found guilty of professional negligence and received a two-year jail sentence after a truck made by the company crashed because of a defect, killing its driver. There is no evidence of any wrongdoing by anyone at Toyota. But the class actions which are already starting to stack up on behalf of aggrieved owners will no doubt challenge those running the company about what they knew about the fault and when, and what they did about it. Toyota aficionados have been quick to defend the company, accusing the media of whipping up a frenzy and exaggerating the danger of the fault. Edmund King, president of the Automobile Association, said: "To some extent there is a sense of a positive backlash in support of Toyota. Toyota has a fight to get its reputation back. But I don't think it's insurmountable. "People are overstating the long-term effect. It will have a short-term effect on sales." Paul Newton, automotive analyst from IHS Global Insight, said the company had been far too slow to respond to the problem in the UK, as it had in most countries where it operates. "PR-wise Toyota has handled the issue dreadfully. They have been somewhat in denial," he said. "People are now looking at the company and asking what else is it hiding. Unless a customer has a wider knowledge of a problem, it's up to the manufacturer to hold their hands up and say they have an issue." Toyota UK has also been giving conflicting information, and appears to be reacting to events. On Monday, Toyota said that it would take at least three weeks to obtain from the licensing agency, the DVLA, the names and addresses of the owners of the models it intended to recall in the UK. Clearly this would have prolonged the anxiety of worried owners not knowing if their car had a potentially life-threatening fault. By Friday, as the furore mounted, Toyota had said it could get the details within two days and would write to those affected this week. The attempt at speedy, decisive management of the whole affair is not helped by Toyota's huge and unwieldy size. It is now the biggest carmaker in the world, with subsidiaries in most countries that are unable to handle the fault independent of the headquarters in Tokyo. King said: "Toyota being such a large globalised organisation will have slowed decision-making and communication. If it was up to Toyota UK, they probably would have acted more quickly. "The first rule of crisis management is to identify and isolate the problem and be open about it. Last week Toyota executives were on the radio in the UK, but maybe they should have been doing that at the beginning." The company president, Toyoda, has announced that he would lead a new division that will draw on outside expert help to improve quality control, an admission of powerlessness unthinkable only months ago. He promised that the "frequency of communications with authorities around the world will be improved". A simple step, and long overdue. For millions of motorists who expected much more from Toyota, it is at least a start. But Japan's sense of immunity will almost certainly be short-lived, with new reports of potentially serious brake problems on new models of the Prius, Toyota's flagship hybrid. A Prius recall could affect more than 300,000 cars worldwide, about half of them in Japan. Dragging the name of the Prius through the mud could prove an ignominy too far for Toyota; the petrol-electric vehicle is the best-selling hybrid in the world, held up by its makers as the ultimate in fuel-efficient technology. Toyota Motoring Japan United States Tim Webb Robert Booth Justin McCurry Paul Harris guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (15 h ago)

• George Davies, the man behind Per Una, h... George Davies, the man behind Per Una, has further designs on women
02/06/2010
The man who invented Next and George at Asda is launching a spring collection with a brand new label He's no company doctor, but fashion grandee George Davies says he knows what Marks & Spencer's problem is: chronic constipation. The inventor of Next, George at Asda and M&S's Per Una range is not talking about a side-effect of M&S's food, but about the corporate culture. "The biggest challenge for anybody coming into M&S is to free it from its constipated culture," says Davies as he stares intently at the day's newspaper, taking in the details of new boss Marc Bolland's £15m pay deal for the first time. The big pay packet means that investors in M&S will have equally big expectations of Bolland, dubbed the $1bn man by traders in homage to the stock market's reaction on the day his appointment was announced. "Culture is the thing that makes us do things and stops us doing things," continues Davies. Davies has been in Bolland's shoes. M&S's shares jumped when he signed up to do Per Una almost a decade ago. The brand was to become the third high- street mega-brand to his name and by the time he was bought out of the partnership deal for £125m in 2004 it was the retailer's biggest – some would argue only – brand. But this time M&S's crisis is about food rather than fashion, and reinventing its once innovative food halls is seen to be at the top of the former Morrisons chief executive's to-do list. Davies says part of the reason Per Una was such a success was that it was imbued with his working culture, which he describes as "hands-on, reactive and very team-based" rather than the mother ship's. Davies says he admires M&S's heritage of ethics and quality and that executive chairman Sir Stuart Rose has been sprinkling some laxative during his six years in charge, with lead times, particularly in clothing, a fraction of what they were when he took over. But he adds: "M&S is totally constipated by its culture and he [Bolland] will have to do something about that." Not that Davies is hung up on M&S, though it looms large at his Cotswold studio, which is strewn with memorabilia from his Per Una days. There is a signed picture of Twiggy scribbled with "from a fan" and a Times cartoon of him holding three heart-shaped balloons – the Per Una logo – under the headline "A man for all seasons". Now the fashion pictures on the table are not Per Una, but GIVe – Davies's fourth attempt to capture the hearts and minds of British women. With the launch of its spring collection only days away, he cautiously reflects: "We are where I hoped we'd be when we set off. Overall, I'm happy." The entrepreneur is bankrolling GIVe, which targets well-off women with fashion pieces that can be customised to fit perfectly. Of the eight shops and 16 department stores that sold GIVe's first season, Davies says the best performers were in towns such as Harrogate, while Arnotts in Dublin and Broadbents & Boothroyds in his home town of Southport had the best sales of the independents. Does that mean he has found an audience among the glamorous older ladies who lunch? He is not sure yet, as at launch he had imagined the women would be "30-plus". "It is quite difficult when you put a collection together for the first time, you never get everything right," he says, adding that sizes eight and 10 sold out first, implying a younger demographic. "I am pleased that we've got this far because it means I can start working on information that is real." That insight means prices are lower this spring, with two-thirds of the range changing every four to six weeks. Key pieces such as a floral print dress and a lightweight summer mac cost £79 and £129 respectively. "We have learned where we are in the price hierarchy, and I would say the prices are sharper than the autumn," says Davies, name-checking Reiss and Karen Millen as its competitor set. The intelligence gathered from GIVe's first months on the high street suggests that the ability to customise clothes is what women like about it. "I have never had so many letters from customers saying how much they enjoy it," he says. There are tailors on the shop floor to tuck in waists and tweak shoulder seams and, building on this facet, the spring windows feature models astride giant scissors and cotton reels. Davies's nous for building brands is a science that is part marketing, part merchandising overlaid with women-loving – he has been married three times. "I love watching women and giving them what they want, even when they don't know what that is yet." That demanding cocktail means that the soft-spoken Liverpudlian is not easy to work with – by his own admission he is impatient and difficult – but his undisputed genius lies in building brands; he teaches a postgraduate course, retail in marketing, at Edinburgh's Heriot-Watt university. To get Davies aboard, M&S gave him complete creative control, with Per Una spinning off a separate design team, warehousing and systems, in return for a profit share. "It is not a brand just because you call it Limited or Autograph - how can it be?" he says. Davies and public companies are not natural bedfellows. As he puts it: "It can be bloody frustrating because you have to link with men who don't understand fashion." But that presumes he is always right. "I am when it comes to fashion against the men I'm talking too. It is different with women. Very few men have a real feel for fashion." Davies, 69 this year, appears as driven as when he started nearly 30 years ago. He says that whether there are 200 or 20 stores the effort is the same. He is finalising a deal with Middle Eastern investors Al Hokair that will take GIVe to the next level, putting the brand on track to debut in Saudi Arabia this autumn. His new baby still has a long way to go before it is up there with Next, George and Per Una, but he is up for the challenge: "Womenswear is a market I have always loved - and I like that it is difficult." Retail industry Next Asda Marks & Spencer Fashion Zoe Wood guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (15 h ago)

• Taxpayer to make £5bn profit from protec... Taxpayer to make £5bn profit from protecting RBS loans
02/06/2010
Asset protection scheme likely to make £5bn in less than three years, according to new projections The taxpayer could make a £5bn profit on the asset protection scheme in as little as two and half years, according to draft projections being drawn up by the managers of the scheme. Set up at the end of last year to oversee the £282bn of troubled Royal Bank of Scotland loans being insured by the taxpayer, the Asset Protection Agency is thought to be confident that it will generate a profit for the taxpayer. Until now, ministers have only forecast that the taxpayer will not lose out from the complex insurance being provided to RBS, which has admitted it would not be able to continue operating without the scheme. In December, the Treasury said: "The direct cost to the taxpayer from the APS is expected to be nil." The APA would be able to produce a £5bn profit on the basis of two factors. The first is the £2.5bn of fees being paid by Lloyds Banking Group as a result of its decision to withdraw from the scheme, which provided implicit backing for the bank's bad debts through most of 2009. The second is the £2.5bn of fees that the APA expects to be paid by RBS before it withdraws from the APS, possibly in two and a half years' time. RBS has to pay £700m in fees each year for the first three years and £500m a year afterwards to pay for the insurance for its most problematic assets. Under the terms of the APS, RBS will absorb the first £60bn of losses, similar to the "excess" in a standard insurance policy. Losses will then be shared by RBS and the government, with the taxpayer taking 90% of the losses. The APA, led by chief executive Stephan Wilcke, is tasked with ensuring the APS operates so that the assets it insures can achieve their maximum value for the taxpayer. The majority are from overseas companies and individuals. Only £114bn of the £282bn of assets covered by the scheme are exposed to UK individuals and companies, with £75bn exposed to other EU countries, £43bn to the US and £48bn to other countries, including Australia and Japan. Of the assets insured, some £80bn are traditional loans, £55bn are consumer finance loans and there is a further £39bn each of derivatives and commercial property. Residential mortgages comprise £15bn of the total, with the remainder in leveraged finance, structured finance, bonds and lease and project finance. The APA has been handed powers by the Treasury to ensure RBS complies with its rules to reach maximum value for the taxpayer. The body can intervene directly by appointing "step in" managers to handle the loans or stop the sale of those in default if it deems the prices are too low. Documents released last year when RBS agreed to the terms of the APS after a year of tough negotiations, show the APA must publish an annual business plan in the coming weeks, although no publication date has yet been set. The APA refused to comment while the Treasury said: "We have designed the asset protection scheme – along with our interventions – to position the taxpayer for profit." In return for the insurance, the government has demanded a veto over the size of the bonus pool at RBS, which is due to publish its results later this month. RBS has also been forced to make commitments to lend to households and businesses to meet the aims of the scheme which was to ensure banks had enough spare capital to lend out. Royal Bank of Scotland Lloyds Banking Group Banking Executive pay and bonuses Financial crisis Credit crunch Jill Treanor guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (15 h ago)

