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29th September Independent TESTS FOR DRUGS IN TAP WATER Drinking water supplies are to be tested for the presence of prescription drugs amid fears that rivers are being contaminated by the growing quantity of pharmaceuticals flushed unwittingly down the drain. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/tests-for-drugs-in-tap-water-945268.html |
| 29th September Independent OSBORNE CALLS FOR TOUGHER FINANCIAL REGULATION The Conservatives will today call for reforms to stamp out irresponsible practices in the City in the wake of the crisis engulfing British banks. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/osborne-calls-for-tougher-financial-regulation-945278.html |
| 29th September Personnel Today CHURCH OF ENGLAND CONCEDES CLERGY WORK FOR CHURCH Religious groups in the UK could soon find their members subject to minimum wage and anti-discrimination laws, a union has claimed. Unite, the UK's largest trade union, said the Church of England has conceded that its ministers are employed by the Church rather than God in the case of former policeman Reverend Mark Sharpe. http://www.personneltoday.com/articles/2008/09/29/47676/church-of-england-concedes-clergy-work-for-church.html |
| 29th September Personnel Today MUSLIM FORK LIFT DRIVER SUES TESCO AFTER HANDLING BOOZE Muslim fork truck driver Mohammed Ahmed is suing Tesco for religious discrimination because he had to handle alcoholic drinks as part of his job at the company's Lichfield goods depot. http://www.personneltoday.com/articles/2008/09/29/47681/muslim-fork-lift-driver-sues-tesco-after-handling-booze.html |
| 29th September Leadership Nigeria NIGERIA TO PROBE OFFICIALS IMPLICATED IN BRIBERY Nigerian courts will begin an investigation of senior government officials implicated by a U.S. oil executive who has pleaded guilty to bribery, Leadership Nigeria reported. Jason Steph, a former senior executive of Houston-based Willbros Group Inc., pleaded guilty to paying $6 million in bribes to a senior member of the Nigerian government. The Willbros case is the latest in a string of bribery allegations involving foreign companies and Nigerian officials, which campaigners say point to endemic corruption in Africa's largest energy industry. No Nigerian official has been prosecuted as a result of the cases. http://www.leadershipnigeria.com/product_info.php?products_id=17233&osCsid=920e8eeea245f30e1e68b45bddef8b54 |
| 29th September BBC WOMEN STILL OUTSIDE THE BOARDROOM It is time for British women to use the law to gain more representation in company boardrooms, according to leading academic Lynda Gratton from London Business School. Research on gender and teamwork shows that the lowest performing senior teams are those that are made up of just men. The second lowest are the ones that are made up of just women, and the highest are fifty percent men/women. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7641992.stm |
| 29th September Market Watch GRAND JURY SUBPOENAS FREDDIE MAC U.S. Investigates Possible Governance Lapses at Freddie Mac. Freddie Mac said it had received a federal grand jury subpoena from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, seeking documents relating to accounting, disclosure and corporate governance matters, MarketWatch reported. It also said it had received notice that it is the subject of a probe by the Securities and Exchange Commission, directing it to preserve documents. http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/grand-jury-subpoenas-freddie-mac/story.aspx?guid={5471C749-4D4B-4D0B-8F8F-F421F9BBDF84}&dist=msr_9 |
| 29th September Management Today MORE SILVERTOPS URGENTLY REQUIRED A lack of experience in managing through hard times threatens the effectiveness of UK boards. The average FTSE 350 chief exec has been in post only 4.6 years and even their FTSE 100 colleagues can only manage an average of 4.7 years in their current jobs, according to data from board analysis specialist BoardEx. The problem is even more acute with NEDs, whose wisdom and experience might otherwise be expected to make up for any lack of the same amongst a firm’s executive directors. But their average time in the job is a mere 3.5 years. http://www.managementtoday.co.uk/newsalerts/article/849404/more-silvertops-urgently-required/?DCMP=EMC-Daily%20News |
| 29th September Telegraph BRITAIN'S £150BN 'TOXIC BANK' British taxpayers will be liable for more than £150 billion of potentially toxic mortgage debt following the nationalisation of Bradford & Bingley, one of the country’s biggest mortgage lenders. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financetopics/financialcrisis/3098279/Financial-crisis-Bradford-and-Bingley-nationalisation-will-cost-taxpayers-150bn.html |
| 30th September Guardian MEAT MUST BE RATIONED TO FOUR PORTIONS A WEEK, SAYS REPORT ON CLIMATE CHANGE People will have to be rationed to four modest portions of meat and one litre of milk a week if the world is to avoid run-away climate change, a major new report warns. The report, by the Food Climate Research Network, based at the University of Surrey, also says total food consumption should be reduced, especially "low nutritional value" treats such as alcohol, sweets and chocolates. http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/sep/30/food.ethicalliving |
| 30th September Press Association CADBURY PULLS MELAMINE-LACED CHOCOLATE FROM CHINA Cadbury announced a recall of chocolate made in its Beijing factory after it was found to contain melamine, the industrial chemical that has sickened tens of thousands of Chinese children. The 11 recalled items were sold in parts of Asia and the Pacific, the company said in a statement. Meanwhile, Kraft Foods, the maker of Oreo cookies, and Mars, the maker of M&Ms and Snickers candy, questioned the findings of Indonesian tests that identified melamine in samples of their products made in China. http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jL7mHkJcSHVOLlejms7eQS2xXDiwD93GL2SG0 |
| 30th September Management Today YOU CAN'T TRUST LES ROSBIFS French businesses are much more reliable than British ones. British businesses are four times more likely to have overdue debts than their French counterparts, according to research by CreditSafe. The credit information group discovered that two-thirds of UK businesses have reported late payments (i.e. later than the period set out in their Ts&Cs) compared to just 16% of French businesses. http://www.managementtoday.co.uk/newsalerts/article/849611/you-cant-trust-les-rosbifs/?DCMP=EMC-Daily%20News |
| 30th September Guardian BRITISH AGENCY ORDERS PORTS TO INSPECT IMPORTS FOR CONTAMINATED MILK British ports will begin inspecting air freight and shipments of imported food from today in a major food safety operation triggered by the contaminated milk scandal in China. The Food Standards Agency put more than 80 ports and airports on alert and ordered health officials to intercept and test any food products arriving via China that contain more than 15% milk, including cakes, chocolate, biscuits, bread and protein drinks. http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/sep/29/sciencenews |
| 1ST October Financial Times WAL-MART BOYCOTTS UZBEK COTTON Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, said on Tuesday it was asking its suppliers to stop using cotton from Uzbekistan, joining a boycott by global brands over its use of forced child labour during the cotton harvest. It is the first time the retailer has taken such sweeping action over sourcing issues, reflecting its push over the past three years to improve its record on social and environmental sustainability under Lee Scott, its chief executive. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/1362991c-8f07-11dd-946c-0000779fd18c.html |
| 1st October Guardian GOVERNMENT MOVES TO CALM CONSUMERS BY PROTECTING SAVINGS UP TO £50,000 Britain's financial watchdog will unveil plans next week to raise protection for savers in banks and building societies to £50,000, from the existing £35,000, as the government sought to reassure the public that it would do "whatever is necessary" to tackle the impact of the global credit crisis. http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/oct/01/creditcrunch.savings |
| 1st October Independent DRUG FIRMS BANKROLL ATTACKS ON NHS The rising tide of protest over the refusal by the NHS to provide expensive drugs for cancer and other conditions is being funded by the pharmaceutical industry, an investigation by The Independent has revealed. Patient groups that have been among the most vocal in spearheading attacks on the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (Nice) over decisions to restrict access to drugs on the NHS, depend for up to half of their income on drug companies. http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-wellbeing/health-news/drug-firms-bankroll-attacks-on-nhs-947316.html |
| 2nd October Reuters EU FINES "PARAFFIN MAFIA" WAX MAKERS' CARTEL The European Commission fined nine petrochemicals companies a total of €676 million for forming a "paraffin mafia" to fix prices and carve up markets for paraffin wax. The biggest individual fine of €318.2 million was imposed on Sasol of South Africa and Germany, which the European Union executive described as the leader of the illegal cartel. Anglo-Dutch oil major Shell escaped a potential fine because it blew the whistle first to the EU competition authorities. http://www.reuters.com/article/euMergersNews/idUSL169440520081001 |
| 2nd October Financial Times TOTAL AND CHEVRON ARGUE OVER BUNCEFIELD BILL Total, the French oil company, was lambasted yesterday for failing to take full responsibility for a devastating explosion that caused hundreds of millions of pounds worth of damage. Nearly three years after the blast at the Buncefield fuel storage terminal near Hemel Hempstead, corporate and residential victims packed into a London courtroom for the start of a civil trial that will determine who picks up the bill for their losses. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/8de9929e-9006-11dd-9890-0000779fd18c.html |
