Corporate code could foster short-termism June 13, 2010 CORPORATE PARTNER, HOGAN LOVELLS TIDJANE Thiam of the Pru may well be grateful that the new Corporate Governance Code – with its requirement for all directors of FTSE 350 companies to be subject to annual re-election by shareholders – only takes effect from 29 June this year. At the heart of the new code is [...]
Soda queen takes on Goliath June 10, 2010 LAUNCHING a cola and taking on one of the best-known brands in the world doesn’t sound like it would be a success – not even Sir Richard Branson could topple Coke with Virgin Cola. But Miranda Walker, the co-founder of the Ubuntu Trading Company, was not deterred. She launched Ubuntu, a cola drink, in September [...]
Social business is generating a big turnover June 10, 2010 IN THE past, social businesses were seen as something of a novelty. But that has changed. Earlier this week Royal Bank of Scotland launched the RBS Social Enterprise 100 index, which has attempted to quantify social enterprise for the first time. And the results are surprising. The index revealed that social enterprises in the financial [...]
APPS June 10, 2010 Q. What exactly is an iPhone application and why is it useful? A. An iPhone app is essentially a tiny website that taps into your iPhone’s capabilities such as its GPS, camera or compass. But, unlike a regular website loaded on your phone, an app is built to communicate directly with the available hardware of [...]
Watch your kids and their nest eggs grow June 10, 2010 CHILDREN are expensive but they could be about to get even costlier. Yesterday, universities minister David Willetts strongly indicated that university tuition fees will have to rise from their current level of £3,225 a year to reduce the burden on the taxpayer. Those saving to help their children or grandchildren through university will now have [...]
Equities should avoid more declines June 9, 2010 JANE FOLEY RESEARCH DIRECTOR, FOREX.COM WHAT started as an acknowledgement from Greece that it had been living way beyond its means has since turned into a universal re-appraisal of the risks of sovereign default in Europe. After Greece, the bond markets of Spain and Portugal were next to be re-examined. More recently French and Dutch [...]
IN FOCUS | UK INFLATION June 9, 2010 UK inflation data may be far higher than the Bank of England target, but there is little risk of a hike in interest rates this year. Governor King has made it clear that he welcomes fiscal tightening rather than higher interest rates. As this takes a hold, King’s conviction that excess capacity will bear down [...]
Worries about Eastern Europe are overblown June 9, 2010 IN HIS office overlooking the river Danube, the new Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban might well be regretting throwing the fiscal state of his country into the limelight and drawing unwanted attention from the markets. In hindsight, comments from his spokesman outlining the gravity of Hungary’s economic situation and stating that a default on its [...]
Benefit from the gold rush through miners June 9, 2010 AS THE Eurozone lurches from crisis to crisis, the price of gold hit an all-time high this week at $1,250 an ounce. With many analysts predicting a further surge to $1,300 or $1,400, investors are flooding into the gold market and physical gold-backed ETFs. In the rush, many have overlooked what could be an even [...]
THE TIPSTER June 9, 2010 THE US dollar has performed strongly against the Swiss franc during the past month as investors worried about the impact of the European debt crisis on Swiss trade. Now US dollar-Swiss franc is approaching a five-year downtrend resistance level at SFr1.1750. The question now is whether the dollar has gone far enough against the franc. [...]