• The Times has appointed two well-known, ... The Times has appointed two well-known, lively writers to be its new cinema critic and new theatre critic. But neither of them know much about their subjects
02/06/2010
The Times has appointed two well-known, lively writers to be its new cinema critic and new theatre critic. But neither of them know much about their subjects Why is Mike Atherton cricket correspondent of the Times ? Because he knows a lot about cricket. Why are Rachel Campbell-Johnston and Debra Craine the Thunderer's art and ballet critics respectively? Same answer. You don't need to ask why Gordon Ramsay writes a cookery column on Saturdays. But then there's the Kate and Libby conundrum. Libby Purves is the new drama critic of the Times (replacing Benedict Nightingale). And Kate Muir, replacing nobody very evident after James Christopher's earlier departure, is the paper's new film critic. Both of them are shrewd, sprightly, culture-aware columnists. But neither of them have any great track record in their newly designated subjects. Indeed, Ms Muir's movie canon seems to begin, and end, at taking her six-year-old son to a Harry Potter premiere. Does this matter? Not, it seems, when James Harding makes his editorial dispositions. Perhaps, like some other editors, he reckons that readability trumps all in this iThink world. Perhaps he reckons that a crisp turn of non-expert phrase deserves a seat in the stalls. Perhaps he also spies hitherto hidden talent we may one day applaud. But it's still a bit rum. I joined the Guardian's Manchester newsroom nearly five decades ago in the same year that a very young, very thin Benedict Nightingale arrived as a trainee reporter. We called him Bendy, and he wasn't (frankly) much of a newshound. But he loved the theatre with passion, and wrote about it with knowledge and love – just like another young trainee down the East Lancs Road on the Liverpool Daily Post , called Michael Billington (yes, the stage sage at the Guardian ). The Billers and rather more portly Bendy show has served Fleet Street brilliantly for decades now – not merely because scholarship and history matter, but because drama reviewing is a consumer service as well as a display of loftier perceptions. You, the reader, need to know whether you'll enjoy the latest Twelfth Night or Lucy Prebble. You rely on and relate to someone whose views you respect. You spend your £42.50 because they say so. And if that's true of the theatre, it's just as true of the movies. What does Philip French, the fount of screen wisdom, have to say? Did Derek Malcolm in the Standard like it? How many stars did it get from the Indie's Information? Your busy life as a cinemagoer is governed by a framework of experience, a seriously structured edifice of instant taste, a foundation of star ratings. The Nightingales, Billingtons and Frenches of this life are much more than fizzy wordsmiths. What they write – thumbs up or down – matters. Will Libby Purves be able to supply that essential service? Let's hope so. She's 60, too late for a career in theatre reviewing but at least the right sort of age for the audience she's going to command. And Kate Muir, on the nether side of 40? If she looks around as the house lights go up, she'll see that she's one of the oldest people in sight: 30 is more or less top weight at her Finchley Vue. On her early outings thus far, Ms Muir seems longer on adjectives than playing "an avatar of taste" as she ploughs, all unprepared, into six or more preview screens a week. "I don't want to go out there alone. Come with me," she writes, rather ominously. No, Kate, it's what you know already that counts, how real your comparisons seem, how deep the memory pit you can mine, whether you manifestly love what you do. A 23-year-old setting out, in tune with her audience and learning on the job, is one thing: a debutante 20 years older isn't beginning some journey, but delivering guidance that readers have to relate to from day one. We want to know straight off whether Invictus is any damned good. And editors take a huge chance on appointments like this because they also risk saying something about themselves as well – that, frankly, they don't know much about movies, either. That surely anyone can spin out a few entertaining paragraphs. That it's Avatar's zillions in the Fox group's bank account that matter, because this is just more showbiz, isn't it? Something of a no-star conclusion. Newspapers & magazines Theatre Peter Preston guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (15 h ago)

• Two futures of the internet: next cold w... Two futures of the internet: next cold war or up in the clouds
02/06/2010
Will the future be cyber-attacks and an uneasy balance of terror or cultural collaboration hosted by Google's servers? "THE FUTURE", WROTE the novelist William Gibson in a justifiably famous aphorism, "is already here: it's just not evenly distributed". The challenge is to spot those unevenly distributed peeks into our future. The Apple iPad launch provoked a storm of peeking: optimists saw it as a sign that the computer industry had finally got the message that most people can't be bothered with the mysteries of operating systems and software updates and want an information appliance that "just works"; pessimists saw it as a glimpse into an authoritarian world dominated either by governments or a few powerful companies; sceptics saw it as just another product launch. Last week provided yet another enigmatic glimpse of what may lie in store. The Washington Post said Google, still reeling from the sophisticated cyber-attack that allegedly prompted a rethink of its activities in China, had turned to the US National Security Agency for help. The Post reported that there are delicate talks on teaming up with the spooks with the goal of "fortifying Google's defences against the kind of espionage-oriented hacking attacks launched from China against it and dozens of other US companies in December". If you think this is creepy, then join the club. In terms of collective IQ, Google is the smartest company in cyberspace: for five years it's been taking the cleverest graduates from elite universities and the most experienced computer engineers. It's been such a magnet for talent that even Microsoft is enraged. In 2005, for example, an ex-Microsoft engineer named Mark Lucovsky alleged in a sworn statement to a Washington state court that Steve Ballmer, Microsoft's chief executive, became so enraged on hearing that Lucovsky was about to leave Microsoft for Google, that he picked up his chair, and threw it across his office. (Ballmer called this a "gross exaggeration".) So Google is unlikely to be turning to the NSA for technical advice. Why then is it calling in the spooks? One reason could be that the world's dominant internet company is now in the crossfire of early skirmishes of the next cold war. This thought was reinforced by Financial Times columnist Gideon Rachman. He'd been to the International Institute for Strategic Studies for a briefing on its annual survey, Military Balance. "The thing I found most interesting," he said, "was the confirmation that cyber-security is the hot issue … John Chipman, the head of the IISS, says the institute is about to launch a study of cyber-security which raises all sorts of issues. What if a country's infrastructure could be destroyed as effectively by a cyber-attack as by an invasion of tanks? How do you defend against that? How do you identify the culprits? What does international law have to say – might we have to revise our definitions of what constitutes an act of war? "Chipman argues, plausibly, that we are now at an equivalent period to the early 1950s. Just as strategists had to devise whole new doctrines to cope with the nuclear age, so they will have to come up with new ideas to cope with the information age." Another glimpse of a possible future comes from the British Council. A surprising source of such insights, you might think: Oone used to associate the council with cultural imperialism and heritage-fuelled nostalgia. But things have changed. The British Council has got technology. "Learn, share, connect worldwide" is the slogan on its website. It commissioned Charles Leadbeater to think about the cultural implications of "cloud computing" – ie when the network, rather than the PC, becomes the computer. His report, "Cloud Culture: the future of global cultural relations", is being launched tomorrow with a debate at the ICA (details at http://bit.ly/9ZTSin). It's a well-informed, provocative sketch of a world in which most cultural products will be published online and held in the "cloud" enabled by the huge server farms of Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Apple etc. As a primer on the debate between optimists and pessimists about the cultural implications of ubiquitously available internet access, it'll be hard to beat. Leadbeater calls himself a "realistic optimist" and thinks a cloud-based approach to cultural relations will build communities of collaboration around shared interests and ideas on an unimaginable scale. As a realistic pessimist, I hope he's right. But I keep coming back to the question: who controls the cloud? And where does the NSA fit into this? Internet iPad Google Cloud computing Financial Times Microsoft Steve Ballmer US national security Military Data and computer security Washington Post John Naughton guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (15 h ago)

• Wise old men of American finance are cal... Wise old men of American finance are called back to fight recession
02/06/2010
Paul Volcker, Warren Buffett and George Soros have new status as America sees the value of age and experience Youth, flair and intellect can only get you so far. As the worst recession since the 1930s grinds the nation into political disillusionment and economic hardship, America is turning for inspiration to grizzled veterans with a proven store of age, wisdom and experience. Seemingly tiring of his wayward younger crop of economic advisers, Barack Obama has put his faith in an 82-year-old former Federal Reserve boss, Paul Volcker, to spearhead epochal reforms of Wall Street banks, kicking off with a bravura performance before sceptical Congressional lawmakers. In the financial world, the thin ranks of outright winners from the credit crunch include legendary investors Warren Buffett and George Soros, both of whom will celebrate their 80th birthdays in August and are capable of moving stock markets with a few Delphic utterances. Seeking a guiding hand as it emerges from the credit crunch, investment banking firm Lazard Brothers last week appointed former supremo Felix Rohatyn, 81, as a special adviser, hailing him as a returning "legend". And in the media industry, 78-year-old Rupert Murdoch is proving an unlikely online pioneer as he prepares a wholesale assault on the internet's free-for-all culture by forcing readers to pay for online news. "When there's a crisis, the country turns to what I'd call its intellectual and experiential capital, which tends to be older people," says Tom Endres, vice-president for civic engagement at the National Council on Ageing, who says older people come into their own when life gets complicated. "It's different from what we tend to think of as artistic and innovative ability related to young people. It's a more practical, related to an ability to solve complex and poorly defined problems and issues that you can't put on a clearly defined thumb rule." Perhaps the most dramatic renaissance in fortunes is that of Volcker, a plain-speaking éminence grise who has advised presidents as far back as Richard Nixon but made his name as a tenacious inflation buster when he headed the Fed during the 1980s. Known as the "tall man" for his 6ft 7in stature, he was initially sidelined in Obama's White House but has suddenly emerged as the architect of radical banking reforms banning riskier trading practices on Wall Street. Leaving White House rivals such as Larry Summers in the dust, Volcker won a striking accolade when Obama declared that the new regulations were to become known as the "Volcker rule". And the gangling veteran seems the perfect straight shooter to sell the scheme; this, after all, is a man who recently disarmingly declared that the peak of financial innovation was the invention of the hole-in-the-wall cash machine. Appearing before Congress last week to defend his reforms, Volcker benefited from one of the advantages that comes with age – it tends to be taboo in public life to be aggressive towards an elderly person. Having given treasury secretary Timothy Geithner a mauling a week earlier, even the most sceptical senators were respectful towards Volcker. "There are very few people that could announce a policy and we'd have a hearing this quickly," said Bob Corker, a usually combative Tennessee Republican. "It shows the great respect we have for you as an inflation fighter." Volcker used his advantage to the full, telling the middle-aged lawmakers at one point that unless they cracked down on "too big to fail" banks, another financial crisis would be inevitable. "I may not live to see the crisis," he said, in a tone verging on patronising. "But my soul is going to come back and haunt you." If Volcker commands respect, then Buffett attracts something closer to adulation among America's grassroots capitalists. Each year, the so-called Sage of Omaha's annual meeting for investors in his Berkshire Hathaway business empire attracts a larger crowd of disciples – in May 2009, more than 35,000 people gathered in Nebraska to listen to the folksy cola-chugging billionaire field a day-long question-and-answer session. When General Electric and Goldman Sachs faced crises of confidence on Wall Street, they turned to Buffett. His name on their shareholder registers swiftly soothed nerves. His views make headline news, on anything from Kraft's takeover of Cadbury (a poor deal) to America's rate of taxation (he wants to pay more) or Obama's plans for a special levy on banks (an unfair "guilt tax"). A crumpled figure with often unkempt hair, Buffett looks all of his 79 years, but a penchant for off-colour jokes can surprise bystanders. He once remarked: "You can't keep money around for ever. It's like saving sex for your old age." The speculator George Soros completes an eminent trio dubbed The Sages in the title of a recent book by US author Charles Morris. Best known for making a fortune at the expense of the Bank of England by betting against the pound on Black Wednesday in 1992, Soros is arguably the world's most famous hedge fund manager. He is at the forefront of calls for a global co-ordination of the regulation of banks, and prompted raised eyebrows at the World Economic Forum's summit in Davos by warning that gold had become the next asset "bubble". Volcker, Buffett and Soros have lived through more economic cycles than most, so can afford to be unflappable, says Morris, who describes them as men who understand that "a good idea always gets taken to excess – and then there's a crash. They knew this crisis was going to happen, they've seen it before. It's about having been there a long time and on the right side of things for a long time." Not every role is suitable for the grey brigade. A younger, nimbler, more tech-savvy brigade has dominated front-line politics, both in the US and in Britain, for some time. The last septuagenarian in the Oval Office was Ronald Reagan. Downing Street and the White House are staffed by a younger demographic than they once were, attuned to a minute-by-minute media cycle in which image matters more than ever and a soundbite battle rages on cable news channels. Across the economy as a whole, ageism is still rife. According to the American Association of Retired Persons, the recession has taken a disproportionate toll on older workers, with unemployment up by 55% among people over 45, and joblessness 65% higher among those over 55. Those closer to retirement face a tougher, longer search for re-employment than their younger rivals. But Hugh Delehanty, editor-in-chief of the AARP's publications, says attitudes are changing as "baby boomers" become older. Next year, the first of the 78 million Americans born in a population bulge between 1946 and 1964 will turn 65, giving the Woodstock, Beatlemania and Vietnam generation a deeper understanding of ageing. "They're getting on in years and recognising those powers that can evolve in the later period of life," says Delehanty, who believes certain types of diplomacy and problem-solving grow with maturity. "It's that skill of blending people together, blending points of view, taking a balanced, holistic view of a situation rather than taking a single stand, that tends to grow in the 50s, 60s and 70s." People in their latter years can have equally outsized egos to their younger counterparts. But they tend, at least, not to be motivated by re-election, ambition or by making their first million. "Someone like Volcker can speak his mind because he's got nothing to lose," says Delehanty. "He's not trying to get a big job. He can bring a certain honesty and forthrightness based on years of experience." Why the ancients are worth listening to President Obama's championing of veteran central banker Paul Volcker's proposals for banking reform has caused quite a stir in political and financial circles. Volcker is 82, and retired from the US Federal Reserve way back in 1987, to hand over to Alan Greenspan. Closer to home, one of the most respected British clearing bankers, Sir Brian Pitman, is back in business at the tender age of 78, having retired from Lloyds Bank some years ago. And we were recently reminded that, although Lord Richardson, who died last month at the age of 94, retired from the governorship of the Bank of England in 1983, his judgment and experience were considered so valuable that he was retained for many years after that by Morgan Stanley International, and was also chairman of the prestigious Group of 30, a high powered thinktank where commercial and central bankers gather, and which played a major role in the evolution of those Volcker proposals for separating utility and casino banking. The ancients used to show great respect for "elders" – for the benefit of their wisdom and experience. And it looks as though these neglected values are making a comeback. Professor JK Galbraith, who died four years ago at the age of 97, was respected to the last – not by everybody, it is true, but the generation of economists who dismissed him for not being mathematical enough has in recent years learnt to respect him. Indeed, his book The Great Crash, 1929 was the first thing they reached for when their equations went up in smoke. (This is not to belittle mathematical methods as such; but over-reliance on them was short-sighted – as was the widespread neglect of economic history.) The Russians and Chinese have always valued age and experience, and on the continent age does not seem to have been a barrier to political careers. In the UK, on the other hand – the nation that saw all those struggles between Gladstone and Disraeli in the 19th century, and which called on Churchill at retirement age – the cult until recently has been one of youth. But it is Kenneth Clarke, aged 69, who has recently been brought back to offer his wisdom to a younger generation of Conservatives. As for Tony Blair – if only he had listened to older and wiser heads ... William Keegan US economy Warren Buffett George Soros US economic growth and recession Global recession Barack Obama Andrew Clark guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (15 h ago)

