Pre-budget report: George Osborne warns Britain’s credit rating still at risk

Reuters

Published: 8:59AM GMT 10 Dec 2009

He said most of the Conservatives’ deficit reduction measures would come from
spending restraint.

Asked if the measures announced in Alistair Darling’s pre-Budget
report were enough to soothe fears that Britain might lose its
credit rating, Mr Osborne told Reuters in an interview on Thursday: “No, I
don’t think they are.”

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Pre-Budget report 2009: experts react

By Jamie Dunkley

Published: 1:38PM GMT 09 Dec 2009

Philip Shaw, chief economist, Investec: “There’s a very small
upward nudge to the latest year, as expected. And in the later years,
2010/11 looks a little bit higher than at the budget, but really there’s no
material change to borrowing numbers looking through the course of the next
four years.

“There’s no great change (to GDP forecasts) compared with the budget. We
have our doubts that the economy will grow by as much as 3.5pc in 2011 but
we note that the Bank of England forecast is even more buoyant than that.”

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George Osborne: For confidence to return, Britain needs a credible plan

By George Osborne

Published: 10:00PM GMT 05 Dec 2009

Far from “leading the world” out of recession, as Gordon Brown once
boasted, Britain’s recovery lags the rest of the world. Far from being “better
prepared”, as Alistair Darling once claimed, we have the worst public
finances in the developed world. International investors are increasingly
questioning Britain’s reputation.

The pre-Budget Report is this Government’s last chance to tackle these grave
problems. Instead Labour are lurching to the left and abandoning the centre
ground. Meanwhile we Conservatives are setting out what needs to be done to
get our economy back on track and create lasting jobs.

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Treasury calls for banks to disclose all their lending charges

By Kamal Ahmed

Published: 7:25PM GMT 05 Dec 2009

The City minister, Lord Myners, is to call for UK banks to sign up to the same
code developed by Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group, which
were required to bring forward new measures on lending transparency by the
Government.

The Treasury argued that the large public stakes in both banks made the
development vital in the battle to regain public trust.

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Pre-Budget Report: 10 significant chancellors

David Lloyd George (1908-1915): The 1909 Liberal Government’s “People’s
Budget” was met with hostility and anger. By proposing a higher rate of
tax for the richest, and support for the sick and infirm, Lloyd George is
credited with laying the foundations for the modern welfare state.
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Lord Mandelson urges pay restraint at banks

Published: 9:44AM GMT 03 Dec 2009

“I think it’s banking practice, not only in this country but around the
world, for these bonuses to form an integral part of the salary structures
of those they employ at senior level,” Lord Mandelson told BBC Radio 4. “But
equally we believe that there has to be restraint exercised by these banks.”

RBS, the state-owned bank that was bailed out by taxpayers, warned it could
struggle to hire and keep key staff if the government vetoed hundred of
millions in bonus payment.

Meanwhile Barclays,
which has not received any state aid, is said to be preparing to award its
22,000 investment bankers pay rises of up to 150pc to beat a clamp down on
multi-million-pound bonuses.

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LSE chief Xavier Rolet sees only five bourses in ten years

Reuters

Published: 7:26AM GMT 03 Dec 2009





London Stock Exchange Group

“As the economy is totally global and the same is happening to regulators we
are expecting a reduction in the number of stock markets worldwide, perhaps
no more than five in the next five to 10 years,” Xavier Rolet, chief
executive of the London
Stock Exchange, told La Repubblica newspaper.

“More or less one per macro area: America, Asia, Europe, Middle East,” he
said.

Mr Rolet, in Milan for meetings with the Milan bourse which is owned by LSE,
added that in Europe there was room for a rise in trades on stock markets,
“given that the value (of trades) is only a tenth of America’s“.

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Regulator may let BT raise charges to reduce £9.4bn pension deficit

Reuters

Published: 12:08PM GMT 01 Dec 2009





BT Group

Telecoms
regulator Ofcom, which sets the pricing for BT’s wholesale access
division Openreach, said in a statement on Tuesday it would consider
rethinking the way it takes BT’s pension costs into account when setting
prices.

If it decides to include the cost of paying down the deficit, the charges
could rise by 4pc.

BT’s pension deficit stood at £9.4bn gross of tax as at September 30, more
than double the £4bn deficit as at March 31, and it made gross deficit
pension payments of £525m.

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Mitchells & Butlers claims major investor Joe Lewis trying to take control

By Jonathan Sibun


Published: 10:02PM GMT 30 Nov 2009

The Panel is expected to look into whether Mr Lewis, who owns a 23pc stake in M&B
through investment fund Piedmont, is working with other shareholders to
dictate issues at the pub group. M&B released a statement in which it
referred to the “increasingly difficult relationship” between its
board and a “small number of its largest shareholders”.

The pub group pointed the finger at Piedmont but is also thought to have
issues with Elpida, the vehicle run by Irish racing tycoons John Magnier and
JP McManus, which owns a 17.5pc holding. The Panel could look at potential
concert party activity after M&B claimed “a number of shareholders
have been seeking to gain control of the company to advance the interests of
a small group of shareholders”.

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India’s economy beats growth forecasts

India’s economy grew at a far stronger rate than predicted in the second
quarter of the fiscal year as poor farmers weathered a late monsoon, civil
servants enjoyed a pay hike and the service sector boomed.

Policy makers had argued that strong domestic demand and conservative banking
practices would insulate India from an ailing Western economy.

In the three months from July to September those hopes appeared to be
vindicated as figures showed output grew by 7.9 per cent, compared with the
same period a year earlier – much greater than the 6.3 per cent forecast by
analysts.

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