Financial news

• Tycoon Richard Caring received £93m in BHS dividends from Sir Philip Green

  28-04-2016 21:12
  
  Celebrity restaurateur was one beneficiary of £422m in dividends distributed to major shareholders in first part of last decadeRichard Caring, the restaurateur and clothing tycoon, has emerged as one of the major beneficiaries of generous dividends paid by BHS in the early days of Sir Philip Green’s ownership.The Guardian has established that Caring, the owner of The Ivy and Le Caprice, was handed £93m in payouts from the retailer, which fell into administration this week &ndas
  
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• Shire and Weir bosses feel sting of investor ire as pay revolts widen

  28-04-2016 20:55
  
  Drug maker and engineer not alone on day shareholders use AGMs to protest en masse against boardroom bonuses and payBoardroom bosses have received stinging rebukes over pay, with the engineering group Weir forced to abandon potential share awards for its top management team and Shire Pharmaceuticals failing to get a majority of investors to support its pay deals. On a dramatic day in the annual general meeting season, the building materials group CRH also suffered a 40% vote against its pay poli
  
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• BHS debacle shows the true costs of corporate greed | Letters

  28-04-2016 20:36
  
  Prem Sikka (Opinion, 26 April) is right that BHS is a victim, but not of shareholder greed – rather director greed and flawed legislation. In the early 1980s most corporate pension funds had sizeable surpluses. As an accountant at the time, I argued that pension funds should be ringfenced, but I lost the argument on the grounds that companies had a liability to pay their defined pensions. So companies took “holidays” and in some cases raided the pension pot, and we all know wha
  
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• UK Financial Regulatory Developments - April 2016 #20 - JD Supra (press release)

  28-04-2016 20:19
  
  UK Financial Regulatory Developments - April 2016 #20
  JD Supra (press release)
  Andrew Tyrie MP, Chairman of the Treasury Committee, has published correspondence from BoE's Governor, Mark Carney, in relation to a disagreement between Sir John Vickers, Chair of the Independent Commission on Banking (ICB), and the Financial ...
  
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• I should have gone to Tata Steel meeting in India, says Sajid Javid

  28-04-2016 20:08
  
  Business secretary admits error of not travelling to Mumbai last month as boss of UK operations warns of pension timebombSajid Javid has admitted that he should have gone to Mumbai for a crucial Tata Steel board meeting that led to the Indian company announcing it would pull out of the UK.The business secretary told MPs that with the benefit of hindsight he should have travelled to India last month, instead of going to Australia on a business trip with his daughter.Continue reading...
  
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• If I die before my partner will he pay inheritance tax on our home?

  28-04-2016 20:00
  
  My partner and I own a house in a 50/50 split, when I die my half will pass to him, but I’m concerned the value might put it over the inheritance tax thresholdQ: As a cohabiting couple, we bought our home as tenants in common with a 50/50 split. I know that through a will, I can let my half pass to my partner. But if my half is above the inheritance tax threshold, does that mean if I die first, he then has to pay inheritance tax? PMA: The only way you can make sure that your half of your j
  
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• RBS admits further delays in offloading Williams & Glyn

  28-04-2016 19:00
  
  Bank announces it may miss the EU deadline to divest 300 branches due to complexity and costRoyal Bank of Scotland is facing further problems in offloading 300 Williams & Glyn branches, in a fresh blow to the management team of the bailed-out bank.The European Union demanded the branches be separated as the price of agreeing to RBS’s £45bn taxpayer bailout. Lloyds Banking Group was also required under state aid rules to carve out TSB in return for its government rescue. Continue
  
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• Philip Green ‘should lose knighthood if integrity over BHS found wanting’

  28-04-2016 18:27
  
  Sir John Collins, who proposed tycoon’s ennoblement, wants forfeiture committee to consider whether to rescind honourThe person who put forward Sir Philip Green for a knighthood has said he should be stripped of the honour if his handling of BHS is found to have lacked integrity.Green sold BHS last year for £1 to Retail Acquisitions, a consortium led by Dominic Chappell. The department store chain had a pensions deficit of £571m after the Green family withdrew hundreds of milli
  
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• HMS Group Plc UK Regulatory Announcement: Annual Financial Report - Business Wire (press release)