• Belize faces prospect of G20 sanctions o... Belize faces prospect of G20 sanctions over tax information
02/06/2010
Development could politically embarrass Conservatives, whose donor is chairman of country's biggest bank Belize could be hit with economic sanctions by G20 nations for failing to abide by international tax information sharing protocols. The move could prove uncomfortable to Lord Ashcroft, the Conservative party's largest donor, who is also chairman of the tiny Central American country's biggest bank. A senior Whitehall source told The Observer that discussions at this month's G20 finance ministers meeting in South Korea would include the strong likelihood of the introduction of sanctions on countries which have not abided by an initiative from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development to force tax havens to sign information-sharing agreements. All countries are required to sign 12 international tax information-sharing agreements. Belize has only agreed one with Belgium, signed late last year. Other countries that could face sanctions include Panama, Guatemala and the Philippines, although Jeffrey Owens, the director of the Centre for Tax Policy and Administration, last month suggested that, unlike Belize, "they were actively in the process of negotiating". A statement could be issued on sanctions as part of a communique after the G20 meeting in Seoul. The details of what punishment Belize and other countries could face may follow in March just before a possible general election. Such timing could cause embarrassment to the Conservatives, who rely heavily on Ashcroft to fund the party. Asked if Ashcroft has played any part in influencing the government of Belize's reluctance in abiding by the OECD tax protocols, his spokesman said: "He does not have a clue what agreements Belize has signed. These issues are not central to his business activities." Imposing sanctions would deeply damage the impoverished country, which has a population of just 300,000. It could whip up anti-Ashcroft sentiment, despite the peer's charitable work. As the chairman of Belize's largest bank, Ashcroft is thought to have benefited from the country's growing prominence as an offshore centre. Ten years ago it had fewer than 4,000 offshore companies listed in its offshore registry. Last year there were more than 20,000. A Treasury spokesman said: "The UK is committed to improving international transparency and exchange of information on tax and we want to see all jurisdictions signing up to international standards. The G20 has made clear it stands ready to apply sanctions against countries that do not meet these international standards." There are signs that Ashcroft is gaining more influence on Tory policy, accompanying shadow foreign minister William Hague on foreign trips. When granted his peerage in 2000, the Tories' biggest bankroller said he wanted to be known as Lord Ashcroft of Belize. Last week the information commissioner criticised Ashcroft for failing to clarify his tax status in Britain. Tax avoidance G20 Belize Michael Ashcroft Conservatives Nick Mathiason guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (15 h ago)

• Tories hold talks with National Express ... Tories hold talks with National Express over return to railways
02/06/2010
Transport group likely to be allowed to bid for contracts in two years' time The Conservative party has signalled that it will let National Express re-enter the rail franchise market in two years' time after a period of purdah in the wake of the £1.4bn east coast debacle. The Labour government has vowed to banish the group from the rail market after it relinquished the contract to run trains on the London-to-Edinburgh route. However, with the Tories favourites to win a general election that must be held by 3 June at the latest, it appears that National Express has wasted no time in attempting to rebuild bridges. The group's chairman, John Devaney, is believed to have met members of the Conservative transport team to discuss the rail franchising market. A Tory spokesman indicated that National Express had been given qualified encouragement to begin restoring its battered reputation in a few years. The spokesman said the bus and coach giant would have to sit out the next round of franchise awards but would be allowed to bid for the batch of contracts that became available in 2012 and 2013, including the west coast, Scotrail, northern and trans-Pennine deals. "The east coast debacle certainly doesn't make it easy for National Express to make a rapid return to the franchise market at the next round. They will need to work hard to rebuild their credibility," said the spokesman. He added: "That said, the Conservatives certainly don't have any dogmatic determination to keep them out of the industry. As with any other operator, we would view their franchise bids objectively, taking on board both the merits of their proposals and their record as a transport operator." The comments mean National Express is effectively barred from rebidding for the three franchises it lost over the past year: east coast, East Anglia and c2c. It has expressed an interest in rebidding for the East Anglia and c2c contracts, which expire next year. However, industry sources said the group would almost certainly be thrown out of the race in the early vetting process. A National Express spokeswoman said: "It is encouraging to see that the Conservatives would take an objective approach to any future franchising bids." National Express Rail transport Transport policy Dan Milmo guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (15 h ago)

• Insurers 'paying too much commission to ... Insurers 'paying too much commission to win pensions business'
02/06/2010
Independent expert warns that bidding war to win corporate contracts from commission-based intermediaries will make much of the business won unprofitable Major insurers are spending millions of pounds of cash reserves to win a larger share of the corporate pensions market, despite evidence that much of the business will prove to be loss-making, according to a leading insurance-market expert. Independent analyst Ned Cazalet warned yesterday that several major firms were locked in a costly race to sell group personal pension plans to employers by offering big commissions to the advisers handling the transaction, ahead of rules banning such commission-based sales. He warned that such huge commissions would undermine the insurers' ability to make a profit. His view was backed by analysts Bernstein, which said last week that the UK insurance market was "harmed" by its relience on "expensive and disruptive" financial advisers to sell their products. Some rebel insurers that have already pulled out of paying commissions to advisers say their rivals are using commission payments to gain an advantage. They say investors should be concerned that these insurers are registering big sales increases at the expense of future profits. Cazalet said a report written by his consultancy three years ago warning of problems in the insurance industry was being ignored by firms including Aegon, Scottish Equitable and Aviva, the UK's second largest insurer. He said the report concluded that some insurers were paying commissions for group personal pension (GPP) plans that would require customers to keep up payments for at least 15 years for the plan to be profitable. However, the average GPP plan lasts only four years before being re-sold by a commission-based adviser to a rival provider. The main City regulator, the Financial Services Authority, plans to ban commission-based sales for group personal pensions in 2012. It argued in a strongly worded consultation paper that the "current commission-based market model is not sustainable. Those product providers offering initial commissions are subsidising these payments from their own funds, and, if scheme and member persistency levels continue to be poor, will not achieve economic returns on their GPP business." A spokesman for the FSA said the regulator was unaware of any insurers increasing commission rates to outbid rivals or adopting aggressive tactics ahead of the ban. He said officials would be extremely concerned if it became aware of firms deploying large amounts of capital to pay upfront commissions. The FSA wants financial firms to retain large capital buffers to defend themselves against another credit squeeze. EU rules demanding higher capital levels are also expected over the next couple of years as part of the new "Solvency II" regime covering the European insurance industry. Cazalet said the main concern was that investors were presented with a distorted picture of financial health by insurers that paid commission. He said the commission system encouraged advisers to churn policies to rivals as a way of earning higher incomes. Standard Life, Friends Provident and Scottish Life, the pensions arm of mutual insurer Royal London, have over recent years all ceased paying commission to win new business from employers. But Aviva chief executive Andrew Moss defended his firm's position. He said Aviva was more efficiently run than rivals and able to make profits even when the costs of commissions were included in the overall bill. A spokeswoman for Aegon said: "We are comfortable with our position. We look at each bid on an individual basis and price accordingly." Insurance industry Occupational pensions Financial advisers Phillip Inman guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (15 h ago)

