Written By Unknown on Sabtu, 28 Februari 2015 | 14.47
Energy price comparison websites have been "duping" customers into switching to deals that are not the cheapest on the market and should pay them compensation, a group of MPs have said.
The Energy and Climate Change Committee said some sites had used misleading language to dupe consumers into options that only displayed commission-earning deals.
It has called on energy watchdog Ofgem to consider requiring price comparison sites to disclose the amount of commission received for each switch at the point of sale.
Representatives of the "big five" sites told MPs they earn up to £30 in commission every time a customer switches to a participating provider, or up to £60 when a customer switches both their gas and electricity accounts.
Committee chairman Tim Yeo said: "Consumers trust price comparison services to help them switch to the best energy deals available on the market.
Video:Big Six Criticised For Overcharging
"But some energy price comparison sites have been behaving more like backstreet market traders than the trustworthy consumer champions they make themselves out to be in adverts on TV.
"Some comparison sites have used misleading language to dupe consumers into opting for default options that only display commission-earning deals. And others have previously gone so far as to conceal deals that do not earn them commission behind multiple drop-down web options."
He added: "As an immediate and essential first step towards rebuilding confidence, the companies should compensate any consumers who have been encouraged to switch to tariffs that may not have been the cheapest or most appropriate for their needs.
Video:Energy Bills: What We're Paying
"We have no objection to commission being paid by suppliers to price comparison websites as long as the arrangements are clearly disclosed."
Earlier this month, uSwitch told the committee it would compensate consumers who had been misled into signing up for an energy tariff that was more expensive than others available.
Its chief executive Steve Weller told the committee he was "sincerely disappointed" that a customer was told by his call centre that the cheapest deal available to him was with First Utility, when it was in fact with extraenergy for more than £60 less.
Two of Canada's largest pension funds are in talks about acquiring a multibillion pound stake in the company that is expected to become the UK's biggest mobile communications provider.
Sky News understands that the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP) and the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan (OTPP) have expressed an interest in buying shares in a newly formed parent of O2 and Three.
The combined group, which will be created if Hutchison Whampoa completes a planned takeover of O2 for £10.25bn, would have an enterprise value of approximately £15bn.
It would carry debts of roughly £6bn, and Hutchison has signalled that it will sell about 30% of the new company - worth in the region of £3bn - to institutional investors.
Sources said on Friday that Hong Kong-based Hutchison was "inching forward" in discussions with prospective buyers of the minority stake.
Offers totalling as much as £5bn had already been received for the roughly £2.8bn of shares, they said, with three or four purchasers likely to be selected.
The discussions remain at a tentative stage and will not result in a definitive agreement until there is certainty that Hutchison's takeover of O2 will take place.
Sovereign funds from Qatar and Singapore have also engaged in talks about backing the tie-up of the two UK mobile networks, as Sky News revealed last month.
A Chinese state fund remains interested but is less likely to be part of the investing consortium, a source said.
The appetite from sovereign investors underlines the continuing interest in UK companies following the Qatari takeover of London's Canary Wharf business district and last month's acquisition of a 9.9% stake in British Airways' parent by Qatar Airways.
Hutchison Whampoa secured a period of exclusivity to negotiate a takeover of O2 with Telefonica, its Spanish parent, in January.
The deal is the second major transaction in the UK mobile sector in quick succession, with BT having announced a £12.5bn takeover of EE - currently the country's biggest network.
The mergers have sparked concerns about the prospect of higher charges for mobile phone customers, with Three's status in the market as a 'challenger' to its bigger rivals seen by analysts as unsustainable if its owner's takeover of O2 is completed.
Sky plc, the owner of Sky News, recently struck a deal with Telefonica UK that will allow it to offer mobile voice and data services for the first time.
Like rivals BT, Vodafone and TalkTalk, the move will enable Sky to provide the 'quad-play' of fixed and mobile telecoms, broadband and pay-TV to its customers.
The O2 purchase is the latest in a series of takeovers led by Li Ka-shing, the Hutchison chairman who is Asia's wealthiest man and who has become the UK's biggest foreign direct investor.
In addition to 3, Mr Li's businesses own the high street retailer Superdrug, the container port at Felixstowe and the Eversholt rail company.
Telefonica had been in talks to sell O2 to BT before the British telecoms group decided instead to pursue talks with EE, which is jointly owned by Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom.