| 2nd October Financial Times BRUSSELS STIFFENS BANK CAPITAL REQUIREMENTS Banks will face tougher requirements on what capital they must hold to support their operations under new rules announced in Brussels yesterday. Supervisory arrangements for those with cross-border operations in Europe will also be strengthened. Long-awaited reforms to the so-called Capital Requirements Directive are being used by lawmakers in Brussels to tighten banking practices and supervision in the wake of the credit crunch. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/404b80e8-8f97-11dd-9890-0000779fd18c,dwp_uuid=70662e7c-3027-11da-ba9f-00000e2511c8.html |
| 2nd October Guardian HALLS OF SHAME: BIGGEST CO2 OFFENDERS UNVEILED The Palace of Westminster and the Bank of England have been exposed as among the country's least energy efficient public buildings by a new law to measure carbon dioxide emissions from the national estate. Around 18,000 buildings are being tested to discover their energy efficiency on a sliding scale where A is the best and G is the worst. Parliament and the Bank both scored a G. Together, they consume enough electricity and gas to pump out 21,356 tonnes of CO2 a year, the equivalent of more than 14,000 people flying from London to New York. http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/oct/02/carbonemissions.greenbuilding |
| 2nd October Financial Times BUSINESS REGULATORS UNMOVED BY NEW POWERS A new law aimed at streamlining business regulation in industries from forestry to hearing aids arrived yesterday to an underwhelmed response from the authorities involved. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f7ac2948-901b-11dd-9890-0000779fd18c.html |
| 2nd October Times SUFFERING FIRMS SWITCH TO A FOUR-DAY WEEK The credit crunch is taking its toll on manufacturers, forcing factories to cut overtime and even to move to a four-day week. Night shifts are also disappearing as businesses scale back production to avoid stockpiles of unsold goods. http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/economics/article4864257.ece |
| 2nd October Times WHOLESALE PRICE OF ELECTRICITY SURGES AMID FEAR OF SUPPLY SHORTFALL Wholesale electricity prices surged higher yesterday amid mounting fears that the UK could face a supply shortfall next month. http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/utilities/article4864031.ece |
| 3rd October Financial Times NESTLE IN MELAMINE DISPUTE WITH TAIWAN A dispute broke out yesterday over exactly what levels of melamine are acceptable in food after Taiwan told Swiss food group Nestle to take two of its milk powder brands off supermarket shelves. Taiwan’s Department of Health said it had asked Nestle to remove some of its Klim and Neslac milk powder brands, which were made in China, after finding “very minimum” levels of melamine in them. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/800b7cc4-90a5-11dd-8abb-0000779fd18c.html |
| 3rd October Financial Times SKYPE CHINA RECORDS MESSAGES The Chinese arm of Skype, the Ebay-owned internet communications company, has been routinely storing copies of politically sensitive messages that users of its software try to send, according to Canadian researchers. A report issued by the Information Warfare Monitor and a group under the OpenNet Initiative said researchers had found that the software was scanning messages for sensitive words or phrases such as "Taiwan Independence" and if they were present, uploading the data to insecure servers in China. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/6ccec128-90e3-11dd-8abb-0000779fd18c.html |
| 3rd October Telegraph EU TO OFFER 18 WEEKS FULLY PAID MATERNITY LEAVE Women will have the right to fully paid maternity leave for 18 weeks after birth, under a new plan to be unveiled today by the European Commission. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/3124386/EU-to-offer-18-weeks-fully-paid-maternity-leave.html |
| 3rd October Times NATIONAL GRID SAYS POWER PRICES MAY RISE SHARPLY THIS WINTER AS SQUEEZE ON SUPPLY IS LIKELY National Grid has given warning that there could be further sharp rises in electricity prices this winter amid mounting fears that Britain is facing a supply squeeze. http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/utilities/article4870571.ece |
| 3rd October Times GOOGLE UNVEILS 'TRILLION-DOLLAR' CLEAN ENERGY PROGRAMME Google will use its clout as the world’s biggest internet company to lobby for policy change on alternative energy. The group has already invested $45 million (£25.5 million) backing start-up companies that are trying to develop wind, solar and geothermal technologies. The investment has been made through Google.org. its philanthropic arm. http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/technology/article4870334.ece |
| 4th October Times BIG COMPANIES NEED TO UNDERSTAND SOCIAL TRENDS The Times meets a Frenchman whose job is deciding what we will be doing, wearing and consuming over the next few years. http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/movers_and_shakers/article4877948.ece |
| 4th October Independent HOUSE OF FRASER TRIES TO REASSURE SUPPLIERS OVER ICELANDIC LINKS Baugur's connections to Iceland's troubled banking sector have raised fears that it may sell some of its UK high street assets The chairman of House of Fraser, the department store backed by the Icelandic investment firm Baugur, made a statement yesterday to try to reassure suppliers about its financial foundations. Don McCarthy's comments came after speculation that the Icelandic government will nationalise Kaupthing, one of Iceland's biggest banks, next week. The concerns over Kaupthing added to speculation that the ailments of other Icelandic banks could cause Baugur, which owns large swaths of the UK high street, to sell some of its retail assets. Baugur has a controlling interest in Iceland, the frozen food retailer, Hamleys, the toy specialist, and Karen Millen, the fashion chain. It also has links with the Icelandic banks Landsbanki, Kaupthing and Glitnir. Baugur used loans from Kaupthing to fund some of its retail investments in the UK. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/house-of-fraser-tries-to-reassure-suppliers-over-icelandic-links-950873.html |
| 5th October Independent on Sunday PRIVATE 'CHILD JAILS' TO BLAME FOR ALMOST HALF OF RESTRAINT INJURIES Britain's secure training centres (STCs) – privately run "child prisons"– are using a disproportionate amount of physical force to control children in their care. Three centres found responsible for nearly 4,000 incidences of 'state-sponsored child abuse' http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/private-child-jails-to-blame-for-almost-half-of-restraint-injuries-951822.html |
| 5th October Independent on Sunday SMALL COMPANIES FEAR BANKS ARE RETURNING TO 'BAD HABITS' OF '90S Small businesses in Britain face having to pay as much as 15 per cent for vital overdrafts as the effects of the credit crunch bite into the real economy, industry figures have warned. Speaking to The Independent on Sunday, Stephen Alambritis, from the Federation of Small Businesses, singled out Barclays as the worst offender. He urged the UK's biggest banks not to "return to the bad old habits of the Nineties" when many small businesses were forced into bankruptcy by aggressive practices. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/small-companies-fear-banks-are-returning-to-bad-habits-of-90s-951392.html |
| 5th October Observer SHORT-SELLING THREATENS TO CALL TIME ON BRITISH PUB CHAIN DUO Two of Britain's biggest pub groups, JD Wetherspoon and Punch Taverns, are the latest victims of short-sellers who are pushing down the share prices amid fears about how well they can weather a full-scale recession. http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2008/oct/05/pubs.wetherspoon.shares |
| 6th October Guardian UNILEVER COMES OUT AGAINST WORLDWIDE RUSH TO BIOFUELS Unilever, the food and consumer goods group, has thrown its weight behind moves to scrap mandatory biofuel targets and subsidies. It is backing recommendations being made today to Commonwealth finance ministers at their annual meeting in St Lucia to improve food security and prevent famine. Unilever is concerned that subsidies for biofuels are driving up food prices and the cost of its products. The group is a member of the Commonwealth Business Council (CBC), which is presenting the recommendations to the ministers. http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/oct/06/unilever.biofuels |
| 6th October Sun STARBUCKS ACCUSED OF WASTING WATER Starbucks was blasted by environmental experts last night after The Sun discovered it pours millions of litres of water down the drain at its coffee shops. The giant coffee chain has a policy of keeping a tap running non-stop at all its 10,000 outlets worldwide, wasting 23.4 million litres of water a day. http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article1771553.ece |
| 6th October Financial Times RESPONSIBILITY GAINS WEIGHT Responsible investment has been given a boost by the amalgamation of the Enhanced Analytics Initiative (EAI) with the UN-sponsored Principles for Responsible Investment. The EAI has been one of the loudest voices calling for investors to pay more attention to long term and hidden risks. Set up four years ago to encourage brokers to produce more and better research on ‘extra-financial issues’, the EAI declared at the outset its intention to make itself obsolete by bringing these extra-financial issues into the mainstream. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/6f107430-917a-11dd-b5cd-0000779fd18c.html |
| 6th October Independent ENERGY WATCHDOG TURNS UP HEAT ON PRICES Energy watchdogs today gave the energy supply industry notice to end practices that are failing some households and proposed measures to ban unfair price differences. Ofgem said electricity and gas firms should stop penalising consumers for paying by different methods under proposals outlined in findings from a seven-month inquiry. But today's report found that while some consumers were missing out on the full benefits of competition, the market was working well for most. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/energy-watchdog-turns-up-heat-on-prices-952644.html |