  28-04-2016 18:17
  HMS Group Plc UK Regulatory Announcement: Annual Financial Report
  Business Wire (press release)
  “I am proud to announce that the year 2015 was a successful one for HMS Group in terms of revenue and EBITDA, despite a decrease in Russia's GDP, volatility of the ruble, international sanctions, low oil prices, high interest rates, and other negative ...en meer »
  
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• UK Delays Financial Aid Payments to Mozambique - Wall Street Journal

  28-04-2016 17:13
  
  Wall Street Journal
  UK Delays Financial Aid Payments to Mozambique
  Wall Street Journal
  The U.K. government on Thursday said it was delaying all financial aid payments to the government of Mozambique, following confirmation of undisclosed loans which it said appeared to be “a serious breach of trust.” The announcement follows the decision ...
  UK suspends financial aid to MozambiqueThe Heraldalle 43 nieuwsartikelen »
  
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• Vatican watchdog reports sharp rise in suspicious financial activity - Catholic Herald Online

  28-04-2016 17:09
  Catholic Herald Online
  Vatican watchdog reports sharp rise in suspicious financial activity
  Catholic Herald Online
  The Vatican's financial watchdog has said it received 544 reports of suspicious financial transactions last year, thanks in part to beefed-up efforts to flag potential tax cheats who are using the Vatican bank to hide money. In its annual report, the ...en meer »
  
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• Barclays writes to PPI customers to apologise for failing to send statements

  28-04-2016 16:46
  
  Bank says ‘technical issue’ meant 3% of its payment protection insurance holders were not sent annual statementsBarclays has written to 10,000 customers with payment protection insurance to apologise after it failed to send them annual statements telling them how much they were spending on their policies and outlining their rights to cancel them.In 2011, the Competition Commission ordered lenders to provide an annual account of their PPI following a two-year inquiry that found seriou
  
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• BHS collapse: Sir Philip Green may face grilling by MPs

  28-04-2016 16:38
  
  Business committee may call in Arcadia owner and the Retail Acquisitions boss Dominic Chappell after launching inquiry into sale and purchase of chainSir Philip Green and Dominic Chappell face being hauled in front of MPs to explain their management of BHS after an influential parliamentary committee launched an inquiry into the department store chain.The Commons Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) select committee has announced it will explore the sale and acquisition of BHS, including whethe
  
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• Sluggish US growth forms part of a worrying global trend

  28-04-2016 16:19
  
  The global economy is running out of steam and the conventional weapons are increasingly ineffectiveIt would be easy to dismiss the slowdown in the US economy to near-stall speed as a piece of rogue data resulting from the inability of number crunchers at the Department of Commerce in Washington to take account of the fact that large parts of the country are blanketed by snow during the winter. Related: US economy grinds to near standstill as business investment slumps - live updatesContinue rea
  
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• Looming EU vote posing risk to British economy, Mark Carney says

  28-04-2016 16:17
  
  Bank of England governor warns economy is slowing ahead of 23 June, with referendum itself threatening UK growthThe Bank of England governor has said Britain’s economy appears to be losing steam before the EU referendum, with the looming vote posing the biggest risk to UK growth.Mark Carney, who has previously warned that Britain’s economy could struggle to grow after a decision to quit the European Union, said during a trip to Stockport that the referendum itself posed a significant
  
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• Comcast’s NBCUniversal to buy DreamWorks Animation in $3.8bn deal

  28-04-2016 16:13
  
  Deal will bring together Despicable Me and Minions maker with Shrek studio, creating a force to rival Disney
  Comcast’s NBCUniversal has confirmed it has lined up a $3.8bn (£2.6bn) deal to buy DreamWorks Animation, maker of hits from Shrek to Kung Fu Panda, to create a formidable rival to Disney.The deal will see DreamWorks Animation come under the same roof as NBCUniversal-owned Illumination Entertainment, maker of the hugely profitable including Despicable Me and spin-off Minions, c
  
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• Sharp rise in fines as pensions push turns to smallest employers

  28-04-2016 16:09
  
  Pensions Regulator issues 96 ‘escalating penalty notices’ in three months to force companies to enrol their workers The number of employers being fined up to £10,000 a day for not complying with the rules on workplace pensions has shot up by 300% in three months, official data shows.The figures issued by the Pensions Regulator indicate that a small but growing number of businesses are steadfastly refusing to comply with their legal duties when it comes to enrolling their worker
  