• Can eurozone avoid a Greek tragedy? Can eurozone avoid a Greek tragedy?
02/06/2010
As the country plunges into the red again, the IMF is itching to march into the eurozone and intervene. Without closer fiscal union, how long can Brussels hold the currency together? Leave Greece to us. It's a family affair. That was the message from Brussels as shares plunged in Athens, customs officials walked off the job in protest at swingeing budget cuts, the financial contagion spread westwards across the Mediterranean and the International Monetary Fund started to cast a long shadow across the soft underbelly of the eurozone. As far as the European commission was concerned, matters were simple. By a mixture of incompetence and deceit, the Greeks had allowed their deficit to balloon out of control, putting the credibility of monetary union at risk. They now had to put their own house in order, which they could do with the help of some tough love from the rest of Europe – likewise, the financially incontinent governments of Spain and Portugal. European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet said last week it was vital that Greece met its stated goals for cutting its budget deficit and that the steps announced by the government were encouraging. "The ECB governing council approves the medium-term goal ... we expect and are confident that the government will take all the decisions that will permit it to reach that goal," he added. "The measures taken last Tuesday – tax rises, the freezing of wages in the public sector, and the pension reform – are steps in the right direction." But the reality is more complex. A crisis that began with the previous government in Athens cooking the books developed into three interlocking themes – the reluctance of the Greeks to swallow the nasty budgetary medicine prescribed for them, the medium-term outlook for the single currency and Europe's long-term role in a rapidly changing global economy. Despite the hands-off warning from Brussels, the IMF has been itching to send a hit squad across the Atlantic to help sort out Greece's acute budgetary crisis. "We are there to help," says the managing director of the IMF, Dominique Strauss-Kahn. "I have a mission on the ground to provide technical advice requested by the Greek government. And if we're asked to intervene, we will." But he adds: "I understand that the Europeans don't want this for the moment." They certainly don't, but a mission may still be sent, if only to prevent the contagion spreading. Nouriel Roubini, economics professor at the Stern School of Business at New York university, said in Davos last month: "If Greece goes under, that's a problem for the eurozone. If Spain goes under, it's a disaster." He has been strongly advising the beleaguered socialist government of George Papandreou to seek help from Washington, a view shared by Harvard professor Kenneth Rogoff, former chief economist at the fund: "Greece is going to end up with an IMF programme of some sort in order to get credibility." Rogoff, who has just published a book on eight centuries of financial crises, said that Greece was "a serial defaulter". Since the modern Greek state was founded in 1830, the country has, on average, been in sovereign default every other year and had been through five big defaults in less than 200 years. "Greece has been worse than any Latin American country," he adds. The risk of another default or – the doomsday scenario – of Greece deciding to leave the single currency has spooked investors, who are demanding a high price for holding risky Greek debt. The gap between the interest rates on rock-solid German bunds and Greek bonds has widened sharply. The IMF would probably already be involved were Greece outside the eurozone. But according to Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform, the commission wants to keep the fund at arm's length because it would give the Americans a say in single currency affairs, a blow to European pride. Grant says this is regrettable: "The IMF is very experienced in these matters; it is professional and is not subject to political pressure. There is a political point as well. If the commission sets conditions that lead to hospitals being closed, there will be demos against Brussels. If the IMF does it, the demos will be against the fund." For the Greek public last week, it barely mattered whether the harsh measures were coming from their own government, the commission, the fund or a mixture of all three. All they knew was that they did not fancy higher taxes on fuel, working longer to get their pensions and, if they were civil servants, taking a 10% pay cut. Similarly, trade unions in Spain bridled at plans announced by Prime Minister José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero to increase the number of years workers would have to make contributions before receiving state pensions. Still reeling from the effects of the global recession of the past two years, Greece, Spain and Portugal now face a prolonged period of weak growth and high unemployment. Some argue that the cuts being inflicted on the eurozone's weaker economies highlight a fundamental weakness in the single currency – its lack of a centralised budgetary mechanism, such as exists in the US, to move resources from rich parts of the union to poor parts. Gerard Lyons, chief economist at Standard Chartered, says there have been several examples of monetary unions that have collapsed because they were not accompanied by fiscal union: "For monetary union to survive, it has to become a political union. If it doesn't there is likely to be some sort of implosion and a move towards a two-speed Europe." Roubini agrees: "The eurozone could drift … with a strong centre and a weaker periphery, and eventually some countries might exit the monetary union." Mats Persson, research director of the Open Europe thinktank, believes Greece should not have been allowed to join the euro in the first place, and that there comes a point during an extreme crisis when countries can see the desirability of having their own currencies, so that they can adjust through devaluation: "The question is whether Greece can ever compete as a middle-rank eurozone country without some proper structural reform, and whether that is possible without its own monetary policy." In the short term, leaving the single currency is not on the policy agenda in Greece, Spain or Portugal. Nick Parsons, head of markets strategy for NAB Capital, the wholesale markets division of National Australia Bank, says: "Has the euro been a disaster for Greece? No. You have to think about where they would have been without it. Arguably, the financial crisis would have been greater outside the eurozone." Grant at the Centre for European Reform notes that Portugal, Spain and Greece had all been dictatorships until the final third of the 20th century and saw membership of the EU and the single currency as a sign of growing up politically: "That's why Europe is very popular in these countries." But even the most ardent europhiles admit that the chances of constructing a fully fledged political union in order to make monetary union work better are remote. Instead, they say, countries will have to make themselves leaner and fitter through structural reforms of their economies and accept some centralised control over their budgets from the eurozone's big two, Germany and France. Parsons says: "What will happen is that there will be the emergence of a strong bloc which will ensure that never again will countries be allowed to go off and do what they want. Instead, they will have to do as they are told. There will be a stripping-away of fiscal powers from those that don't behave." Determination to make the single currency work has been driven by two seemingly contradictory forces. On the one hand there is a sense that the financial crisis has been a failure of the Anglo-Saxon model, and hence a shot in the arm for European social democracy; Nicolas Sarkozy used his keynote speech in Davos to call for a different form of capitalism. On the other hand, there is a sense that economic and political power is shifting inexorably to Asia. It is accepted that the structural reform to meet the challenge of China will be long and arduous. The Germans have shown a willingness to grind out productivity gains by accepting cuts in real wages, and the Irish are currently doing the same. But the hopes of the Lisbon agenda – agreed a decade ago with the aim of making Europe "the most dynamic and competitive knowledge-based economy in the world … by 2010" – remain unfulfilled. Countries such as Spain and Greece are emblematic of the problem. They lack both the physical and human infrastructure needed to make themselves more competitive, yet it is in those areas – spending on roads, universities and skills – that the axe will fall. This presents a problem not just now but for the future, as the ageing baby boomer generation presents Europe with a steady decline in its working-age population. Writing in the current edition of Foreign Affairs magazine, Jack Goldstone, professor at George Mason University's school of public policy in the US, says that Europe is expected to lose 24% of its prime working-age population (about 120 million workers) by 2050, while those aged 60-plus will increase by 47%: "It is essential, despite European concerns about the potential effects on immigration, to take steps such as admitting Turkey into the European Union," he writes. "This would add youth and dynamism to the EU – and prove that Muslims are welcome to join Europeans as equals in shaping a free and prosperous future." Russell Jones at RBC Capital Markets says: "Within 10 years, European populations will be in decline and dependency ratios [the ratio of the population aged 0-16 and 65-plus to those aged between 16 and 65] will really start to take off." Between now and 2050, the OECD estimates that the cost of healthcare and pensions will rise by 7.5 percentage points of GDP in Germany, 7.3 points in France, 13.5 points in Spain and 16.8 points in Greece. "In such circumstances, the willingness of those populations at the core of Europe to subsidise those in the periphery is likely to be a lot less than it is now – and it is already in short supply," says Jones. "Governments will have their hands more than full at home." Greece Euro European Central Bank European Union Financial crisis Larry Elliott guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (15 h ago)

• Goldman cuts Blankfein's bonus to $9m Goldman cuts Blankfein's bonus to $9m
02/06/2010
• Mundane sum by Wall Street standards compares with $69m payout two years ago • JP Morgan inherits mantle as highest-paying bank Wall Street bank Goldman Sachs has sought to defuse outrage over pay at the top echelons of the industry by handing its chief executive, Lloyd Blankfein, a far lower than expected bonus of $9m (£5.8m) for a year in which it bounced back from financial crisis to make record profits. Although an enormous payout in any other walk of life, $9m is a relatively mundane bonus by Wall Street's standards, and is a paltry amount in terms of Goldman's history. Two years ago, Blankfein scooped a record breaking $69m, and some reports earlier this week had suggested that he might get as much as $100m for 2009. The bonus, revealed late on Friday in a document filed with US regulators, means Goldman is no longer the top paying bank on Wall Street. Rival firm JP Morgan Chase disclosed that its chief executive, Jamie Dimon, would receive $17m after keeping his firm profitable throughout the financial crisis. Critics of Wall Street in political and union circles had been keenly waiting to see how Goldman would handle an outpouring of public anger over huge bonus payouts in an era of high unemployment and ongoing difficulty for small businesses seeking bank loans on the high street. A Goldman spokesman said: "The firm produced very good results for 2009, but the environment is very difficult and the board was mindful of that difficult environment in making decisions about executive compensation." Blankfein, a 55-year-old former gold trader from the Bronx, has led Goldman since 2006 and has become a lightning rod for anger over Wall Street pay. His firm has been picketed by union activists and has been attacked for selling toxic mortgage-related securities to its clients while at the same time using its own capital to take trading positions betting on the collapse of the housing market. Under fire, Blankfein apologised in November for Goldman's involvement in "things that were clearly wrong". But he irritated critics the same month by remarking that his staff were doing "God's work" – a comment subsequently characterised by his public relations advisers as an attempt at humour. After announcing profits of $13.4bn last month, Goldman tried to improve its image by making a $500m donation to charity. Senior colleagues of Blankfein, including its chief financial officer, David Viniar, and chief operating officer, Gary Cohn, will also receive $9m. The bonuses are being paid in reserved stock units, rather than cash, and cannot be sold until 2015, in an effort to encourage a long-term outlook. In a reaction to Alistair Darling's special tax on bonuses, staff at Goldman's offices in London have had their bonuses capped by the bank at £1m. Pay experts expressed surprise at the sums. Alan Johnson, a Wall Street remuneration consultant, said he had expected the payouts to be far higher: "This just shows what public pressure can do." He said the figures created a curious anomaly in which Goldman's senior executives earned less than star traders lower down the ranks: "This isn't sustainable long term because you've got people two or three levels lower taking home more." Although less profitable than Goldman, JP Morgan has emerged from the credit crunch as a competing powerhouse. It had sufficient financial strength to salvage the remnants of two collapsing competitors – the Wall Street brokerage Bear Stearns and the Seattle-based high street bank Washington Mutual. JP Morgan's chief executive is getting $8m in stock, a further $8m in share options and a salary of $1m. A politically astute operator, Dimon, 53, has close links with the White House but has been a staunch defender of Wall Street's ways. He told the US financial crisis inquiry commission last month that although there have been "quite legitimate" concerns over banking pay, JP Morgan was not guilty: "I believe our compensation policies have been and remain appropriate." Executive pay and bonuses Goldman Sachs JP Morgan Banking United States Andrew Clark guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (21 h ago)

• Hands saves tax by not seeing family Hands saves tax by not seeing family
02/05/2010
• Hands would face 64% tax rate plus 18% in capital gains tax • EMI's losses topped £1.75bn last year The multi-millionaire private equity boss at the centre of the debt crisis at music group EMI has spelled out the lengths to which he is going to avoid UK tax. Guy Hands, who moved from Kent to Guernsey last April in protest at higher income and capital gains tax rates, says he has "never visited" his school age children since he left the country. They have remained with his wife at their former family home in Kent and they now have to travel to Guernsey to see him. Neither has he visited his mother and father – and wouldn't unless there was a family crisis: "I do not visit my parents in the United Kingdom and would not do so except in an emergency." The details of the sacrifices Hands – a close friend of shadow foreign secretary William Hague – is prepared to make to avoid tax are revealed in court papers filed in New York on Thursday. He is opposing a move by US bank Citigroup to shift a court case from New York to London. In a personal statement lodged in New York's southern district court Hands says he faces a top tax rate of 64% on earnings from employment from April, plus 18% CGT. He says he has been an "outspoken" critic of UK tax levels and fears that the Revenue will be watching him closely to ensure he does nothing that could threaten his move to obtain non-resident tax status. Hands says he does not use any UK airports, even for transfers. "I have not set foot in the United Kingdom since I left permanently… and have no intention of doing so until I have been out of the United Kingdom for at least three years". The move to Guernsey is described as "burdensome" but Hands insists the move "is real, not a sham or a mere moniker for an otherwise unvisited location". He says he has spent 1450 days in Guernsey since last April, and 170 in other countries. The financier is locked in a legal dispute with Citigroup, claiming the bank tricked him into paying too much when he took over EMI – home to artists ranging from the Beatles to Katy Perry – in a £4.2bn deal just as the credit crunch set in. Citigroup also provided £2.6bn of debt for Hands to finance the deal. On Thursday accounts lodged at Companies House showed that EMI stacked up losses of more than £1.75bn last year. Hands's Terra Firma private equity group needs to inject emergency funds of £105m to avoid breaching Citigroup's lending covenants. If they are breached the bank could seize control of EMI. The court case underlines the chasm that has opened up between the two parties. Hands has tried to thrash out a deal with Citi, and has now turned to a New York courtroom to claim he was duped into over-paying for the music group. Citi's response was to ask for the case to be moved to London, where any damages would be lower. However, a London court date could trigger big tax problems for Hands. Having to appear in London, he said, might wreck his tax plans and leave him with a bill for the months he has so far been out of the country. Hands had pinpointed David Wormsley, a senior UK investment banker at Citi, as responsible for duping him into overpaying for the music group, accusing him of "fraudulent misrepresentation". The new court documents say Hands did the deal with the backing of former Citigroup chief executive Chuck Prince and the bank's then global head of investment banking, Michael Klein, and they will be key witnesses in the case. He says he "did not talk with the litany of lower-level London personnel" that Citi claims. The Terra Firma boss also accuses the bank of organising "a targeted press campaign to create the appearance that EMI is headed towards bankruptcy" . Citi has until 13 February to respond. EMI Citigroup Guy Hands Tax avoidance Private equity Mergers and acquisitions Julia Finch guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (1 d ago)