| 6th October Financial Times LONDON POLICE PROBE UN-CONGO CHARITY DEAL City of London police are probing whether a landmark United Nations deal to supply life-saving drugs to Congo was marred by bribery involving two key contractors employed to help prevent corruption. British and Danish investigators are examining £563,000 of alleged payments by Denmark’s Missionpharma, a leading supplier of generic medicines to poor countries, to a British-registered charity that advised the UN on the project, people familiar with the case said. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/040a8346-932e-11dd-98b5-0000779fd18c.html |
| 6th October Guardian NEW CHARGES ON SHIPPING COULD HELP CLIMATE Billions of dollars could be raised to help the poorest countries cope with and tackle climate change under proposals to be floated in London this week for new charges on international shipping. Opponents fear the charges - in the form of a fuel tax or selling permits to pollute - will raise the cost of food imports, especially for small island states that depend on trade to feed their populations. http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/oct/06/climatechange.pollution |
| 6th October Ethics Newsline ETHICS IN A TIME OF CRISIS Crisis invites introspection. As the markets tumble, credit freezes, and pundits mutter about the end of free-market economics, individuals and nations are revisiting their principles. What they’re finding is an age-old truth: At times of momentous challenge, there’s a tremendous yearning for straight-up integrity and sound ethical analysis http://www.globalethics.org/newsline/2008/10/06/time-of-crisis/ |
| 6th October BBC OIL CONTRACT SCANDAL SHAKES PERU Peru’s energy minister Juan Valdivia Romero and two executives of the state-owned oil company Petroperu were forced to resign following media broadcasts of recorded conversations, allegedly between Alberto Quimper, a vice president of Petroperu, and a lobbyist from the ruling party named Romulo Leon, in which illicit payments from oil concessions were discussed. In the conversations, understood to have been recorded in February 2008, reference was made to plans to favour a bid made by – and subsequently awarded to – the Norwegian company Discover Petroleum to work in partnership with Petroperu in exploring oil along the country’s coastline and southern jungle areas. After the recording was made public, Peru’s President Alan Garcia immediately cancelled the contracts with Discover and vowed to root out state corruption. The president of Petroperu Cesar Gutierrez also resigned following the allegations, though has denied any knowledge of plans to siphon off funds, as have Discover Petroleum. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7656500.stm |
| 6th October Reuters CONGO TO CANCEL TWO-THIRDS OF LOGGING CONTRACTS A government panel reviewing the country’s logging industry plans to cancel more than two thirds of the contracts awarded to private companies – the majority of which are European – either during the 1998-2003 civil war or by the highly corrupt interim government prior to the 2006 elections. Logging companies will be able to challenge the government’s rulings by submitting an appeal within 15 days, though the government has stated it will extend it moratorium on issuing new contracts for the next three years in an attempt to recoup millions of dollars in lost revenue from illegal logging. However, if the panel’s recommendations are implemented without major amendment, the annual allocation of land for deforestation will fall from its present level of 22 million hectares to 7 million. DR Congo is home to the world’s second largest tropical rainforest and one of the most biologically diverse regions in earth. Rapid deforestation is therefore a major concern to environmentalists and the government alike who are concerned that timber-driven economic development is not a sustainable policy option. http://africa.reuters.com/wire/news/usnL6458446.html |
| 7th October Guardian END USE OF FOSSIL FUELS IN 20 YEARS, UK WARNED Britain must abandon using almost all fossil fuels to produce power in 20 years' time, the government's climate change watchdog will warn today. The independent Climate Change Committee will publish its advice to the government that the UK should set a 2050 target of cutting all greenhouse gas emissions by at least 80% - including the emissions from aviation and transport, which were previously excluded. http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/oct/07/carbon.emissions.targets |
| 7th October Personnel Today FEWER VOLUNTEERS FOR VSO AS PROFESSIONALS FEAR ECONOMIC CRUNCH Professionals are turning their backs on volunteering as the economic crunch takes hold, according to a leading aid charity. Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO), which places office workers in volunteering roles overseas, has warned that more than 20% of its placements could go unfilled this year if it doesn't see a significant rise in applications from UK staff by the end of October. http://www.personneltoday.com/articles/2008/10/07/47769/fewer-volunteers-for-vso-as-professionals-fear-economic.html |
| 7th October Financial Times CALL TO END BAN ON SHORT SELLING A group of Europe’s largest hedge funds and investors in hedge funds called on the City watchdog to relax its ban on short selling financial stocks and warned that attacking the industry could ‘jeopardise the status of London as one of the world’s leading financial centres’. Yet few big managers have spoken out publicly against short sellers, blamed by bank executives and politicians for the current crisis. The US rules expire on Wednesday, while the Financial Services Authority’s rules are to run until mid-January, with a review in two weeks. The FSA said it was sticking to its timetable. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ed68455e-93d9-11dd-b277-0000779fd18c.html |
| 7th October Guardian PUNISH RECKLESS LENDING, SAYS REGULATOR Bank executives responsible for reckless lending should be punished under criminal law and face fines, according to a politician who rescued Sweden's banking system from collapse in the 1990s. In an interview with The Guardian, Bo Lundgren, director general of Sweden's national debt office, the country's financial regulator, said US proposals to cap bankers' pay as part of the $700 billion bail-out did not go far enough. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/oct/07/sweden.banking.regulation |
| 7th October Management Today EDITOR'S BLOG: ICELAND FEARS PERMA-FROST AS LANDSBANKI FALLS Iceland is on the verge of economic collapse - and even two years ago, it wasn't hard to see it coming... Matt Gwyther looks at the warning signs. http://www.managementtoday.co.uk/newsalerts/article/851413/editors-blog-iceland-fears-perma-frost-landsbanki-falls/?DCMP=EMC-Daily%20News |
| 8th October Financial Times UK BANKS TO BE PART-NATIONALISED Britain’s largest banks are to be part-nationalised after the government took the momentous decision to pump tens of billions of pounds of public money into the sector to avert a banking collapse. The government is to put up to £250 billion into the banking system in an effort to keep banks lending. It will also offer a guarantee to banks issuing medium term debt, which could mean backing a further £250 billion of bank borrowings. But it is likely to demand dividend cuts and the end of big bonuses at the banks in return. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e5b767d2-948c-11dd-953e-000077b07658,dwp_uuid=e8477cc4-c820-11db-b0dc-000b5df10621.html |
| 8th October Guardian REGULATOR FINES A&L FOR MIS-SELLING LOAN INSURANCE Alliance & Leicester has been hit with a record £7 million fine by the financial regulator after it was caught training staff to pressure loan customers to take out expensive payment protection insurance (PPI). The Financial Services Authority said yesterday that it had found evidence that A&L's call-centre staff had failed to give customers details of the cost of PPI, and that the bank had tried to sell the product "without properly considering its customers' needs". http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/oct/08/allianceleicester.banking |
| 8th October Guardian WATCHDOG RAPS LEXUS FOR FAST AND LOOSE ADVERT Environmental claims by Lexus misled the public, the Advertising Standards Authority has ruled. The adverts also portrayed speed in a way that may have encouraged irresponsible driving, the watchdog said. The campaign for the Lexus RX400h hybrid, headlined: "Put your carbon foot down", included the vehicle's emissions in the small print and claimed it was "better for the environment". http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/oct/08/1 |
| 8th October International Herald Tribune UN AGENCY QUESTIONS WIDER USE OF BIOFUELS The United Nations food agency called for a review of biofuel subsides and policies, noting that they had contributed significantly to rising food prices and the hunger in poor countries. With policies and subsidies to encourage biofuel production in place in much of the developed world, farmers now often find it more profitable to plants crops for fuel rather than for food, a shift that has helped lead to global food shortages. http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/10/07/healthscience/fuel.php |
| 8th October Guardian NEARLY HALF OF FTSE-250 COMPANIES KEEP THEIR CARBON FOOTPRINTS HIDDEN The number of leading British companies willing to disclose their carbon footprint to City investors has fallen this year, research reveals today. Only 58% of companies in the FTSE-250 index responded to the latest survey by the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP). Those who refused to take part include Thomas Cook and the InterContinental Hotels Group. http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/oct/08/ftse.carbonfootprints |
| 8th October Financial Times SCHEME WILL PUT LENDERS UNDER CLOSER SCRUTINY The wholesale recapitalisation of UK banks is likely to signal a fundamental shift in the strained and sometimes acrimonious relationship between the government and the country’s largest lenders http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e658e90a-94bd-11dd-953e-000077b07658.html |
| 8th October Guardian REGULATOR FINES A&L RECORD £7M FOR MIS-SELLING LOAN INSURANCE Alliance & Leicester has been hit with a record £7m fine for serious failings in the sales of payment protection insurance (PPI). http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2008/oct/07/ppi.insurance |
