Finance Matters

• 25Aug

  William Hill cashes in on Ashes thanks to unpatriotic punters

  Business No Comments

  From The BBC:

  UK bookmaker William Hill has said it won a “six-figure sum” after England regained the Ashes on Sunday.After England’s 5-0 drubbing in 2007, it seems that most English cricket fans had expected the Australians to retain the prize. “The patriotic punt never really occurred,” the bookmaker said. “Although I am sure they will never admit it the majority of our customers were backing Ponting and his men all through the series,” it added. Australia tried hard to fight back on day four of the Test, but were unsuccessful in their quest to score what would have been a world-record-breaking target of 546 for victory. But Australian captain Ricky Ponting was ran out by Andrew Flintoff and Mike Hussey was last out to seal England’s 2-1 victory at The Oval. “We were sweating a bit before Ponting was run out but have cleaned up with a six figure win,” said William Hill spokesman Rupert Adams….

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• 25Aug

  CBI calls for youth job subsidies

  Money No Comments

  From The BBC:

  The UK government should spend more money to tackle youth unemployment, says the CBI employers’ group.It wants £125m ($206m) of the UK government’s £500m recruitment subsidy fund to be spent on funding 50,000 new apprenticeships. Under the CBI’s plans firms would receive a subsidy of £2,500 towards the cost of training each extra apprentice. “Young people leaving education this summer face the toughest job market in a generation,” the CBI said. The proposals come as a new crop of school leavers and university graduates are about to join the jobs market this summer. ‘Lost to work’Data from the Office for National Statistics shows the unemployment rate among 16-24 year olds has risen to 19.1%, with about 928,000 people classed as unemployed. Business Secretary Lord Mandelson has said work experience, mentoring and internships were needed to avoid a generation “lost to work”. The CBI also proposed a £25m fund for employers who train more apprentices than they need….

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• 25Aug

  CBI calls for youth job subsidies

  Money No Comments

  From The BBC:

  The UK government should spend more money to tackle youth unemployment, says the CBI employers’ group.It wants £125m ($206m) of the UK government’s £500m recruitment subsidy fund to be spent on funding 50,000 new apprenticeships. Under the CBI’s plans firms would receive a subsidy of £2,500 towards the cost of training each extra apprentice. “Young people leaving education this summer face the toughest job market in a generation,” the CBI said. The proposals come as a new crop of school leavers and university graduates are about to join the jobs market this summer. ‘Lost to work’Data from the Office for National Statistics shows the unemployment rate among 16-24 year olds has risen to 19.1%, with about 928,000 people classed as unemployed. Business Secretary Lord Mandelson has said work experience, mentoring and internships were needed to avoid a generation “lost to work”. The CBI also proposed a £25m fund for employers who train more apprentices than they need….

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• 25Aug

  ‘Confidence’ in state of pensions

  Money No Comments

  From The BBC:

  Fewer requests for information about the current state of workers’ pensions shows rising confidence in retirement savings, according to consultants Aon.Requests from pension scheme members about the current value of their pension pot fell by 17% between the first and second quarter of the year. But another pensions expert claimed the conclusion was a “huge leap”. The value of assets in defined-contribution pension funds rebounded in July owing to rising share prices. RequestsAon said that the number of people asking about their projected pension based on their current savings plan fell by 9% in the second quarter of the year compared with the first three months of 2009. However, the numbers were still 36% higher than the same period the previous year. Mark Duke, head of pensions at Towers Perrin, said that although Aon made a good point, it was a “huge leap” to suggest the figures showed confidence in pensions was rising. He said relatively few people checked the value of their pension…

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• 25Aug

  ‘Confidence’ in state of pensions

  Money No Comments

  From The BBC:

  Fewer requests for information about the current state of workers’ pensions shows rising confidence in retirement savings, according to consultants Aon.Requests from pension scheme members about the current value of their pension pot fell by 17% between the first and second quarter of the year. But another pensions expert claimed the conclusion was a “huge leap”. The value of assets in defined-contribution pension funds rebounded in July owing to rising share prices. RequestsAon said that the number of people asking about their projected pension based on their current savings plan fell by 9% in the second quarter of the year compared with the first three months of 2009. However, the numbers were still 36% higher than the same period the previous year. Mark Duke, head of pensions at Towers Perrin, said that although Aon made a good point, it was a “huge leap” to suggest the figures showed confidence in pensions was rising. He said relatively few people checked the value of their pension…

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• 25Aug

  RBS set to cut pension benefits

  Business No Comments

  From The BBC:

