Goldman Sachs whistleblower threatened with the sack
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/dec/08/goldman-sachs-whistleblower-threatened-sack
A solicitor at HM Revenue & Customs who turned whistleblower to disclose that senior managers had quietly let off Goldman Sachs from paying millions of pounds in tax penalties is facing disciplinary procedures and possible prosecution for speaking out.
FTSE 100 directors’ earnings rose by almost half last year | Business | The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/oct/28/ftse-100-directors-earnings-rose-by-almost-half
Total earnings for directors of FTSE 100 companies increased by 49% last year, far outpacing pay claims for workers outside the boardroom.
A FTSE 100 executive typically received an average of £2.7m in 2010, according to the research by Incomes Data Services, which analysed payouts of salaries, bonuses and long-term incentive plans the last financial year.
For chief executives, the average total pay deal was £3.8m – an average rise of 43.5% – while IDS calculated that finance directors received an average increase of 34.1%,to take their average to £2m, while all other directors received an average increase of 66.5%, to take their average to £2.2m.
#Nintendo expected to make £823m loss | Business | guardian.co.uk
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/oct/26/nintendo-to-make-huge-half-year-loss
Nintendo, which has dominated the industry in recent years with its DS handheld and Wii home consoles, has struggled to win popularity for its new generation 3DS device, as casual gamers turn to smartphones and tablets from Apple and others.
Nintendo, like many Japanese firms, is also facing a massive hit from the strong yen.
BP gets go-ahead for £4.5bn North Sea oil field | Business | guardian.co.uk
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/oct/13/bp-north-sea-oil-field-shetland-islands
The second phase of the giant Clair field, west of the Shetland Islands, forms part of £10bn being spent on four projects by BP and its partners from Shell, ConocoPhillips and Chevron over the next five years.
At £4bn, BP’s involvement represents the highest level of annual investment the company has made in the UK North Sea.
Goldman Sachs let off paying £10m interest on failed tax avoidance scheme | Business | The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/oct/11/goldman-sachs-interest-tax-avoidance
#finance
Tax havens and the FTSE 100 : the full list | News | guardian.co.uk
http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2011/oct/11/ftse100-subsidiaries-tax-data#
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/oct/11/ftse-100-subsidiaries-tax-havens?intcmp=239
#Cartographie des 100 plus grosses entreprises britanniques s’accordant quelque répit, loin du vacarme des mégapole, dans les #paradis_fiscaux
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/jun/20/walmart-sex-discrimination-class-action-rejected
The plaintiffs had provided statistical evidence that women earned less money and were promoted less often across the company. But Walmart argued there was no discrimination at the firm. Its lawyers argued that a class action representing women from across the country would imply a uniform policy of discrimination, but as individual managers made hiring and promoting decisions independently there was no class-action case to answer.
Slotnick added that large-scale class actions would now be far harder to bring against other companies, and that greater proof of system-wide discrimination would be needed before a major class-action lawsuit could be brought. Often such proof is only available after a case has been granted class-action status and the process of discovery – where lawyers can demand access to sensitive internal documents – begins.
Barclays faces protests over role in global food crisis | Business | The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/apr/25/barclays-faces-commodity-protests
Barclays will be targeted during its annual meeting on Wednesday by anti-poverty campaigners accusing it of playing a leading role in driving up food prices on global commodities markets.
Barclays Capital, the investment banking arm of the high street bank, is the UK’s biggest player in food commodity trading, and one of the top three banking players globally, according to a new analysis for the World Development Movement.
Along with Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, BarCap has pioneered new kinds of financial products that have enabled pension funds and other investors traditionally barred from commodities exchanges to bet on food prices.
Campaign via social media networks blocks Dutch bankers’ bonuses | Business | The Observer
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/mar/27/dutch-bankers-bonuses-axed-by-people-power
Now the Netherlands is going through a painful period of introspection and soul-searching. Politicians have voted to implement a 100% retrospective tax on all bonuses paid to executives at institutions that received state aid as a result of the financial crisis. In other words, no banker should get a bonus until the debt is cleared, and they should return payments made since 2008.
Qu’est-ce qu’on attend pour faire ça chez nous ?
BAE Systems hires Britain’s former envoy to Saudi Arabia | The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/feb/18/envoy-saudi-bae-systems
The senior British diplomat who played a central role in pressuring the Serious Fraud Office to drop its investigation into BAE Systems over the al-Yamamah Saudi arms deal has been hired by the defence group, the Guardian has learned.
Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles, who left the Foreign Office last October, will become BAE’s international business development director, focusing on the Middle East and south-east Asia. He starts his new, full-time role next week.
The move is likely to cause uproar among anti-corruption campaigners.
On s’en fout un peu mais bon // #Coca-Cola secret recipe revealed? It’s the real thing, says radio host | Business | guardian.co.uk
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/feb/16/coca-cola-secret-recipe-discovered
Now one of America’s most celebrated radio broadcasters claims to have discovered the Coke secret. Ira Glass, presenter of the public radio institution This American Life, says he has tracked down a copy of the recipe, the original of which is still supposedly held in a burglar-proof vault at the Sun Trust bank in Atlanta, Georgia.
UK firm’s partner ’wanted Peru to curb priests in mine conflict areas’ | Business | The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/jan/31/wikileaks-bhp-billiton-peru-mining-communities
A mining company in Peru part-owned by a British FTSE 100 company agitated for the removal of teachers and Catholic bishops to new posts away from “conflictive mining communities”, according to a leaked US cable obtained via WikiLeaks.
An executive of the company, in which BHP Billiton has a one-third stake, urged diplomats to persuade the Peruvian government and church to “rotate” such professionals out of sensitive areas, the secret document said.
The US and Canadian ambassadors, who hosted a summit of foreign mining executives in Peru in August 2005, requested specific examples of “anti-mining” teachers and bishops “who engage in inappropriate activities” to take to government and church leaders, the cable claimed.
WikiLeaks cables : Saudi Arabia cannot pump enough oil to keep a lid on prices | Business | The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/feb/08/saudi-oil-reserves-overstated-wikileaks
The US fears that Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest crude oil exporter, may not have enough reserves to prevent oil prices escalating, confidential cables from its embassy in Riyadh show.
The cables, released by WikiLeaks, urge Washington to take seriously a warning from a senior Saudi government oil executive that the kingdom’s crude oil reserves may have been overstated by as much as 300bn barrels – nearly 40%.
The revelation comes as the oil price has soared in recent weeks to more than $100 a barrel on global demand and tensions in the Middle East. Many analysts expect that the Saudis and their Opec cartel partners would pump more oil if rising prices threatened to choke off demand.
Vous faites comme vous voulez, mais moi j’ai fait le plein ce matin.