| 9th October Guardian BAIL-OUT DEAL MEANS CURBS ON EXECUTIVE PAY AND DIVIDENDS Britain's leading banks have agreed to curb executive pay, cut shareholder dividends and keep lending to small businesses and would-be homeowners in return for a £500 billion taxpayer bailout. The rescue package for the financial system scrambled together on Tuesday night has three main aspects intended to tackle the problems of capital, liquidity and funding that have dogged the industry since the collapse of Northern Rock a year ago. http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/oct/09/banking.executivesalaries |
| 9th October HR Magazine 'DRAMATIC' RISE IN NUMBER OF COMPANIES MEASURING STAFF WELLBEING Eight out of 10 (81%) employers now publicly report their commitment to health and wellbeing compared with 68% in 2007. According to the Business Action on Health Campaign by Business in the Community there has been a "dramatic" increase in the number of FTSE100 companies reporting their progress on health and wellbeing using quantitative measures, up from 7% last year to 23% in 2008. http://www.hrmagazine.co.uk/channel/news/article/851919/Dramatic-rise-number-companies-measuring-staff-wellbeing/ |
| 9th October Financial Times PUTTING YOUR MONEY ON THINKING FOR THE FUTURE As financial institutions and markets crash around us, I am frequently being asked whether global business can sustain its actions for a greener, more inclusive and economically rational world. Surely, some have asked, the focus of business is elsewhere right now? http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/fefd75e8-93ff-11dd-b277-0000779fd18c.html |
| 9th October Financial Times ADVICE THAT GETS WOMEN ON BOARD Anne Bouverot, head of international business development at Orange France Telecom, has first-hand experience of the benefits of mentoring by a senior corporate leader. She is about to join the board of Groupama, a leading French insurance company, as a non-executive director. "I really believe the discussions with my mentor and his advice have been key success factors," she says. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/291e77c8-959a-11dd-aedd-000077b07658.html |
| 10th October Financial Times TESCO HITS OUT AT HIGH ENERGY COST AND OFGEM Consumers are being hit by excessively high gas and electricity prices, Tesco has said, as it criticised Ofgem, the regulator, for not going far enough with the inquiry into energy markets it published this week. Tesco feels that companies are paying too much for their energy, and is trying to drive its costs down as it and other retailers compete to cut prices. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/030708e8-9653-11dd-9dce-000077b07658.html |
| 10th October Financial Times CHEAPER CIGARETTES TARGET CONSUMERS ON BUDGET As the slowdown in consumer spending deepens, Imperial Tobacco and Gallaher are chasing the low end of the market with price cuts and cheaper brands. Imperial, which controls 46% of the market with brands such as Lambert & Butler, is set to fire the first shot next month with the launch of JPS Silver, which will retail for £4.21 for a pack of 20. In response, Gallaher is planning to slash prices on Sterling, its budget brand, by 7% to £4.20 a pack. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/fdee27ba-9652-11dd-9dce-000077b07658.html |
| 10th October Guardian HUGE BONUSES FOR CITY HIGH FLYERS WILL BE HARD TO REIN IN Fund managers say exodus to high-paying Mumbai or Shanghai will occur if pay is restricted. 4,000 workers earned £1m-plus payouts last year, but this is less than counter parts on India and China. One institutional investor said the only way to curb risk-taking was to link boardroom pay to risk. Others say bonuses should not be paid for three years, so they can be cancelled if deals go wrong. At the moment, bankers can earn a bonus for advising on a deal, and another years later for helping put right the damage when it doesn't work. http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/oct/10/executivesalaries-creditcrunch |
| 10th October Guardian FSA HAS NO PLAN TO CURB BIG PAY PACKETS AND BONUSES Gordon Brown's pledge to punish irresponsible bankers sounded increasingly hollow last night, after it became apparent that the City regulator had no immediate plans to crack down on the banks in the £500bn bail-out. http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/oct/10/executivesalaries-creditcrunch1 |
| 10th October Management Today HEALTHY = WEALTHY AND WISE? UK plc is getting better at managing health and wellbeing at work - but there's a long way to go.Britain’s top companies are getting a lot better at thinking and talking about the health and wellbeing of their employees, according to the latest figures from Business Action on Health. http://www.managementtoday.co.uk/channel/TechnologyInnovation/news/852524/healthy-wealthy-wise/ |
| 10th October Independent ENERGY SAVING LIGHT BULBS CAN EMIT ENOUGH UV RADIATION TO DAMAGE SKIN Energy saving light bulbs can emit levels of ultraviolet radiation sufficient to damage the skin, the Government's public health safety watchdog warned. http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-wellbeing/health-news/energy-saving-light-bulbs-can-emit-enough-uv-radiation-to-damage-skin-956696.html |
| 10th October Guardian FEARS RISE THAT EU MAY DROP CLIMATE PLEDGE EU heads of state plan to use the global financial crisis as an excuse to renege on climate change commitments, say sources close to energy talks in Brussels. http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/oct/10/carbonemissions-climatechange |
| 10th October Guardian CHEAP TOBACCO FROM SMUGGLERS 'CAUSES 4,000 DEATHS A YEAR' Cheap cigarettes and other tobacco products smuggled into Britain cause 4,000 or so premature deaths a year, four times the number of fatalities occurring through illegal drugs, doctors claim. http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/oct/10/cancer-ukcrime |
| 11th October Times MINISTRY OF DEFENCE LOSES COMPUTER DISC WITH 700,000 MORE PERSONAL RECORDS The Ministry of Defence faces an investigation by the Information Commissioner after the disappearance of a computer hard drive containing details of Armed Forces personnel and thousands of potential recruits. The removable hard drive was supposed to have been stored in a secure room with only limited access to personnel with special pass codes. The MoD contacted the commissioner after EDS, the company responsible for protecting the confidential data, failed to find the hard drive during an audit ordered by the Cabinet Office. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article4923066.ece |
| 12th October Sunday Times FAILING LEHMAN IN $100M PAYOUT PLAN THE Lehman Brothers board signed off on more than $100m (£59m) in payouts to five top executives just three days before the bank went bankrupt leaving thousands of employees out of work in London. The payoffs, approved on September 12 by the Wall Street giant’s compensation committee, included over $24m in severance packages to the collapsed firm’s top three London executives. The executives never received the payments because the company filed for bankruptcy protection the next working day, September 15. According to Tony Lomas, the lead administrator, they will now be treated as unsecured creditors. http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/banking_and_finance/article4926278.ece |
| 12th October Sunday Times MINISTERS TO BAN FREE DRINKS FOR WOMEN Bars are to be banned from offering free alcohol to women and free wine and beer tastings will be curbed under a new system of government restrictions to cut public drunkenness. There will also be rules to limit “happy hour” offers that encourage speed drinking and soft drinks will have to be sold at the same discount during promotions. Wine in restaurants will have to be served in glasses with marked measures. A code for the drinks industry, leaked to The Sunday Times, marks a hardening in the government’s stance after the failure of a voluntary code to curb binge drinking. Hospital admissions linked to excess alcohol have more than doubled in the past 10 years. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article4926571.ece |
| 12th October Sunday Times SECRET PAPERS REVEAL TONY BLAIR’S F1 TOBACCO DEAL Tony Blair personally ordered an exemption for motor racing from a tobacco sponsorship ban after Labour received a secret £1m donation from Bernie Ecclestone, the Formula One boss. New documents released under the Freedom of Information Act show he demanded a change of policy within hours of a meeting with Ecclestone on October 16, 1997, and his aides went on to blur the truth. The new documents expose the extent to which he was the driving force behind plans to exempt F1 from Labour’s manifesto pledge to end tobacco sponsorship of sport, pushing a reluctant Department of Health into agreeing. Before Ecclestone’s £1m donation, Labour had planned a universal ban. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article4926737.ece |
| 13th October Financial Times UNETHICAL COMPANIES SUFFER IN THE LONG RUN Companies behaving badly suffer in the long run, according to research from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. Julian Kulbel, a masters student in the department of management, technology and economics at ETH asked "Is dirty business more efficient than ethically sound business?". He looked for a correlation between negative publicity on environmental and social issues and a company's share price. http://us.ft.com/ftgateway/superpage.ft?news_id=fto101220081617525796 |
| 13th October Guardian ENVIRONMENT CRIMINALS BUILD $10 BILLION EMPIRE ON IVORY, TIMBER AND SKINS Criminal syndicates are earning more than $10 billion a year from a booming environmental crime business in rainforest logging, the trade in endangered animal skins and ivory and smuggling canisters of banned gas refrigerants, it is claimed today. Environmental crime is a growing source of income for international gangs attracted by profit margins of up to 700% on illegal items such as tiger skins, according to the Environmental Investigation Agency. Yet the problem is being largely ignored by national and international crime fighting agencies, it says. http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/oct/13/2 |