• Walsh upbeat as BA posts surprise profit Walsh upbeat as BA posts surprise profit
02/05/2010
Chief executive optimistic over staffing deal and hails turning point in British Airways' fortunes despite likely full-year loss British Airways chief executive, Willie Walsh, has expressed cautious optimism that a cabin crew strike can be averted after the airline surprised investors with its first operating profit in more than a year. Walsh said he was "sure" that an agreement would be reached with the Unite union over a cost-cutting drive including cuts in staffing levels on flights. The BA boss said the airline appeared to have turned the corner after it reported an operating profit of £25m in the three months to 31 December – its first in 15 months. "We will reach an agreement at some point," said Walsh. BA confirmed this morning that it was on track for a record full-year loss after a nine-month pre-tax deficit of £342m in the nine months up to 31 December, close to last year's record annual loss of £401m with the least profitable quarter of BA's financial year still to come. However, there was better news at the operating level, where revenues exceeded operating costs by £25m in the third quarter. The profit is modest – the same period in 2007 yielded an operating profit of £178m – and at the pre-tax level there was a £50m third-quarter loss once interest charges and pension costs were added. Nonetheless, the result stunned analysts, who expected a third-quarter operating loss of up to £120m. "Saying it all points to turning a corner is a fair comment," said Walsh. Len McCluskey, assistant general secretary of Unite, which represents most of BA cabin crew, said the results augured well for a peace deal. A strike ballot of more than 12,000 cabin crew ends on 22 February and a walkout could begin in March. "This ought to make it more flexible in reaching a negotiated settlement with its cabin crew," said McCluskey. However, Walsh tempered the optimism with warnings that BA's recovery would be slow and that he remained determined to push ahead with potentially inflammatory cost-cutting. The BA chief executive said he would not repeal the unilateral decision to remove at least one cabin crew member from flights – part of a cost-cutting drive that yielded higher than expected savings of £300m in the nine months to Christmas. "We have been in talks for a year now and we have not made any progress that I would consider to be significant. We are prepared to talk with them for as long as it takes but that does not mean we will stand back from making changes," he said. Unite is demanding the repeal of the staffing cuts but asked if he would consider such a move, Walsh said: "Absolutely not." His refusal to reverse the moves and Unite's insistence on the issue indicate the distance between both sides. BA has presented two proposals to Unite. The first, which dominated the BA negotiating team's presentation, is dubbed "new fleet" and would put new recruits on lower pay and different work practices onto a separate fleet. While the proposal is anathema to Unite, the union refuses to discuss it publicly because BA could ask for an injunction against any strike over the plan following a court ruling that blocked a strike by the pilots' union, Balpa, over a similar issue in 2008. The second proposal is dubbed "integrated/flexi approach" and echoes Unite's negotiating document, Way Forward. Sources say these proposals could be the basis for a deal but Unite believes that significant differences remain. Both proposals envisage lower paid crew with different working conditions, working with existing crew. However, BA insists on changes for existing crew, including shorter gaps between trips. British Airways Airline industry Transport Travel & leisure Trade unions Willie Walsh Dan Milmo guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (1 d ago)

• Browne reveals plan for BP-Shell merger Browne reveals plan for BP-Shell merger
02/05/2010
• BP board in Williamsburg squashed proposals in 2004 • Ex chief claims merger could have been worth $9bn a year • Tie-up with Yukos rejected after 'untoward' encounter with Khodorkovsky Lord Browne took BP to the brink of a mega-merger with Royal Dutch Shell six years ago only to be thwarted at the last minute by opposition from a handful of his own board members, the former chief executive has claimed. "We missed the boat" argues Browne in his autobiography, which is published on Monday. The Shell deal would have involved selling off the whole of BP's downstream refining business – an operation that is currently struggling to make money . "We estimated that a merger could create synergies of around $9bn [£5.8bn] a year in three to five years' time. It also would have been a significant boost to the oil industry outside of the US," he argues in Beyond Business, published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson. There was much speculation at the time that BP and Shell had held casual talks but the oil companies denied it had been anything other than early soundings that quickly led nowhere. But Browne, who stepped down in 2007 in favour of his head of exploration Tony Hayward , planned to put detailed proposals to the BP board at a meeting in Williamsburg, Virginia. Browne claims he had the support of his own executive team, which would have included Hayward. "On the plane there I knew the answer even before the meeting started. The sentiment was 'why rock the boat'. The Shell merger was not discussed. It was not going to be done and that was that... In the end we did not rock the boat; we missed it," he says. Browne also revealed how he also thought about buying into Yukos rather than TNK as his entrance point to Russia . But he claims a meeting at his house in Cambridge with the now-imprisoned Yukos boss Mikhail Khodorkovsky put him off because the Russian talked about his political influence in that country. Browne said: "It is easy to say this in hindsight but there was something untoward about his approach." BP Royal Dutch Shell Oil and gas companies Oil Russia Terry Macalister guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (1 d ago)

• Church of England sells Vedanta stake ov... Church of England sells Vedanta stake over human rights concerns
02/05/2010
Controversial plans for open-cast mine on Niyamgiri mountain in Orissa, India, force church to abandon shares worth £3.8m The Church of England said today that it has sold its £3.8m stake in Vedanta Resources, the controversial mining company, over concerns about its human rights record. The church has been under mounting pressure over the past year to disinvest in the FTSE 100 company after it continually refused to back down on its plans to construct an open-cast mine on Niyamgiri mountain in Orissa, India . Activists believe it will destroy the area's ecosystem and threaten the future of the 8,000-strong Dongria Kondh tribe, who depend on the hills for their crops and water and who believe the mountain and surrounding forest to be a sacred place. "We are not satisfied that Vedanta has shown, or is likely in future to show, the level of respect for human rights and local communities that we expect," said the church in a statement, adding that maintaining investments in Vedanta "would be inconsistent with the church investing bodies' joint ethical investment policy". Although Vedanta was the second biggest riser on the FTSE 100 index last year, it has been hit by a succession of public relations problems. In June, an environmental award was withheld at the last minute when details of the mine in the eastern state of Orissa were brought to the jury's attention. The following month, protesters including celebrities such as Bianca Jagger picketed the annual meeting in London over the Orissa project and the campaign to force the church to disinvest began in earnest. In August, India's environment minister admitted the project should never have been approved. Stephen Corry, director of the charity Survival International, said: "The church's unprecedented and very welcome decision sends a strong signal to companies that trample on tribal peoples' rights: we will not bankroll your abuses. Anybody that has shares in Vedanta should sell them today if they care about human rights." Meredith Alexander, head of trade and corporates at ActionAid, said the church's announcement was a "massive setback" for Vedanta. "Vedanta's planned bauxite mine in the holy mountain of Niyamgiri is a social and environmental disaster. It will destroy the sacred homeland of the Kondh tribes and ruin a pristine environment forever. "The Kondh tribes who live around the mountain have been doing everything they can to stop the mine, but it hasn't been enough. They have now found a powerful ally in the Church of England. I hope that the Church's decision helps Vedanta to make the right choice and drop plans to mine." The church is not the first organisation to disinvest from Vedanta on ethical grounds. In 2007 the Norwegian government sold its $13m stake, saying: "There is little reason to believe that the company's unacceptable practice will change in the future." In addition, Martin Currie Investment Management sold its £2.3m stake last year, and BP's pension fund reduced its holdings in Vedanta because of "concerns about the way the company operates". A Vedanta spokesperson said: "We are disappointed by the Church of England's decision to sell their holding in Vedanta. Vedanta remains fully committed to pursuing its investments in a responsible manner, respecting the environment and human rights. We work with a number of NGOs and with the authorities in India, the world's largest democracy, ensuring all our projects are conducted in compliance with the law and international best practice. "We will continue to engage closely with the Church of England to address the concerns they have raised." Vedanta Resources Anglicanism India Mining Ethical business Kathryn Hopkins guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (2 d ago)

• Insolvency figures hit record high Insolvency figures hit record high
02/05/2010
A total of 134,142 people were declared insolvent in 2009 as the continued credit squeeze drove the figure above the previous record set in 2006 The number of people entering into insolvency in England and Wales rose to a record total of 134,142 last year, official figures from the Insolvency Service showed today, and experts say the figure is likely to rise further in 2010. Rising unemployment and the ongoing impact of the credit squeeze drove the figure beyond the previous record of 107,288 personal insolvencies set in 2006, and meant that over the course of the year one in every 320 adults entered into formal arrangements with their creditors. Today's figures show a total of 74,670 individuals were declared bankrupt last year, a rise of 10.7% on 2008's figure. The number of individual voluntary arrangements (IVAs) – where borrowers arrange to pay off a proportion of their debt over a set period of time – leapt by 21.8% over the year to 47,641. A total of 11,831 of the insolvencies were in the form of debt relief orders (DROs), which were introduced in April last year and allow consumers with debts of less than £15,000 and minimal assets to write off their borrowing without entering into a full-blown bankruptcy, and have proved more popular than expected. Insolvency experts at KPMG said they believed more than 223 people a day were choosing to petition for bankruptcy. The firm's director of personal insolvency, Chris Nutting, said: "The figures show that there are still many people experiencing serious financial difficulties, despite record low interest rates. "Whilst the UK is technically out of recession, the harsh reality is that many people are still living beyond their means. Lessons from history show that personal insolvencies will continue to rise after the recession finally ends, and for some time to come." Some experts had suggested the number of insolvencies would have fallen over the last quarter of last year as consumers deferred dealing with their debts until after Christmas. But the figure increased from 35,242 to 35,574. The number of bankruptcies was down by 5.5% on the same period of the previous year, at 17,007, but the number of IVAs leapt by 26.3% to 13,219. On top of these, 5,348 DROs were granted. Louise Brittain, partner in Deloitte's Contentious Insolvency Group , said the figures bucked a trend. "This is unexpected, as traditionally people tend to hold off addressing financial issues during the festive season, rather saving them for the new year," she said. "It is surprising to see the dramatic rise in the number of IVAs – up 26%. This is a result of increased creditor pressure which is unlikely to let up any time soon, and highlights the desperate financial difficulties facing individuals." Insolvency experts said they expected there to be even more insolvencies in 2010, with Brittain predicting the number could reach 145,000. Most agree that historically low interest rates have allowed some borrowers to keep up repayments on debts which would otherwise have been unmanageable, and that any rare rise could push many more people into difficulty. On top of this, rising awareness of DROs is likely to lead to more borrowers signing up for the orders. Meanwhile, the number of companies going into liquidation also increased in 2009, rising to 19,077 – the highest figure since 1993. But the quarterly breakdown suggested the picture was improving for businesses as the year ended. During the last three months of last year 4,372 firms were wound up, a 4% fall on the previous quarter and down 3% year-on-year. There was also a significant decline in the number of companies going into administration, which is often a more representative measure of corporate failures. Between October and December 849 companies entered into administration, a fall of 58% year-on-year and the lowest number since the fourth quarter of 2007. Howard Archer, chief UK economist at his IHS Global Insight, said the outlook for companies currently struggling would depend on how easy it became for them to access credit. "Despite the economy staggering out of recession in the fourth quarter of 2009, economic activity is unlikely to be strong enough for some time to come to stop many more companies from going out of business, although hopefully the number failing will moderate further. "Much will depend on to what extent credit conditions ease over the coming months, as an inability to access credit continues to plague a number of companies, particularly smaller ones." Bankruptcy and IVAs Borrowing & debt Family finances Credit cards Personal loans Banks and building societies Consumer affairs Credit crunch Hilary Osborne guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (2 d ago)

• Testy Conflict With Goldman Helped Push ... Testy Conflict With Goldman Helped Push A.I.G. to Edge
02/06/2010
The bank’s demands for billions of dollars from the insurer bled it of cash, which the government later provided. (9 h ago)

• Toyota Has Pattern of Slow Response on S... Toyota Has Pattern of Slow Response on Safety Issues
02/06/2010
Toyota’s recent recalls and disclosures are part of a long-term pattern in which the automaker has often reacted slowly to safety concerns. (9 h ago)

• Is Debt Trashing the Euro? Is Debt Trashing the Euro?
02/06/2010
Greece’s problems, and those looming over its neighbors, have laid bare the dangers of divergent fiscal and political policies in the euro zone. (11 h ago)

• Metrics: Paying for the Olympics: The To... Metrics: Paying for the Olympics: The Toughest Course
02/06/2010
The flow of money through the United States Olympic Committee shows its challenges in advancing its cause while keeping its relationship with the Olympic body. (12 h ago)