  High Street bank RBS is set to scale back on the benefits to staff in its final-salary pension scheme.The bank said that it would cap any future increases in pensionable pay to 2% a year, or the rate of inflation, whichever was lower. This means that even if workers get a larger pay increase or promotion, only a maximum 2% rise would be used when calculating their eventual pension. The bank was criticised early in 2009 for the pension of its former boss. Sir Fred Goodwin initially took a pension of £703,000 when he left his position as chief executive at the bank, although he has since agreed to lower his pension income to £342,500 a year. ‘Pragmatic’RBS closed its final-salary scheme to new members in 2006, and like many other businesses has been looking at its provision for existing members.
  The bank said the move was “pragmatic and necessary” but the decision was condemned by the trade union Unite which said that it was a “body blow” to its 60,000 staff. It is a less dr…

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• 25Aug

  RBS set to cut pension benefits

  Business No Comments

  From The BBC:

  High Street bank RBS is set to scale back on the benefits to staff in its final-salary pension scheme.The bank said that it would cap any future increases in pensionable pay to 2% a year, or the rate of inflation, whichever was lower. This means that even if workers get a larger pay increase or promotion, only a maximum 2% rise would be used when calculating their eventual pension. The bank was criticised early in 2009 for the pension of its former boss. Sir Fred Goodwin initially took a pension of £703,000 when he left his position as chief executive at the bank, although he has since agreed to lower his pension income to £342,500 a year. ‘Pragmatic’RBS closed its final-salary scheme to new members in 2006, and like many other businesses has been looking at its provision for existing members.
  The bank said the move was “pragmatic and necessary” but the decision was condemned by the trade union Unite which said that it was a “body blow” to its 60,000 staff. It is a less dr…

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• 25Aug

  RBS set to cut pension benefits

  Money No Comments

  From The BBC:

  High Street bank RBS is set to scale back on the benefits to staff in its final-salary pension scheme.The bank said that it would cap any future increases in pensionable pay to 2% a year, or the rate of inflation, whichever was lower. This means that even if workers get a larger pay increase or promotion, only a maximum 2% rise would be used when calculating their eventual pension. The bank was criticised early in 2009 for the pension of its former boss. Sir Fred Goodwin initially took a pension of £703,000 when he left his position as chief executive at the bank, although he has since agreed to lower his pension income to £342,500 a year. ‘Pragmatic’RBS closed its final-salary scheme to new members in 2006, and like many other businesses has been looking at its provision for existing members.
  The bank said the move was “pragmatic and necessary” but the decision was condemned by the trade union Unite which said that it was a “body blow” to its 60,000 staff. It is a less dr…

  Click to read the full article »
• 25Aug

  RBS set to cut pension benefits

  Money No Comments

  From The BBC:

  High Street bank RBS is set to scale back on the benefits to staff in its final-salary pension scheme.The bank said that it would cap any future increases in pensionable pay to 2% a year, or the rate of inflation, whichever was lower. This means that even if workers get a larger pay increase or promotion, only a maximum 2% rise would be used when calculating their eventual pension. The bank was criticised early in 2009 for the pension of its former boss. Sir Fred Goodwin initially took a pension of £703,000 when he left his position as chief executive at the bank, although he has since agreed to lower his pension income to £342,500 a year. ‘Pragmatic’RBS closed its final-salary scheme to new members in 2006, and like many other businesses has been looking at its provision for existing members.
  The bank said the move was “pragmatic and necessary” but the decision was condemned by the trade union Unite which said that it was a “body blow” to its 60,000 staff. It is a less dr…

  Click to read the full article »
• 25Aug

  Bernanke named for new Fed term

  Business No Comments

  From The BBC:

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  Obama: “We will pass the reforms necessary to protect consumers, investors, and the entire financial system”
  President Obama has confirmed that he has nominated Ben Bernanke for another term as chairman of the US central bank, the Federal Reserve.The president took a break from his summer holiday to make the announcement. Mr Bernanke has been praised for taking action to bail out failing banks, which Mr Obama believes has limited the effects of the economic crisis. Mr Bernanke’s initial four-year tenure is to come up for renewal in January. ‘Price stability’Mr Obama said Mr Bernanke had helped prevent a repeat of the Great Depression. “Ben approached a financial system on the verge of collapse with calm and wisdom, with bold action and outside-the-box thinking that has helped put the brakes on our economic free-fall,” the president said. “Our auto industry is showing signs of life. Business investment is showing signs of s…

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