Category: News Wire

Small and medium-sized enterprises are finding it harder to borrow money than equally creditworthy businesses before the financial crisis, according to new research for the government.

‘I have no idea what I was thinking,’ says ex-partner after auditor forced to resign as auditor for Herbalife and Skechers

Europe needs to recapitalise, restructure or shut down its banks as part of a vital clean-up of the industry, International Monetary Fund managing director Christine Lagarde said as she warned that the threat from world’s biggest lenders was “more dangerous than ever”.

Accountancy giant KPMG has quit as auditor of two US companies amid an FBI investigation into alleged insider trading involving a former employee.

Billionaire speculator says single currency’s prospects would be better without Germany, the eurozone’s most dominant member

Sir James Crosby, the former HBOS chief executive, is dramatically giving up his knighthood and almost a third of his £580,000-a-year pension after being severely criticised by a report into the downfall of the bank.

George Osborne has a signed an information exchange agreement with the finance ministers of France, Germany, Italy and Spain in the latest effort to crack down on tax evasion.

Employers are tightening their belts and are nervous about investing more in staff, the survey said, while demand for permanent and temporary staff is weakening.

New treasury secretary calls for expansionary measures as fears grow that Portugal is heading towards a second bailout

Sir Richard Branson has said Virgin Rail could provide ‘massively’ better value than state-run East Coast

KPMG is facing a possible investigation by the accounting watchdog into its audit of HBOS, the failed lender that a parliamentary commission last week claimed would have gone bust even without the financial crisis.

Employers in England rate qualified apprentices 15% more employable than those with other qualifications, a survey of 500 firms suggests.

The eurozone crisis threatens to flare up again this week after Portugal’s constitutional court blocked the country’s planned austerity programme.

The full impact of the tax on financial transactions imposed by the European Union can be revealed today as two major studies uncover the costs to economic growth and business expansion.

Vince Cable, the Business Secretary, has called for an investigation into whether three former bosses of HBOS should be banned from serving as company directors.