| 13th October Independent CITY TO LOSE 62,000 JOBS IN TWO YEARS The City of London will lose 62,000 jobs by the end of 2009, wiping out all the growth of the last 10 years, a firm of economic consultants predicts. Employment in London's financial district will fall by 28,000 this year, with a further 34,000 to go in 2009 as a result of the credit crunch, the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) said. The slump would take the City back to levels last seen in 1998. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/city-to-lose-62000-jobs-in-two-years-959406.html |
| 13th October Independent OFCOM BEGINS INQUIRY INTO EFFECTS OF TV ON TODDLERS Pre-school programming has undergone a boom in recent years thanks to series such as Teletubbies and In The Night Garden and dedicated channels such as the BBC's CBeebies. However, amid rising concern that television is being used by some parents as a form of babysitter, the industry regulator is carrying out a review into the potential for harm. A spokesman for Ofcom said it had been made "aware of concerns regarding TV programming aimed at very young children". http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/ofcom-begins-inquiry-into-effects-of-tv-on-toddlers-959294.html |
| 13th October Guardian LESS PROFIT, MORE REGULATION TO COME, SAYS WATCHDOG Banks will be forced to accept lower levels of profit as controls on their debt-fuelled expansion are tightened to prevent a re-run of the current crisis, the international body responsible for global financial stability warned at the weekend. Mario Draghi, chairman of the Financial Stability Forum, said that in the new post-credit crunch world, banks would have to carry less debt and have higher capital reserves in order to prevent the "perverse incentives" that were at the root of bank collapses throughout the world. http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/oct/13/banking-creditcrunch |
| 13th October Guardian THOMAS COOK PROMISES INVESTORS IT WILL OUTLINE ITS CARBON FOOTPRINT Thomas Cook has agreed to provide information on its carbon footprint after being "named and shamed" by investors last week, amid growing political clamour for change. The travel group was one of more than 100 companies in the FTSE 250 list of leading companies on the London Stock Exchange that declined to reveal how they were trying to tackle global warming. http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/oct/13/thomascookgroup-carbonfootprints |
| 13th October Financial Times SUSTAINABILITY MUST BE INTEGRAL TO SCHOOLS' DNA In recent years, business schools have embraced the idea of "corporate social responsibility" and "sustainability". Centres, institutes, programmes and initiatives have sprung up, websites and brochures trumpet business schools' dedication to serving society, ethics, managing the environment and social entrepreneurship http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/8014c3fc-98ce-11dd-ace3-000077b07658.html?nclick_check=1 |
| 13th October Telegraph FIVE MILLION CUSTOMERS SHOULD RECEIVE UP TO £70 FUEL BILL REBATES, SAYS CHARITY As many as five million people should receive an immediate rebate of up to £70 each from leading energy companies after over-charging them, according to a leading charity. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/3183972/Five-million-customers-should-receive-up-to-70-fuel-bill-rebates-says-charity.html?mobile=true |
| 13th October Times LAW FIRMS 'LOSING TALENT OVER HOURS AND WORK-LIFE BALANCE' The culture in City law firms of working long hours is draining talent from the legal profession, according to research to be published this week. http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/law/article4931946.ece |
| 14th October Telegraph GM STEERS TOWARDS GREEN FUNDING Troubled American car giant General Motors is attempting to access its share of $25bn of US government funds intended to make cars more environmentally friendly as talks with rivals about some form of merger or strategic joint venture appear to have stalled. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/transport/3191280/GM-steers-towards-green-funding.html |
| 14th October Telegraph BRITISH SEAS FACE ECOLOGICAL DISASTER The seas around Britain face an ecological disaster because of over fishing and pollution, a new report warns. Many fish species that were once common are either vastly reduced in number or locally extinct, the Marine Conservation Society (MSC) says. Its report Silent Seas warns that without urgent action to protect marine life and to limit the damage already inflicted, marine ecosystems will fail. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/10/13/eamsc113.xml |
| 14th October Reuters CHINA MILK SCANDAL COMPANIES APOLOGIZE Three Chinese dairy companies have publicly apologized for their involvement in a toxic milk scandal that has killed at least four children and led to Chinese-made products pulled from shelves around the world. Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group, Mengniu Dairy and Bright Dairy Group were found earlier to have produced milk contaminated with melamine, a compound used to cheat nutrition tests. http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE49C0D020081013 |
| 14th October Financial Times BANKS URGED TO REIN IN BONUSES The Financial Services Authority yesterday told the biggest banks and building societies operating in the UK that they must take "immediate action" to ensure bonus plans for all bankers closely link rewards and long-term risk. "If the policies are not aligned with sound risk management, that is unacceptable," Hector Sants, the FSA chief executive, wrote in a five-page letter to 28 bank and building society chief executives. http://us.ft.com/ftgateway/superpage.ft?news_id=fto101320081806056065 |
| 14th October Guardian BROWN AND CITY REGULATOR CLAMP DOWN ON BONUSES The government and the Financial Services Authority yesterday launched a twin-pronged assault on the City's bonus culture, which has been partly blamed for the banking crisis. http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/oct/14/executivesalaries-banking |
| 15th October Associated Press,CRISIS MUST NOT STOP CLIMATE CHANGE ACTION Environment ministers agreed yesterday that the world financial crisis must not halt efforts to combat global warming, a top United Nations climate official said. Officials from the US, China, Canada, India, the European Union and more than 30 other countries met for two days of informal talks in Warsaw ahead of a climate conference in December. http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iVNkthqWXZuZD9P6lr9Kh3AxSkBQD93QJE200 |
| 15th October HR Magazine DOWNTURN NO EXCUSE TO ABANDON FLEXIBLE WORKING The economic downturn is no reason to abandon moves towards flexible working, shadow minister for women Theresa May told top City law firms yesterday. As speakers at Working Families’ Legal Lives conference admitted there was a real risk the current economic situation would put a squeeze on forward-thinking working practices, May said this was precisely the time to look at the ways tools like flexible working could be utilised. http://www.hrmagazine.co.uk/channel/news/article/853739/Downturn-no-excuse-abandon-flexible-working/ |
| 15th October Guardian CLAIMS IN TV ADVERTS FOR MALTESERS AND JAFFA CAKES FALL FOUL OF WATCHDOG After what may have been one of the shorter meetings of the Advertising Standards Authority, further evidence emerged yesterday that chocolate-based snacks are not necessarily the key to a healthy diet. http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/oct/15/advertising-television |
| 15th October Financial Times OFT URGES 'SALE AND RENT BACK' PROTECTION Regulation is urgently needed to protect vulnerable consumers who sell their homes to companies and then rent them back from them, the competition watchdog said yesterday. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/b428268c-9a51-11dd-bfe2-000077b07658.html |
| 16th October Financial Times WATCHDOG TO INVESTIGATE BDO STOY HAYWARD The auditors of the collapsed tour operator XL Leisure are to be investigated by the profession's disciplinary watchdog after a request from Britain's largest accountancy institute. Cameron Scott, executive counsel at the Accountancy and Actuarial Discipline Board (AADB), is to examine the conduct of BDO Stoy Hayward in relation to its audit of the accounts of XL Leisure for the year to last October 31. It is doing so after a referral from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales. http://us.ft.com/ftgateway/superpage.ft?news_id=fto101520081724026552&page=2 |
| 16th October Financial Times EU FINES CHIQUITA BRANDS AND DOLE FOOD IN FRUIT PRICE-FIXING CARTEL Some of the world's biggest banana companies - including Chiquita Brands and Dole Food - were found to have rigged import prices into eight European countries, affecting a €2.5 billion market. Fines totalling €60.3 million have been levied as a result. The cartel came to light when one of the companies involved, Chiquita, blew the whistle, and European Commission officials raided banana importers' offices. http://us.ft.com/ftgateway/superpage.ft?news_id=fto101520081724026552&page=2 |
| 16th October Times M&S WHISTLEBLOWER LOSES APPEAL FOR JOB A worker sacked by Marks & Spencer for leaking information about the high street retailer’s plans to slash redundancy pay has lost his appeal against the dismissal. The GMB union said it would now press ahead with a claim for unfair dismissal at an employment tribunal on behalf of the whistleblower, Tony Goode. http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/retailing/article4948121.ece |
| 16th October Guardian BILLION GO HUNGRY AS RICH COUNTRIES FAIL TO PAY UP Five months after countries pledged to give more than $12 billion (£6.9 billion) to address the global food emergency, less than $1 billion has been given, according to Oxfam. In a report to coincide with World Food Day today, the international aid charity berates rich countries for failing to respond speedily or adequately to soaring food and fuel prices. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/oct/16/internationalaidanddevelopment-voluntarysector |