• Off the Shelf: Terrorism and the Pocketb... Off the Shelf: Terrorism and the Pocketbook
02/06/2010
To fight terrorism effectively, a new book says, governments must understand its economics — and cut off its revenue streams. (12 h ago)

• Paragon Envy: Oh, What a Feeling: Watchi... Paragon Envy: Oh, What a Feeling: Watching Toyota Flunk for Once
02/06/2010
After years of leading the class, Toyota has finally slipped up. Please excuse America while it gloats. (12 h ago)

• The Count: A Globe Still in Need of Stee... The Count: A Globe Still in Need of Steel
02/06/2010
The steel industry, though buffeted by crises in past decades, remains a core part of the economy. (12 h ago)

• Toyota’s Top Executive Under Rising Pres... Toyota’s Top Executive Under Rising Pressure
02/06/2010
Experts say Akio Toyoda is relying too heavily on lieutenants to deal with Toyota’s safety issues. (18 h ago)

• Euro Debt Crisis Is Political Test for B... Euro Debt Crisis Is Political Test for Bloc
02/06/2010
Anxieties about the euro go to the central dilemma of the European Union: the grip of states over economic policy. (1 d ago)

• Debt Problems Chip Away at Fortress Euro... Debt Problems Chip Away at Fortress Europe
02/06/2010
For the 16 countries that use the euro, a question about whether a single central bank can manage the divergent economic and financial conditions of its members. (1 d ago)

• Greece Needs Tougher Measures, Former E.... Greece Needs Tougher Measures, Former E.U. Central Banker Asserts
02/06/2010
Otmar Issing, former chief economist of the European Central Bank, said the International Monetary Fund would be a better rescuer, if needed, than Brussels. (1 d ago)

• Labor Market Shows Signs of Rebirth in N... Labor Market Shows Signs of Rebirth in New Data
02/06/2010
Growth in manufacturing and part-time employment raised hopes despite the loss of 20,000 more nonfarm jobs in January. The jobless rate fell to 9.7 percent. (1 d ago)

• Stocks & Bonds: Wall Street Takes a Dip ... Stocks & Bonds: Wall Street Takes a Dip and Then Comes Back
02/05/2010
Shares were mixed in the last hour, with Wall Street indexes bouncing back after being down more than 1.5 percent. (1 d ago)

• First Profit in Year for Airline in Brit... First Profit in Year for Airline in Britain
02/05/2010
Cost-cutting at British Airways helped the carrier to achieve its first quarterly operating profit in more than a year. But the airline is still expecting an annual loss. (1 d ago)

• A Broad U.S. Push to Ease Credit for Sma... A Broad U.S. Push to Ease Credit for Small Businesses
02/05/2010
The statement comes after lawmakers urged the Fed chairman during his reconfirmation vote to do something to help small businesses. (1 d ago)

• BAE Settles Corruption Charges BAE Settles Corruption Charges
02/05/2010
The military contractor BAE Systems has reached a settlement of about $450 million with Britain and the U.S., ending a long-running corruption investigation. (1 d ago)

• Talks With G.O.P. on Financial Bill at ‘... Talks With G.O.P. on Financial Bill at ‘Impasse,’ Dodd Says
02/05/2010
Senator Christopher J. Dodd said that Democrats would forge ahead with their own bill, after months of talks aimed at reaching a bipartisan consensus. (1 d ago)

• Air Products Offers $5.1 Billion for Riv... Air Products Offers $5.1 Billion for Rival Airgas
02/05/2010
If Air Products’ latest offer is rejected, the company is said to be prepared to wage a hostile bid, including by staging a proxy fight. (1 d ago)

• Answers to Questions About Prius and the... Answers to Questions About Prius and the Toyota Recalls
02/05/2010
Details about the investigations into the brake problems on the 2010 Toyota Prius. (1 d ago)

• 'Behave Properly,' Trichet Warns Bloc 'Behave Properly,' Trichet Warns Bloc
02/04/2010
European countries must get their budgets under control to set the stage for lasting growth, the European Central Bank president said. (2 d ago)

• Prius recall case may severely damage re... Prius recall case may severely damage reputation of Toyota (2)
02/07/2010
&$ &$Photo taken on Feb. 5, 2010 shows a Toyota Motor Corp.'s Prius hybrid car at a car dealer in New York, the United States.(Xinhua/Liu Xin)&$ &$ &$ 【1】【2】【3】 <a href="/cms/template/NewsView.jsp?i ... (1 h ago)

• Prius recall case may severely damage re... Prius recall case may severely damage reputation of Toyota (3)
02/07/2010
&$ &$Customers sit beside a Toyota Motor Corp.'s Prius hybrid car at a car dealer in New York, the United States, on Feb. 5, 2010. (Xinhua/Liu Xin)&$ &$ &$ 【1】【2】【3】 <a href="/cms/template/NewsView. ... (1 h ago)

• Prius recall case may severely damage re... Prius recall case may severely damage reputation of Toyota (4)
02/07/2010
&$ &$Photo taken on Feb. 5, 2010 shows the logo of the Toyota Motor Corp.'s Prius hybrid car at a car dealer in New York, the United States. (Xinhua/Liu Xin)&$ &$&$ 【1】【2】【3】 <a href="/cms/template/ ... (1 h ago)

• Prius recall case may severely damage re... Prius recall case may severely damage reputation of Toyota
02/07/2010
&$ &$People walk past a car dealer of Toyota Motor Corp. in New York, the United States, on Feb. 5, 2010. The Japanese automaker Toyota has decided a mandatory recall of 270,000 units of its third-generation Prius hybrid car, which some consumers have reported has a brake problem, local media reported on Friday. Toyota, which has had a reputation for safety for many years, is likely to see a huge dent in its sales as media ... (1 h ago)

• Australian mining magnate secures coal e... Australian mining magnate secures coal export deal with China
02/07/2010
Queensland mining magnate Clive Palmer said Saturday his company has secured Australia's largest coal export deal with China. The Resourcehouse chairman said the company had reached a 20-year agreement with one of China's largest power companies, China Power International Development, the flagship company of China Power Investment Corporation (CPI). "This deal with CPI is Australia's biggest ever export contract," Palmer said in a statement. "This is Australia's largest single, non-syn ... (1 h ago)

• European debt concerns drive dollar high... European debt concerns drive dollar higher during past week
02/06/2010
The dollar rose against most major currencies during the past week as concerns over European sovereign debt problems boosted safety haven demand for the greenback. Investors worried that the debt crisis may spread from Greece to other countries, threatening major economies of the eurozone. This is the toughest test for the euro since the single currency was launched in 1999, analysts said. The Greek public deficit is tipped to reach 12.7 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2009, far ... (16 h ago)

• Petrobras loses 6.84% of market value in... Petrobras loses 6.84% of market value in one day
02/06/2010
Brazil's state-run oil and gas giant Petrobras has lost 6.84 percent of its market value when Ibovespa, the index of the Sao Paulo Stock Exchange, experienced its severest fall in four months. Petrobras' market value shrank by 11.9 billion U.S. dollars, the biggest loss of all companies in Latin America and the United States, to 162.7 billion U.S. dollars on Thursday, said Economatica, a large consulting company. Petrobras' preferential stocks fell by 5.11 percent during the day, closing a ... (16 h ago)

• IDB offers financial support for social ... IDB offers financial support for social projects in L. America
02/06/2010
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has offered financial support to social projects in the Dominican Republic, Venezuela and Argentina, said the bank on Thursday. The IDB said it will provide a conditional credit of 100 million U.S. dollars to the Dominican Republic to build schools, lengthen school day and improve reading, writing and math skills of students. Under the program, 34 secondary schools will be built, each with an average of 14 classrooms. The funds will also be used to ... (16 h ago)

• SAIC posts soaring sales in January SAIC posts soaring sales in January
02/06/2010
SAIC Motor, the listed arm of China's auto giant Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC), said Saturday its car sales totaled 307,384 units in January, up 89.8 percent from a year earlier. January's output stood at 296,685 units, up 90.2 percent year on year, said the automaker in a statement filed to the Shanghai Stock Exchange website. Its subsidiary Iveco Hongyan Commercial Vehicle Co. posted the strongest sales gain in January, up 548.5 percent from a year ago to 2,088 units wh ... (16 h ago)

• China passenger car sales up 84% in Janu... China passenger car sales up 84% in January
02/06/2010
China's passenger car sales rose 84 percent in January from a year earlier, heavily boosted by minivans, China Passenger Car Association said on Friday. A total of 1,218,722 cars, sport-utility vehicles, multi-purpose vehicles and minivans were sold in January, an increase of 84.2 percent year on year and 5.1 percent from December, Saturday's China Daily quoted Rao Da, the association's secretary-general, as saying. The sales boost was largely driven by the minivan segment, which jumped 88 ... (16 h ago)

• U.S. consumer credit falls for 11th mont... U.S. consumer credit falls for 11th month in December 2009
02/06/2010
U.S. consumer credit dropped for the 11th month in a row in December 2009 as Americans cut their borrowing in the economic uncertainty, reported the Federal Reserve on Friday. The Fed said that total borrowing in December dropped by 1.8 billion dollars from 2,458.6 billion dollars in November to 2,456. 8 billion dollars. It is far less than the revised 10.6 billion dollars decline for November. It also was well below the 9 billion dollars drop analysts had expected. The previous record of ... (21 h ago)

• OECD posts stronger recovery signals OECD posts stronger recovery signals
02/06/2010
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's (OECD's) composite leading indicators (CLIs) for December 2009 gave out Friday stronger recovery signals than last month. CLIs for 29 developed countries rose to 103.1 in December, 1.1 point higher than the previous month and 10.1 points higher than a year ago, OECD said in a newly released report. CLIs for the G7 economies, namely Canada, France, Japan, Germany, Italy, United States and United Kingdom, as well as China, India, Ru ... (21 h ago)

• Canada's unemployment rate down to 8.3 p... Canada's unemployment rate down to 8.3 percent in January
02/06/2010
The Labour Force Survey released by Statistics Canada on Friday showed that Canada's unemployment rate was down 0.1 percentage points to 8.3 percent in January, with jobs increased by 43,000. This was the fourth employment gain in six months. However, employment still remained 280,000 below the level of October 2008. Employment gains in January were driven by women aged 25 to 54 and youths. This was the first notable increase for youths since the start of the employment downturn in the fall o ... (21 h ago)

• U.S. unemployment drops to 9.7% in Janua... U.S. unemployment drops to 9.7% in January
02/06/2010
The U.S. unemployment rate in January fell unexpectedly to 9.7 percent from 10 percent, a Labor Department report said on Friday. The report says a survey of employers found they cut 20,000 jobs last month, the same figure as in December 2009. However, a separate survey of households found the number of employed Americans rose by 541,000. In January, employment fell in construction, transportation and warehousing, while temporary help services and retail trade added jobs. The departm ... (21 h ago)

• Toyota Expected to Announce Brake Fix Toyota Expected to Announce Brake Fix
02/06/2010
In Letter to Dealers Automaker Says Plan to Repair Brakes on 270,000 Prius Cars Will Be Announced in Coming Week (12 h ago)

• Video: Fans Create Super Bowl Ads Video: Fans Create Super Bowl Ads
02/06/2010
During the Super Bowl, some viewers actually find the commercials almost as exciting as the game. Now, some ad companies are looking to their fans for creative help. Anthony Mason reports. (15 h ago)

• Video: Prius Hybrid's Faulty Bakes Video: Prius Hybrid's Faulty Bakes
02/06/2010
Toyota is already trying to solve a gas pedal problem in millions of cars, but soon the Japanese automaker will address a new issue, bad brakes on thousands of Prius hybrids. Manuel Gallegus reports. (16 h ago)

• Are Bikini Baristas Getting Too Steamy? Are Bikini Baristas Getting Too Steamy?
02/06/2010
Allegations of Prostitution, Erotic Shows Leveled at Some "Sexpresso" Stands (17 h ago)

• Obama Pushes for Small Business Loans Obama Pushes for Small Business Loans
02/06/2010
Wants Congress to Fund Job Creation Effort, as GOP Chides President on Budget and Debt (23 h ago)