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• Leave campaign hits back with its own economists

  28-04-2016 14:24
  
  Economists for Brexit report says output would be higher, the City would thrive, trade deficit smaller and unemployment lowerThe campaign for Britain to leave the EU has hit back at studies claiming an exit would be bad for growth and living standards with a report from eight economists that argues the UK would thrive as an independent country.The Economists for Brexit reportsays output would be higher, the City of London would thrive, unemployment would fall and the trade deficit would narrow i
  
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• For rent: tiny 'twodios' for £1,100 a month, and sellers beware eBay scammers

  28-04-2016 12:36
  
  Also, 250,000 savers take advantage of pension freedom; nuisance calls companies fined £2m; and where best to buy plants and seedsHello and welcome to this week’s Money Talks – a roundup of the week’s biggest stories and some things you may have missed. Continue reading...
  
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• Lloyds Banking Group reveals surge in buy-to-let lending

  28-04-2016 10:58
  
  Mortgage lender pins rise on rush to beat new stamp duty charges as bank group reveals profits nearly halved in first quarter Lloyds Banking Group, the UK’s biggest mortgage lender, has revealed a surge in activity by buy-to-let and second-home buyers in the run-up to tax changes in April.António Horta-Osório, chief executive of the bailed-out bank, said mortgage activity had been strong in the run-up to the changes, which came into force on 1 April and require buy-to-let and
  
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• Follow these steps to make sure your customers pay you

  28-04-2016 10:19
  
  There’s no point getting excited about a new order until you are certain your prospective clients can – and will – payWe seem to live in a world that requires instant gratification. The email we just received needs an immediate answer. If our laptop doesn’t respond in less than a second, we get annoyed and start thinking about replacing it with a faster model.Unfortunately, this can come at a price. Far too many British businesses forgo conducting due diligence on new and
  
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• ​​Australian model for payment dispute​s could help small UK suppliers

  28-04-2016 10:19
  
  British small businesses are owed £12,000 each on average in late payments. Victorian small business commissioner, Geoff Brown, explains how his office intervenesManaging cash flow is widely acknowledged to be the key juggling act for small businesses. Vast amounts of time are taken up with chasing late payments from clients and customers, negotiating more favourable terms for their own payments and finding cash to alleviate the pressure during quieter months. Accountancy firm Sage reports
  
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• UK house prices edge up 0.2% in April

  28-04-2016 09:20
  
  Nationwide puts average price paid for UK home at £202,000 as market confounds forecast of a sharp dropThe average price of a UK home edged up by 0.2% in April, according to the UK’s biggest building society, despite expectations that a busy start to the year would be followed by a sharp drop in demand.Nationwide said the average price paid for a property during the month had risen to a new high of £202,436, after breaking through the £200,000 barrier in March. Continue r
  
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• Lord Bilimoria: 'We had too much debt. I didn’t see the financial crisis coming'

  28-04-2016 08:00
  
  The Cobra beer chairman and co-founder describes his mistakes in business and explains why, despite being a eurosceptic, he’d vote to stay in the EUI should have ended up working for an investment bank. I was fortunate to have a good education, with two degrees, one in commerce and one in law, and I qualified as a chartered accountant. But it’s been a phenomenal journey of ups and downs, achievements and failings and mistakes.Continue reading...
  
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• GameAccount Network UK Regulatory Announcement: Annual Financial Report - Business Wire (press release)

  28-04-2016 08:00
  GameAccount Network UK Regulatory Announcement: Annual Financial Report
  Business Wire (press release)
  “2015 has continued the period of investment for GAN, and, performance to date in 2016 is in line with our expectations.” Tweet this. GameAccount Network plc. 2015 Annual Results. LSE: GAN ISE: GAME. London & Dublin | 28 April, 2016: GameAccount ...en meer »
  
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• £3,000 bill from British Gas …and I’m not even a customer

  28-04-2016 08:00
  
  I’ve been harassed over six years and threatened by debt collectorsFor six years British Gas has been harassing me to pay a bill for more than £3,000 even though I have never been a customer. It started in 2010 when I applied to move to Sainsbury’s Energy, supplied by British Gas. British Gas wrote to say it was connecting an address in Dartford I’d never heard of. I told it to cancel the switch and I stayed with E.ON. Since then British Gas has sent bills, and I’ve
  
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