| 16th October Reuters DRUG FIRMS AGREE TO INVEST MORE IN AIDS RESEARCH - UN U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Thursday that major pharmaceutical firms promised to invest more on researching treatments for the AIDS virus and diagnostic procedures for poorer regions. http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N09327729.htm |
| 16th October Independent CONSUMERS STILL WAITING FOR FULL OIL PRICE BENEFITS The cost of oil has nearly halved in the past four months yet the saving has not been passed on to consumers in many areas of the economy, analysts warned yesterday, with conflicting news from the transport and energy sectors. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/consumers-still-waiting-for-full-oil-price-benefits-962882.html |
| 17th October BBC News EU 'HOLDS FIRM' ON CLIMATE GOALS EU leaders will maintain their targets and timetable for tackling climate change, despite objections from some nations, the French president has said. At a summit in Brussels, Nicolas Sarkozy said "solutions" would be found for those that had expressed concerns. Some countries have threatened to block a deal agreed last year for EU-wide cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, citing the economic slowdown. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7673684.stm |
| 17th October Guardian WE'LL GET TOUGH WITH CITY, SAYS WATCHDOG The days of soft-touch regulation of the City are over, the head of the financial watchdog said yesterday, as he revealed that a new cadre of higher-paid regulators would ask tougher questions about the health of financial institutions in the wake of the credit crisis. In an interview with the Guardian, Lord Adair Turner admitted that the Financial Services Authority had tried to regulate Britain's big banks "on the cheap" in the past, but said a more stringent regime was on the way. http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/oct/17/marketturmoil-banking |
| 17th October Financial Times MILIBAND THREATENS ACTION ON ENERGY SUPPLIERS The energy market is not working properly and the government "will not hesitate to act" to ensure more is done to help retail consumers, Ed Miliband, the new energy secretary, said yesterday. Gordon Brown underlined the government's determination to be seen to be acting on rising fuel costs - a core issue for many Labour MPs. The prime minister turned up the pressure on petrol retailers, pointing out that while some supermarkets were selling fuel at less than £1 ($1.7) a litre, it was selling at £1.20 in some areas. http://us.ft.com/ftgateway/superpage.ft?news_id=fto101620082142246829 |
| 17th October Management Today CAUSING A PUBLIC NUISANCE Apparently civil servants are more likely than anyone else to beat up their work colleagues... Public sector workers are much more likely to get caught up in workplace conflict than their private sector counterparts, according to a new study by business psychologists OPP and the CIPD http://www.managementtoday.co.uk/newsalerts/article/854760/mtsweek/causing-public-nuisance/?DCMP=EMC-Daily%20News |
| 18th October Guardian SO LONG, SUCKERS. MILLIONAIRE HEDGE FUND BOSS THANKS 'IDIOT' TRADERS AND RETIRES AT 37 The boss of a successful US hedge fund has quit the industry with an extraordinary farewell letter dismissing his rivals as over-privileged "idiots" and thanking "stupid" traders for making him rich. Andrew Lahde's $80m Los Angeles-based firm Lahde Capital Management in Los Angeles made a huge return last year by betting against subprime mortgages. Yesterday the 37-year-old told his clients that he had hated the business and had only been in it for the money. And after declaring he would no longer manage money for other people, because he had enough of his own, Lahde said that instead he intended to repair his stress-damaged health; he made it clear he would not miss the financial world. http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/oct/18/banking-useconomy |
| 18th October Telegraph GORDON BROWN: ECONOMY CAN EMERGE STRONGER Gordon Brown warns that the financial crisis had exposed the "weaknesses" of unfettered capitalism, insisting the markets had to be underpinned by society's values. While maintaining that he was pro-business, the Prime Minister said certain "key ethics" were essential for a stronger economy. He said financial systems must reflect the values of "fairness, stewardship and co-operation" cherished by families and communities. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2008/10/18/do1801.xml |
| 18th October Independent BANKERS' £16BN BONUS BONANZA City bankers have not lost a penny of their multimillion-pound bonus packages so far, despite the credit crunch which has caused the worst financial crisis in 80 years, new figures show. Official statistics reveal that, in the financial year to April, City workers took home £16bn, almost exactly the same as in 2007. The period covers the Northern Rock nationalisation and the UK employees hit by the Bear Stearns implosion. During the period, banks across the world were forced to make huge writedowns on investments linked to US subprime mortgages. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/bankers-16316bn-bonus-bonanza-965445.html |
| 18th October Independent PM 'USED CRONY TO FIX NUCLEAR POWER INQUIRY' A public consultation on new nuclear power stations which was run by a company linked to the Prime Minister's personal pollster has been criticised for breaching industry guidelines. Environmentalists and opposition MPs denounced the exercise as "fixed" after the Market Research Standards Board said some material given to focus groups was "inaccurately or misleadingly presented". http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/pm-used-crony-to-fix-nuclear-power-inquiry-965464.html |
| 18th October Independent FRENCH BANK HIT BY €600M ROGUE TRADING SCANDAL France's favourite savings bank admitted yesterday that it had suffered a €600m (£470m) loss caused by rogue trading in the futures market in a scandal that is eerily reminiscent of the €5bn Kerviel affair that rocked the country earlier this year. Caisse d'Epargne, known affectionately in France as "the squirrel", said a group of traders had taken larger than authorised gambles on equity-linked derivatives. Their positions, uncovered in a routine check, had to be unscrambled in the midst of last week's market meltdown, leaving Caisse d'Epargne with a €600m loss. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/french-bank-hit-by-euro600m-rogue-trading-scandal-965657.html |
| 19th October Observer SFO MAY LAUNCH PROBE INTO PESTON BANK SCOOPS The Serious Fraud Office could launch an inquiry into BBC business editor Robert Peston's recent string of market-moving banking 'scoops' after David Cameron's Tories raised suspicions that he could have a 'mole' inside 10 Downing Street or the Treasury. Tory MP Greg Hands suggests that the 'original source for the information might be a person or persons employed in either 10 Downing Street or HM Treasury'. Hands said he had been 'disturbed' by 'substantial reports of deliberate leaking of market-sensitive information to the BBC'. The implication behind the letter is that officials might have leaked the information in the knowledge that its publication by the BBC would move the markets, amounting to 'insider trading'. http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/oct/19/bbc-peston-creditcrunch |
| 19th October Observer IMF SHAKEN BY PROBE INTO CHIEF'S AFFAIR Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the French economist who heads the International Monetary Fund, is under investigation for allegedly abusing his position by engaging in a sexual relationship with a senior official.The inquiry, confirmed by an IMF spokesman, threatens to distract the organisation at a time when it is trying to focus its efforts on helping countries to withstand the global financial crisis. Strauss-Kahn had an affair with Piroska Nagy, a senior official in the fund's Africa department who was brought up in Hungary. The affair reportedly ended after her husband, Mario Blejer, a prominent economist and former president of Argentina's central bank, discovered incriminating emails. Nagy then left the IMF and part of the inquiry centres on the possibility that she may have received an excessive payout for a person of her position. http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/oct/19/imf-strauss-khan-wallstreet-france |
| 19th October Observer BANK CHIEFS ORDERED TO CUT HOME EVICTIONS Banks will face new curbs on home repossessions to prevent families from being evicted when they fall into financial difficulties, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury has promised. Rising unemployment is expected to trigger a wave of mortgage defaults as people who lose their jobs find themselves unable to keep up payments on their homes. Repossessions have already increased to 19,000 in the first half of this year - a 40 per cent increase on the previous six months. Experts believe the figure will climb to 26,000 in the second half of 2008. The total number of people suffering negative equity is expected to rise to around two million as house prices plunge. http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/oct/19/banking-repossessions-home-evictions |
| 20th October Independent MANDELSON HALTS FLEXITIME REFORMS Plans to allow 4.5 million parents to work flexibly are to be delayed by the Government as it searches for ways to help businesses survive the economic downturn. Lord Mandelson, the Secretary of State for Business, has ordered his officials to review all policies in the pipeline to ease the burden on firms so they are less likely to shed jobs, cut investment or go bust. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/mandelson-halts-flexitime-reforms-966910.html |
| 20th October Financial Times WATER BOSS SAYS SUPPLY IS PRIORITY Competition in the water industry should focus on preventing shortages rather than increasing consumer choice, says the chief executive of one of the UK's biggest water companies. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/8b4c11a0-9e3f-11dd-bdde-000077b07658.html |
| 20th October Telegraph CALL FOR MORE WOMEN IN THE BOARDROOM The economic crisis has increased the need for more women in the boardroom, according to the leaders of some of the UK’s biggest companies. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/3227466/Call-for-more-women-in-the-boardroom.html |