• Jobless Rate Drops Unexpectedly to 9.7% Jobless Rate Drops Unexpectedly to 9.7%
02/05/2010
January Unemployment Rate Down .3% as Number of Employed Americans Rose by 541,000 (1 d ago)

• Video: Toyota's Tough Times Video: Toyota's Tough Times
02/05/2010
Akio Toyoda, the chief of troubled automaker Toyota, offered an apology to customers as the number of consumer complaints continue to grow. Dean Reynolds reports. (1 d ago)

• Video: Unexpected Unemployment Drop Video: Unexpected Unemployment Drop
02/05/2010
The national unemployment rate has fallen to 9.7 percent, as economists say that this could signal a potential rebound for the jobs market and the overall economy. Anthony Mason reports. (1 d ago)

• Goldman CEO Blankfein Gets $9M Stock Bon... Goldman CEO Blankfein Gets $9M Stock Bonus
02/05/2010
News of Bonus Eagerly Awaited by Wall Street; Blankfein Can't Cash Shares for Five Years (1 d ago)

• Wall Street Limps to End of Worrisome We... Wall Street Limps to End of Worrisome Week
02/05/2010
Stock Market Ends Week With Slight Gain Friday Amid Mixed Jobs Report, Debt Worries (1 d ago)

• Vote for Most Memorable Super Bowl Ad Vote for Most Memorable Super Bowl Ad
02/05/2010
Check Out These Ten Classic Commercials and Take Our Poll! (1 d ago)

• Toyota's Chief Apologizes for Recalls Toyota's Chief Apologizes for Recalls
02/05/2010
President Announces Quality Control Committee as Pressure Mounts, But Still No Confirmation of Possible Prius Recall (1 d ago)

• Census Spends $2.5M on Super Bowl Ads Census Spends $2.5M on Super Bowl Ads
02/05/2010
McCain, Others Call for U.S. Government to Justify Census Bureau Spending on Advertising (1 d ago)

• Obama: Jobs Report Is "Cause for Hope" Obama: Jobs Report Is "Cause for Hope"
02/05/2010
But President Says Unexpected Drop in Unemployment Rate is Not Cause for Celebration (1 d ago)

• Stocks Slide on Mixed Jobs News Stocks Slide on Mixed Jobs News
02/05/2010
Day after Wall Street Dive, Investors Still Wary Despite Report that Unemployment Unexpectedly Dropped in Jan. (1 d ago)

• Bankers Put on Better Face Before Congre... Bankers Put on Better Face Before Congress
02/05/2010
To Be "Relevant" in Drafting of Financial Overhaul Bill, Execs Sell Banking Industry, Lobby Against Regulations (1 d ago)

• Fed to Banks: Lend to Small Businesses Fed to Banks: Lend to Small Businesses
02/05/2010
Federal Reserve, other Regulators Cite Small Firms' "Important Role" in Economy and "Difficulty" They're Having Getting Loans (2 d ago)

• Recession Job Loss Estimate Set to Rise Recession Job Loss Estimate Set to Rise
02/05/2010
Labor Department Expected to Bump Up Unemployment Figure for Year Ending March 2009 to about 8 Million (2 d ago)

• Add Lexus Model to Potential Recall List Add Lexus Model to Potential Recall List
02/04/2010
Toyota Investigating Brake Problem in Lexus Hybrids, Following Problems with Priuses, Corollas, Camrys and Other Models (2 d ago)

• Video: Toyota's Rising Legal Problems Video: Toyota's Rising Legal Problems
02/04/2010
Toyota is not only facing daunting mechanical problems, but mounting legal ones. Across the United States and Canada, many family members of victims are building a class action lawsuit. Ben Tracy reports. (2 d ago)

• Sports Business: Not Quite Saying ‘Super... Sports Business: Not Quite Saying ‘Super Bowl,’ but Cashing In on It
02/06/2010
Advertisers who are not among the authorized Super Bowl sponsors have long relied on euphemisms to link themselves to the “Big Game.” (9 h ago)

• Palin, Visible and Vocal, Is Positioned ... Palin, Visible and Vocal, Is Positioned for Variety of Roles
02/06/2010
Sarah Palin, who headlines a national Tea Party convention on Saturday, represents a new breed of unelected public figures in an environment where politics, news and celebrity are fused as never before. (1 d ago)

• In Visit to Fox News, Jon Stewart Faults... In Visit to Fox News, Jon Stewart Faults Fox News
02/06/2010
This week on “The O’Reilly Factor,” the comedian delivered one of the most sustained criticisms of the cable channel ever heard on one of its programs. (1 d ago)

• Advertising: An Advocacy Ad Elevates Int... Advertising: An Advocacy Ad Elevates Interest in All the Ads
02/05/2010
The spot, featuring the college football star Tim Tebow and his mother, Pam, has been the subject of one of the most intense tugs of war over an ad in many years. (1 d ago)

• Justice Dept. Criticizes Latest Google B... Justice Dept. Criticizes Latest Google Book Deal
02/04/2010
While the Justice Department did not explicitly urge a rejection of the deal, its opposition on copyright, class action and antitrust grounds is a setback for Google. (2 d ago)

• Democrats Question Comcast on NBC Deal Democrats Question Comcast on NBC Deal
02/04/2010
Lawmakers are concerned that Comcast’s plan to take control of the NBC media empire would hurt consumers and rivals. (2 d ago)

• Paperback Business Best Sellers Paperback Business Best Sellers
02/04/2010
Rankings are based on January figures. (2 d ago)

• Hardcover Business Best Sellers Hardcover Business Best Sellers
02/04/2010
Rankings are based on January figures. (2 d ago)

• CBS News Lays Off Dozens in New Round of... CBS News Lays Off Dozens in New Round of Staff Cuts
02/04/2010
The job cuts affect programs like “The Early Show” and “60 Minutes,” and the network’s news-gathering bureaus. (2 d ago)

• Fundamentally: Is the Market ‘Priced for... Fundamentally: Is the Market ‘Priced for Perfection’?
02/06/2010
It may be unrealistic to expect stocks to repeat the kind of advance seen in the last 10 months of last year. (12 h ago)

• Describe Your Experience With Disability... Describe Your Experience With Disability Insurance
02/06/2010
Bucks readers describe their experiences with buying and using disability insurance and comment on the "Your Money" column on the odds of becoming disabled. (21 h ago)

• Wealth Matters: Index Funds, Dowdy to So... Wealth Matters: Index Funds, Dowdy to Some, Get a Notable Endorsement
02/06/2010
Burton G. Malkiel sees index funds as a way for the wealthy to avoid much of the volatility and high fees of other investments. (22 h ago)

• Patient Money: Fighting Denied Claims Re... Patient Money: Fighting Denied Claims Requires Perseverance
02/06/2010
Following a few steps can make the process of appealing insurance denials easier and increase the likelihood of success. (1 d ago)

• Your Money: The Odds of a Disability Are... Your Money: The Odds of a Disability Are Themselves Odd
02/05/2010
The disability insurance industry would love for you to buy a policy and has the scary numbers to sway you. (1 d ago)

• Questions to Ask Before Buying Disabilit... Questions to Ask Before Buying Disability Insurance
02/05/2010
A reader annotated guide to the questions you should ask before buying disability insurance coverage. (1 d ago)

• The Challenge of Pricing Surgery Ahead o... The Challenge of Pricing Surgery Ahead of Time
02/05/2010
According to a new paper, it's challenging and often impossible to get prices for surgeries before going into the hospital. (1 d ago)

• One More Reason for Denials of Loan Modi... One More Reason for Denials of Loan Modifications
02/05/2010
Some troubled homeowners are being denied loan modifications for reasons that violate the Treasury Department's rules, a new report says. (1 d ago)

• Lobbying Imperils Overhaul of Student Lo... Lobbying Imperils Overhaul of Student Loans
02/05/2010
An aggressive lobbying by large student lenders has imperiled a plan to end subsidies to private lenders. (1 d ago)

• Doctor and Patient: When the Patient Can... Doctor and Patient: When the Patient Can’t Afford the Care
02/04/2010
Medical schools are strong in teaching biology and pharmacology, while areas like the costs of health care are often neglected. (2 d ago)

• Record demand for food stamps Record demand for food stamps
02/06/2010
At the end of January, I looked at how one in five Americans were now saying they were going hungry. It's inevitable with one in four American children on food stamps.Now we have reports that a record 38.2 million Americans were enrolled in the food stamp program at latest count. That's up 246,000 on the previous month and happening right now in the richest country in the world.All this should put the so-called recovery in perspective. Don't believe it. While the last reports have US ... (9 h ago)

• How long will it take to restore trust? How long will it take to restore trust?
02/06/2010
Earlier this month, I did a blog entry on how trust in banks has eroded completely.Now, columnist Jason Zweig from The Wall Street Journal says it might take some time before that trust comes back.Most of us have the delusion that good guys finish first and the system isn't rigged. It's a delusion that helps make short term set backs bearable. But a meltdown of this proportion destroys that illusion.As Zweig says, it might have an impact that lasts well after the market recovers. ... (10 h ago)

• Will EMI survive? Will EMI survive?
02/05/2010
Nearly three years after EMI, whose artists include Robbie Williams and the Beatles, was bought by private equity firm Terra Firm for £4.2 billion ($US6.5 billion) including debt, it looks like the company is about to go bust, the first high profile casualty of the music industry shakeout.The Financial Times reports that EMI's auditors have expressed concern about the company's ability to continue as a going concern because of the enormous debt load. Guy Hands, Terra Firma's founder and chairman,has to go cap in ... (1 d ago)

• More big bonuses on Wall Street More big bonuses on Wall Street
02/05/2010
Those US bankers just don't get it. Goldman Sachs has stunned everyone by giving its chief executive Lloyd Blankfein a $9 million year end bonus. It's no cash, just stock. But with the Goldman Sachs share price sitting at over $154, he's really raking it in.All this is in contrast to the pay for ordinary workers with BusinessWeek reporting their wages have been flat for nearly 20 years, rising only 0.1% from 1979 to 2007. And that was before the economic crisis hit.Now Goldman ... (1 d ago)

• US to lose Aaa rating? US to lose Aaa rating?
02/05/2010
US debt is running out of control with the Us House of Representative voting to increase the US government's borrowing limit by $1.9 trillion, taking the debt load up to a mind-boggling $14.3 trillion.With the US economy going nowhere fast, how the hell will this be repaid? It's unsustainable.Which is alarming because we now have reports that ratings agency Moody's is on the verge of downgrading the USA's credit rating from the perfect Aaa ranking.Steven Hess, senior credit officer in the sovereign risk group ... (2 d ago)

• How do we feed 9 billion? How do we feed 9 billion?
02/04/2010
Several weeks ago I did a blog entry looking at the prospect of a food crisis. Experts warn that a shortage of food means higher prices which will rise to 50% of household budgets. With the world population pushing 9 billion, it's important to ask how we are going to feed so many people.It's a question raised in Science magazine and, as reported in the New Republic, a scientific paper argues that it will require some radical changes.It means we will need to boost ... (2 d ago)

• Carbon and credit derivatives link Carbon and credit derivatives link
02/04/2010
Get ready for subprime carbon.Last year, I did a blog entry asking whether carbon was going to be the next subprime. As I said at the time, cap and trade is just another derivatives market.We have further proof of that with revelations about Blyth Masters from JP Morgan. As The Guardian reported a few years ago, British-born Masters was one of the financial engineers who invented credit derivatives. As we know now, credit derivatives were designed to remove risk from a company's balance by ... (3 d ago)

• Geting stuck into Bono Geting stuck into Bono
02/04/2010
Criticisms of Bono are fairly common. He is self-centered, self-righteous and preachy. Indeed, he's probably the most painful interview subject I've ever had to deal with. But now it seems to be getting worse with AC/DC singer Brian Johnson getting stuck into him.As reported by the Herald Sun, Johnson says Bono says Bono should help people in private without telling the world about it. ""I don't tell everybody they should give money - they can't afford it,'' Johnson says. "When I was a working ... (3 d ago)