| 20th October Independent ASBESTOS SCARE AT SELFRIDGES Selfridges has been forced to close the world-famous window display in its flagship London department store for a month after the discovery of asbestos, The Independent has learnt. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/window-display-closed-at-selfridges-in-asbestos-scare-966920.html |
| 20th October Guardian UNIONS AND SHAREHOLDERS LOBBY FOR GUARANTEES OVER JOBS AND DIVIDENDS Trade unions demanded last night that the government impose tough conditions on the merger of HBOS with Lloyds TSB to protect staff from a torrent of redundancies. Union officials fear that the banks could make more than 10,000 workers redundant within a matter of months of them joining forces unless they were forced to be more transparent about their plans. The warning came as ministers were put under further pressure to reconsider the terms imposed on banks as part of the government's rescue package, which restricts payments to shareholders. http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/oct/20/hbos-lloydstsb-takeover |
| 20th October Times BIG ENERGY SUPPLIERS STOP APPLYING FOR CONTRACTS Some of Britain's biggest energy suppliers have stopped bidding for new power contracts to supply industrial customers, amid mounting concerns about huge energy price swings and the risk of customers going bust. http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/utilities/article4974533.ece |
| 20th October Financial Times EUROPEAN MANUFACTURERS WORRY OVER SUPPLIERS FINANCIAL HEALTH Large European companies are becoming increasingly worried about the financial health of their suppliers. Industries from carmakers and aerospace to electrical and construction equipment manufacturers say their main concern is whether some of their suppliers can survive. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/392b82ac-9e3f-11dd-bdde-000077b07658.html |
| 20th October Financial Times JOBS BLOW REVEALED IN WIND ENERGY REPORT The massive planned expansion of renewable energy may produce far fewer jobs than the government has claimed, a study has found. Producing enough renewable energy to meet government targets would create about 36,000 jobs in the wind energy sector by 2020, according to a study by Bain & Company for the British Wind Energy Association. The Bain estimate is far adrift of government claims that the offshore wind sector alone had "the potential to provide up to 70,000 new, green jobs" in the next decade. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/12b42d04-9e3f-11dd-bdde-000077b07658.html |
| 21st October Personnel Today LLOYDS TSB DEFENDS DECISION TO CONTINUE PAYING STAFF BONUSES Lloyds TSB has denied there is anything wrong with continuing to pay staff bonuses despite promises by Gordon Brown to crack down on bankers' pay. Yesterday, Eric Daniels, chief executive of Lloyds TSB, told staff they had "done a terrific job" this year and there was "no reason why [they] shouldn't" receive their bonuses. http://www.personneltoday.com/articles/2008/10/21/48021/lloyds-tsb-defends-decision-to-continue-paying-staff.html |
| 21st October Guardian CALL FOR INQUIRY INTO WALL STREET BANK BONUSES US congressman Dennis Kucinich has called for an inquiry into remuneration proposals at Wall Street's top banks, after a Guardian report revealed that six distressed institutions had drawn up pay plans, including substantial discretionary bonuses, worth more than $70 billion for the first nine months of the year. http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/oct/21/wall-street-bonuses |
| 21st October BBC News CALL FOR CORPORATE TAX CLAMPDOWN HM Revenue and Customs should more "robustly" pursue companies that avoid paying tax on their profits, a committee of MPs has urged. The Commons public accounts select committee found that more than 25% of Britain's 700 largest businesses paid no corporation tax to HMRC in 2005-6. Some cases were due to their use of tax relief and tax avoidance schemes. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7681165.stm |
| 21st October Independent CADBURY TO SPONSOR LONDON 2012 OLYMPICS The confectionery giant Cadbury is to be one of the sponsors of the London 2012 Olympics. The organising committee for the Games (Locog) said the firm would be a "Tier Two" partner by adding £20 million to the £410 million of private money already secured to finance the event. The deal was immediately criticised by the National Obesity Forum (NOF), which claimed that Cadbury's involvement was incongruous with the wider message of healthy living for which the Games is supposed to be a vehicle. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/cadbury-to-sponsor-london-2012-olympics-967688.html |
| 21st October Financial Times BOSSES MUST SHORE UP DIVERSITY AGAINST THE DOWNTURN Crisis and recession will put to the test many projects that were easy to pursue during the years of prosperity. Inevitably, one will be the commitment of companies to diversity in the workforce. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/cf46b41c-9f09-11dd-98bd-000077b07658.html |
| 21st October Independent DEBENHAMS IN 'LANDMARK' RENEWABLE ENERGY DEAL Retail giant Debenhams has signed a deal that will mean electricity in all of its stores will be provided by renewable energy. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/debenhams-in-landmark-renewable-energy-deal-967211.html |
| 21st October Telegraph SUPPLIERS ACCUSED OF ENERGY BILL RIP-OFF Households are paying hundreds of pounds a year too much to heat and light their homes as energy firms fail to pass on falling oil prices, Gordon Brown and his consumer champion have warned. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/3231106/Energy-firms-failing-to-pass-on-falling-oil-prices-to-consumers.html |
| 21st October Financial Times ONE IN FOUR BIG COMPANIES PAYS ZERO CORPORATION TAX More than one in four of Britain's biggest companies do not pay corporation tax as a result of tax avoidance, tax relief or actual losses. Up to 181 of Britain's 700 largest businesses paid zero corporation tax in 2006-07, according to a report published today by the Commons public accounts committee. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ddf748e6-9f09-11dd-98bd-000077b07658.html |
| 22nd October BBC News BAN FOR GLAXOSMITHKLINE AND NESTLE ADS An advert claiming that Horlicks makes children "taller, stronger and sharper" has been banned after it mistakenly was screened on British television. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has also banned an advert for a brand of Nestle noodles which claimed to strengthen muscles and bones. Both were meant to air in Bangladesh, but appeared in Britain on NTV as part of a rebroadcast deal. The ASA said they were misleading and broke the UK's strict industry code. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7683259.stm |
| 22nd October Financial Times AGENCY WORKERS SET TO WIN NEW RIGHTS A controversial directive that would require UK employers to pay temporary and agency workers the same as permanent staff after only 12 weeks in a job is expected to be passed by the European parliament today. Britain has agreed to back the agency workers directive in return for being allowed to retain its opt-out from separate European rules restricting working hours. http://us.ft.com/ftgateway/superpage.ft?news_id=fto102120082156047684 |
| 22nd October Guardian MANDELSON UNDER FIRE OVER FLEXIBLE WORKING PROPOSALS The government's equality watchdog last night condemned a proposal from Lord Mandelson, the business secretary, to help companies survive the recession by scrapping improvements in parents' rights to flexible working. The Equality and Human Rights Commission said it was disappointed by the "old-fashioned" thinking of those in government who regarded flexibility as a cost to business, when it should be seen as an opportunity to increase productivity. http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/oct/22/mandleson-equality-maternity-recession |
| 22nd October Financial Times RECRUITERS FACE OFT PROBE FOR COMPETITION BREACHES Specialist recruiters have joined construction companies and marine hose manufacturers on a growing list of sectors under investigation by the Office of Fair Trading for claimed breaches of competition law. Eight companies, including subsidiaries of Hays and Randstad Holding, are alleged to have distorted the supply of labour to the construction sector from late 2004 to early 2006. The companies involved have been sent a "statement of objections" by the OFT, the latest stage of an investigation launched more than two years ago. http://us.ft.com/ftgateway/superpage.ft?news_id=fto102120081843407657 |
| 22nd October Guardian MPS URGE CLAMPDOWN ON FIRMS FAILING TO PAY HM Revenue & Customs yesterday hit back in the wake of a critical report showing that many of Britain's biggest companies paid little or no corporation tax. Just 50 of the 700 largest firms paid two-thirds of the total tax raised from the sector in 2005/06 while 181 paid none, according to the cross-party public accounts committee. http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/oct/22/taxavoidance-tax-hmrevenue-corporationtax |
| 23rd October Accountancy Age GLOBAL ETHICS: ENLIGHTENED PATH Charles Tilley, Chief Executive of CIMA writes that organisations that choose to cut back on their ethical performance will be out of step, and possibly exposed to hefty fines. So whatever the day-to-day pressures on cashflow as the downturn bites, companies must resist the temptation to cut corners. They can take comfort that research by the Institute of Business Ethics shows that firms that take ethics seriously prosper most. http://www.accountancyage.com/accountancyage/comment/2228836/global-ethics-enlightened-path |
| 23rd October Financial Times BAE CHIEF QUIZZED IN SUSPECTED BRIBERY PROBE A top BAE Systems executive and ex-defence official has been questioned by investigators over a suspected bribery plot involving a Viennese count to win European arms contracts, the Financial Times has learned. Julian Scopes - BAE's former head of government affairs and former private secretary to Alan Clark, the late Tory defence minister - was interviewed at Guildford police station on Sunday by the Serious Fraud Office. http://us.ft.com/ftgateway/superpage.ft?news_id=fto102220081844237873&page=1 |
| 23rd October Guardian CREDIT CRUNCH COULD CRUSH ETHICAL TRADING GAINS, EXPERTS WARN The credit crunch is threatening to undermine ethical improvements made by retailers and their suppliers worldwide, according to trade unions and industry experts. The warning was made at today's conference in London marking 10 years of the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI), which brings together retailers, suppliers, trade unions, government representatives and charitable groups to promote better working practices worldwide. The ETI director, Dan Rees, said: "The current economic climate threatens gains already made." He urged businesses to step up action against low pay and poor conditions. http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/oct/23/ethicalbusiness-ethicalfashion |
| 23rd October Financial Times WAL-MART IN STANDARDS DRIVE Wal-Mart, the world's biggest retailer, yesterday told its Chinese suppliers to meet strict environmental and social standards or risk losing its business. "Meeting social and environmental standards is not optional," Lee Scott, Wal-Mart's chief executive, told a gathering of more than 1,000 suppliers in Beijing. "A company that cheats on overtime and on the age of its labour, that dumps its scraps and its chemicals in our rivers, that does not pay its taxes or honour its contracts - will ultimately cheat on the quality of its products." The directive, which will be codified in a Wal-Mart suppliers' agreement, comes at a difficult time for China-based manufacturers, caught between rising production costs and the effect of the global financial crisis on consumer demand in their largest overseas markets. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/1c1b53d8-a09a-11dd-80a0-000077b07658.html?nclick_check=1 |
| 23rd October FINANCIAL TIMES GSK TO PUBLISH LEVEL OF DOCTORS’; ADVISORY FEES GlaxoSmithKline is to make public the level of advisory fees it offers to doctors and medical academics, and will strictly cap the payments they can receive in the US to $150,000 (£88,000) a year each. The commitment comes at a time of growing concern that the widespread practice of payments by pharmaceutical companies may help unfairly influence ‘key opinion leaders’ in the medical community, in a way that biases their judgments and recommendations for particular treatments. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/7f6917aa-a067-11dd-80a0-000077b07658.html |
| 23rd October Telegraph UN ANNOUNCES GREEN 'NEW DEAL' PLAN TO RESCUE WORLD ECONOMIES A global green 'New Deal' is needed to transform the world's economies, according to a new UN report. It would be similar to Franklin D Roosevelt's New Deal which helped the US recover from the Great Depression of the 1930s. But it would be aimed at a fundamental restructuring of economies weaning away dependence on oil and towards cleaner and more sustainable sources of energy. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/10/22/eaunep122.xml |
| 27th October Independent UK’S CARBON CREDITS REGISTRY GOES ONLINE Carbon credits issued under the current phase of the EU emissions trading scheme (ETS) will come to life this morning when the UK’s national allowance registry goes back online. The registry acts like an online banking system, providing accounts that can be used to hold, transfer and cancel the carbon allowances issued under the EU ETS and the emissions reduction units established by the Kyoto protocol. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/ukrsquos-carbon-credits-registry-goes-online-974565.html |
| 27th October Financial Times OLDER WOMEN OVERTAKE MEN IN JOB MARKET More older women have jobs than ever before, meaning they now outstrip working men of a corresponding age, according to official figures. Men aged 50 and over suffered badly in the previous two recessions, in the early 1980s and early 1990s. Many older workers in manufacturing industries were forced into early retirement or moved onto incapacity benefit. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/4d1f3cd0-a386-11dd-942c-000077b07658.html |
| 27th October Guardian MINISTER BOWS TO CALLS ON CLIMATE CHANGE BILL The government is to announce tomorrow that it will include rapidly growing aviation and shipping emissions in Britain's commitment to curb its carbon footprint by 80% by 2050. Ed Miliband, the energy and climate change secretary, will bow to pressure from environmentalists and rebel Labour MPs by announcing he will accept an amendment to include these emission sources in the climate change bill which is due to become law next month. http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/oct/27/climate-change-bill-shipping-aviation |
| 27th October Financial Times SHAREHOLDERS GETTING TOUGH ON PAY Large shareholders appear to be taking a tougher line on executive remuneration and stock option-based bonus plans in the wake of the high-profile failures in the financial industry. Across Europe, the level of dissent against proposals for share incentive plans was 9% in the first half of 2008, according to research by RiskMetrics, which defines dissent as votes against a motion and active abstentions. http://us.ft.com/ftgateway/superpage.ft?news_id=fto102620081750208396 |
| 27th October Guardian NOW IS THE PERFECT TIME TO SAVE THE PLANET Banking crisis, recession, stocks tumbling, house prices collapsing - it's been a deluge in the past few weeks to compare with any turbulence of previous decades. It's easy, as a result, to be gloomy about the prospects. Recession, after all, is already here and everyone is worried about the immediate future. There's also a lot of talk that switching the world economy to a carbon-free future is now something that cannot be afforded. http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/oct/27/green-new-deal-climate-change |
| 27th October Financial Times SINGLE PARENTS TRANSFORM WORKFORCE A surge in female employment – and corresponding drop in working men – is one of the forces that has transformed Britain’s labour market since the eve of the last major recession in the early 1990s. As the nation again heads into a downturn, research by the Financial Times suggests one effect will be to hand even greater economic power to women, as the gap between the two sexes’ employment rates contracts still further. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/c0063a8c-a3b3-11dd-942c-000077b07658.html |
| 28th October Guardian REVILED FIRMS LEAD RESPONSIBILITY LIST Some of Europe's most commonly criticised companies, including British American Tobacco and Royal Dutch Shell, have been named as leaders in the field of corporate responsibility reporting. The report from Salter Baxter, a corporate social responsibility consultancy, to be published on Friday says leading companies have moved on to a new phase of corporate responsibility - which it dubbed CR 2.0 - in which businesses went beyond "housekeeping" to tackle issues that were "complex, full of paradoxes and beset with conflicting agendas". http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/oct/28/corporate-responsibility-british-american-tobacco |
| 28th October Guardian UNIONS PREPARE BIG PAY DEMANDS TO OFFSET FOOD AND FUEL PRICE RISES Substantial pay rises are being sought to compensate for sharp increases in energy and food prices, the union-funded Labour Research Department warned last night. A survey of more than 800 pay deals covering 6.3 million workers shows that last financial year a gap opened up between the private and public sectors. http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/oct/28/trade-unions |
| 28th October Management Today COMMUTES GETTING SHORTER The number of people commuting for at least one hour a day fell for the first time in a decade between 2006 and 2007, according to new research commissioned by the TUC (to coincide with Workwise UK’s Commute Smart week). The ‘heartening’ 1% drop means that 100,000 fewer UK workers are wasting this sizeable chunk of their day sitting in traffic jams or standing on a sweaty train on their way to and from the office. For the previous ten years, commuting times have been rising – but as companies embrace flexible working, it seems the tide may finally be turning. Naturally it’s good news that companies have started taking flexible working seriously. But what will happen as the recession starts to bite? ‘It's vital that concerns about the economy do not deter employers from introducing flexible working, which could ease the strain for hard-pressed workers while delivering real benefits for business,’ says the TUC’s Brendan Barber. http://www.managementtoday.co.uk/newsalerts/article/857639/mts-little-ray-sunshine-commutes-getting-shorter/?DCMP=EMC-Daily%20News |
| 28th October Financial Times MPS LAMBAST 'DILATORY' APPROACH TO DEFINING REGULATORY RESPONSIBILITY Plans to shake up supervision of banks in the wake of the Northern Rock collapse and the £37bn taxpayer-funded bail-out of the sector came under fire yesterday from members of an influential Commons inquiry. MPs on the Treasury select committee criticised the government for its "dilatory" approach to clarifying regulatory responsibility, and for making a "dog's breakfast" of plans to extend the Bank of England's role in monitoring stability. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/dd047754-a48d-11dd-8104-000077b07658.html |
| 29th October Financial Times MPS SUPPORT TOUGH BILL ON CO2 REPORTING Mid-sized companies face mandatory reporting of their carbon emissions from 2012 after last night MPs passed sweeping legislation setting ambitious targets to tackle climate change. The climate change bill, approved by a clear Commons majority, commits Britain to slashing greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050, in what is the world’s first legally binding national emissions reduction target. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/b511d18a-a53f-11dd-b4f5-000077b07658.html?nclick_check=1 |
| 29th October Financial Times BAA MADE TO PAY £7.3 MILLION IN SERVICE PENALTIES BAA, the UK airports group, has been forced to pay penalties of £7.34 million for failin |