• PayPal halts Indian ‘personal payments’... PayPal halts Indian ‘personal payments’
02/07/2010
The online payments service PayPal has taken the unusual step of suspending many transactions in India for more than a week. Sponsored By: Comcast Business Class Look at your bill and find out how much your business can save with Comcast Business Class. Internet, Phone & TV for $99. Learn More Ads by Pheedo PayPal - India - Business - Asia - Financial Services (5 h ago)

• China accuses EU of shoe protectionism China accuses EU of shoe protectionism
02/04/2010
China launched an unfair trade case against the European Union, accusing the 27-nation bloc of imposing illegal duties on Chinese shoes, the World Trade Organization said. European Union - World Trade Organization - People's Republic of China - China - Government (3 d ago)

• Execs go incognito to review workplace Execs go incognito to review workplace
02/05/2010
A new reality TV series features bosses from the likes of 7-Eleven and Churchill Downs working entry-level jobs to find out what really goes on in their companies. Amy Scott reports. (1 d ago)

• In New Orleans, Saints vs. candidates In New Orleans, Saints vs. candidates
02/05/2010
David Hammer, a reporter for the New Orleans Times-Picayune and life-long Saints fan, talks with Kai Ryssdal about how the Super Bowl is overshadowing The Big Easy's mayoral election. (1 d ago)

• Will oil field pump up Dubai's economy? Will oil field pump up Dubai's economy?
02/05/2010
Officials in Dubai say they've found a fresh oil field. But some experts find the timing of the announcement a little curious. Bob Moon reports. (1 d ago)

• PIGS spells problems for euro PIGS spells problems for euro
02/05/2010
The acronym for Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain is being used to designate those countries, whose weak economies and debt are causing concern around the globe --- but especially in Europe. Stephen Beard reports. (1 d ago)

• Who's applying for census jobs? Who's applying for census jobs?
02/05/2010
A massive campaign is now underway to hire more than a million census workers. Jeff Tyler reports on the head-counting campaign in Los Angeles. (1 d ago)

• Weekly Wrap: Economic indicators Weekly Wrap: Economic indicators
02/05/2010
Fortune Magazine's Leigh Gallagher and Clusterstock's John Carney talk with Kai Ryssdal about what's happening with the U.S. labor market and Europe's debt problems. (1 d ago)

• What do the jobless numbers mean? What do the jobless numbers mean?
02/05/2010
The January unemployment rate dropped from 10% to 9.7%, yet 20,000 jobs were lost. What do the latest numbers say about where we are headed with this economy? John Dimsdale reports. (1 d ago)

• Smile NY: Botox king springs deals Smile NY: Botox king springs deals
02/07/2010
Good news for economically minded New Yorkers who get Botox to blitz lines and wrinkles -- the doctor who owns The Big Apple's only walk-in Botox clinic is launching tomorrow an online discount Botox bank that he hopes will eventually have "branches" across the country. Dr. Jack Berdy, whose... (4 h ago)

• Tax cuts: job No. 1 Tax cuts: job No. 1
02/07/2010
Many small businesses are not hiring additional workers because of the growing cost and taxes associated with the jobs -- most of which have been piled upon them recently by a cash-strapped government. These costs and taxes include: * A stepped up unemployment insurance tax that can saddle employers with thousands... (6 h ago)

• New formula for winning stocks New formula for winning stocks
02/07/2010
Many, many hedge funds -- with their high fees and very complicated "high frequency trading" systems built using "chaos theory" or "artificial intelligence" -- are a scam. They are supposed to beat the markets forever, until they lose 80 percent in a month (as happened for many of them in... (6 h ago)

• Chains looking hungry Chains looking hungry
02/07/2010
Restaurant stocks hard hit in 2009 by the double whammy of rising commodity prices and lower revenue, thanks to cash-strapped customers, may be ready for a rebound. Some Wall street analysts, citing a steep drop in commodities this year and the belt-tightening already taken by the chains, are expecting fatter... (6 h ago)

• Time to go long on ads Time to go long on ads
02/07/2010
After a brutal two-year slump, Madison Avenue is hoping today’s Super Bowl kicks off a Hail-Mary comeback for the beleaguered ad business. And there is reason to think there is light at the end of the tunnel — CBS said last week it had sold out of commercial time for... (6 h ago)

• Crisis in Greece an epic tale for all Crisis in Greece an epic tale for all
02/07/2010
It was a little less than two years ago, February 22, 2008, when Northern Rock, one of Britain's biggest mortgage lenders, had to be rescued by the UK government after a crisis that started with bad loans to subprime borrowers across the pond. At the time, only a few... (6 h ago)

• Stimulation wanted Stimulation wanted
02/07/2010
Dear John: Months ago President Obama said he was going to give $250 to senior citizens because there would be no Cost of Living Adjustments this year for Social Security recipients. We would certainly appreciate it greatly if you could determine the status of this stimulus. H.K. Dear H... (6 h ago)

• BofA, ex-CEO charged in fraud suit BofA, ex-CEO charged in fraud suit
02/04/2010
New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo sued Bank of America and its former CEO Ken Lewis, saying they misled investors about their acquisition of Merrill Lynch. Merrill Lynch - Bank of America - Ken Lewis - Attorney general - United States (2 d ago)

• Feds go after counterfeiters at Super Bo... Feds go after counterfeiters at Super Bowl
02/04/2010
Randal Hill spent seven years in the NFL catching passes and scoring touchdowns. Super Bowl - NFL - sport - National Football League - Football (2 d ago)

• Senators: Tax bonuses at bailed-out firm... Senators: Tax bonuses at bailed-out firms
02/04/2010
Two Democratic senators on Thursday proposed legislation that would impose a one-time tax on bonuses paid to executives of companies bailed out with taxpayer money. Tax - Democratic Party - Company - United States - Accounting (2 d ago)

• Super Bowl advertising’s best animal pit... Super Bowl advertising’s best animal pitchmen
02/04/2010
Why pay millions of dollars for George Clooney, when a talking frog puppet that croaks one word will work for free? Super Bowl - Advertising - George Clooney - Web Design and Development - Promotion (3 d ago)

Business

Technology

Sports

Entertainment

This is abundant, look forward to looking into ea...
John gogs :: 12/28/2009

Who knows where to download XRumer 5.0 Palladium?...
CocoChanels :: 07/03/2009

Hi, my friends!! I want to get program XRumer 5.0 ...
MagicOPromotion :: 05/03/2009

Where is this money coming from except from the mo...
carl allen :: 04/11/2009

out of control
staystrong :: 02/23/2009

The poor thing! Once so high and mighty and far ab...
leaf :: 02/22/2009

It always amazed me how eagerly people flocked to ...
David :: 12/23/2008

• After 40 years, Heinz revamps ketchup pa... After 40 years, Heinz revamps ketchup packets
02/04/2010
The ketchup packet has been around for more than 40 years, and complaints about it for nearly as long: too messy, too small, too hard to open. H. J. Heinz Company - Ketchup - United States - Supplies - Recreation (2 d ago)

• ConsumerMan: 'Unfair' piggybacking tacti... ConsumerMan: 'Unfair' piggybacking tactics
02/04/2010
N.Y. Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is probing 22 retailers he claims tricked customers into accepting offers from another companies via pop-up ads that looked like discount offers. Andrew Cuomo - Attorney general - Law - United States - Law Enforcement (2 d ago)

• Sponsored By: Sponsored By:
02/04/2010
(2 d ago)

• Stores report modest sales gains in Janu... Stores report modest sales gains in January
02/04/2010
Stores received a pleasant surprise in January as shoppers bought a little more clothing at mall stores, providing more hope that a spending recovery is being sustained. Business - Retailing - Shopping - Business and Economy - Salesmanship (2 d ago)

• Sponsored By: Sponsored By:
02/04/2010
(2 d ago)

• Campaign to save Dave the libidinous ban... Campaign to save Dave the libidinous banker
02/04/2010
An online campaign has started to save the job of an Australian banker who became an Internet sensation after he was caught viewing images of a scantily clad supermodel. Politics - Campaigns and Elections - Products and Services - United States - Environment (2 d ago)

• LGBT Capital Launch LGBT Capital Launch
02/04/2010
Galileo Capital Management has launched LGBT Capital, a specialist Corporate Advisory and Investment Management Unit focused on the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) consumer market. LGBT Capital provides corporate advisory and business development services for companies that serve the LGBT consumer sector. In addition, LGBT Capital is preparing to launch a fund that will invest in companies worldwide that provide products and services to the LGBT community. The power of the 'pink dollar' is now well understood by mainstream global marketers. LGBT ... (2 d ago)

• Upcoming New York/San Francisco Hedge Fu... Upcoming New York/San Francisco Hedge Funds Benefits
02/04/2010
Hedge Funds Care is holding its 12th Annual New York "Open Your Heart to the Children" benefit on Thursday, February 25, 2010 at Cipriani 42nd Street. A committee will award Michael E. Novogratz, President of Fortress Investment Group, with a Hedge Funds Care Award, among others. The first founder's award will be presented to Lee Daniels, director of Precious. Michelle Caruso-Cabrera of CNBC will serve as master of ceremonies for this year's event. The New York benefit is one of the key ... (2 d ago)

• Saving Money with Bank Accounts Saving Money with Bank Accounts
02/06/2010
© Philippe PutLately, these articles have mentioned much about saving money. Some of you have started saving money - which is good. Hopefully, though, you have also thought about how to save money and get the best interest rates. Banks right now are very competitive on their interest rates. In order for you to get the best, you will need to keep an eye on the rates in your area. Face it, if you have had a savings account at a bank for a ... (1 d ago)

• Have You Checked Your Credit Card Bills ... Have You Checked Your Credit Card Bills Lately?
02/04/2010
© TheTruthAbout...Many credit card companies have made a lot of changes lately. Some of these were not made openly - at least not in a way that you may be aware of. This means that you may be paying more in interest or charges each month than you think you are. If you have a lot of money on those credit cards it could mean that you are paying more than may be necessary. In order to save money on those cards, you will ... (3 d ago)

• Stocks fall for the week on concerns ove... Stocks fall for the week on concerns over euro-zone economies
02/06/2010
U.S. stocks fell for a fourth straight week, the longest streak since July, as concern grew that widening budget deficits in Europe will slow the economic recovery. A 167-point rally in the Dow Jones industrial average during the final hour of trading Friday failed to erase losses. (11 h ago)

• Marketing Your Home Business through Mul... Marketing Your Home Business through Multimedia
02/05/2010
© Annie Mole Video creates a stronger connection with consumers than any other type of media. That's why, as we've discussed multiple other kinds of marketing, I choose multimedia, the most powerful for last. When you work from home you might not get to interact face to face with clients as much as you did before and so being able to connect with them via voice or video can give your business that extra personal touch. Multimedia can be split into two main categories: ... (1 d ago)

• Microfinance is not good for teens Microfinance is not good for teens
02/04/2010
© Sukanto DebnathIt gives us a good feeling that microfinance is reaching out to poor women but some say that the same may not apply in case of teens. A number of those related to this field feel that microfinance to teenage girls could make them more vulnerable. Since the eighties when microfinance started spreading its wings it has helped many people come out of the shadows of poverty. Ninety percent of the loans are given to women where interest rate for income generation activity ... (2 d ago)

• Immigration reforms for curbing falling ... Immigration reforms for curbing falling birthrate
02/04/2010
© markhillaryThis is what Koreans feel. Korean parliamentary think tanks are of the opinion that policymakers of the country should give eye and ear to immigration reforms when preparing a strategy to curb falling birthrate in the country. They are of the opinion that government should amend its immigration policy for attracting highly skilled workers. Survey conducted has shown that Koreans have no problems with foreigners landing on their soil as they feel that they are hardworking and would contribute towards cultural diversity. Experts ... (2 d ago)

• Seen that? - Intel Capital and China Pol... Seen that? - Intel Capital and China Policy Roadmap
02/04/2010
Intel Capital and China Policy Roadmap China Venture News With no Abatement in the gold rush of US VCs into China, I continue my conversation with author and researcher, Jonsson Yinya Li, on his observations in his new book, Investing in ... (2 d ago)

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