Rail unions are planning to stage protests along the East Coast Main Line later - marking the day before the route is re-privatised by the Government.
The Rail, Maritime and Transport union is organising gatherings in London, Doncaster and Edinburgh to protest against the franchise being handed over to Virgin and Stagecoach.
Its general secretary, Mick Cash, has described the re-privatisation as an act of "industrial vandalism" - and claims the new private operators are solely motivated by profit.
Citing research which suggests that 70% of Britons want the whole rail network to be re-nationalised, he said: "Six years ago, the East Coast Main Line collapsed into chaos when National Express threw the keys back because they couldn't extract enough profit. That followed an earlier spectacular private sector failure on the line when Sea Containers went bust.
"It was left to the public sector to not only rescue this vital north-south rail link from total meltdown, but to turn around its performance and to start handing hundreds of millions of pounds back to the taxpayer - in contrast to rip-off private companies."
Video:All Aboard The East Coast Mainline
Virgin and Stagecoach already operate services from London to Scotland on the West Coast Main Line.
In proposals for its eight years running the East Coast franchise, the consortium has pledged to launch 23 new daily services from the capital, and offer direct links to Huddersfield, Middlesbrough, Sunderland, Dewsbury and Thornaby.
It also hopes to offer 3,100 additional seats during the morning rush-hour by 2020, by introducing 65 state-of-the-art Intercity Express trains to the fleet.
Video:East Coast: 'Best Deal' For Country
The Department for Transport has rejected the RMT's claims, and said the private sector has "helped to transform our rail network into a real success story".
"We are confident that the new East Coast franchise gives the best deal for passengers. It will provide more seats, more services, new trains and over £140m of investment along the route. In addition, more than £3bn will be paid to taxpayers," a spokesman added.
Written By Unknown on Jumat, 27 Februari 2015 | 14.47
By Sky News US Team
US regulators have approved net neutrality rules banning broadband providers from charging to put online services in a so-called fast lane.
The new rules require the companies to act in the "public interest" and not intentionally block or slow web traffic.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) passed the much-debated plan on Thursday.
The telecoms industry promptly vowed to sue over the regulation, which was opposed by conservatives and backed by President Barack Obama.
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler (C) greets commissioners
The five FCC members voted along party lines: the two Republican commissioners no and the three Democrats yes.
Beforehand, FCC chairman Tom Wheeler said the plan would foster a free and open internet.
"The internet is the ultimate tool for free expression," he said ahead of the vote.
"The internet is too important to allow broadband providers to be making the rules."
A pro-net neutrality rally in Los Angeles, California
The result means tougher rules for internet service providers such as Comcast, Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile, who lobbied against the regulation.
A coalition of 16,000 websites, including Tumblr, Mozilla and Yelp, had endorsed net neutrality.
Consumer advocates say the rule will prevent "pay-to-play" deals that could stifle the growth of internet startups.
They also say it will prevent internet providers from restricting the use of high-bandwidth sites and services such as Netflix.
The US Telecommunications Industry Association plans to sue
Without net neutrality, websites would be able to strike deals with service providers to stream their data more quickly.
But critics say the new rule will deprive broadband providers of new revenue, hampering investment and ultimately increasing consumer charges.
Republican FCC Commissioners called the plan "half-baked, illogical, internally inconsistent and indefensible".
But a Democratic commissioner who voted in favour of the rule said: "We cannot have a two-tiered internet that speeds the traffic of the privileged and leaves the rest of us lagging behind."
Last year, the issue of net neutrality went mainstream when Comcast was accused of secretly manipulating internet traffic to squeeze money out of Netflix.
The British comedian John Oliver is credited with making the policy debate go viral with a rant against internet fast lanes on his HBO show Last Week Tonight.
The European Union approved net neutrality measures in April last year.
Protesters have clashed with riot police in Greece in the first display of anti-government sentiment since the leftist Syriza party took power a month ago.
Around 450 people took to the streets of Athens on Friday to demonstrate against the newly elected left-right coalition government of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, which agreed a deal with EU partners last week to extend an EU aid programme to Athens.
The deal has triggered dissent within Mr Tsipras' own party and accusations by some on the hard left that the government is going back on pre-election promises.
After the march, around 50 activists in hooded tops hurled petrol bombs and stones at police in the city's Exarchia district.
A small number of shop windows and bus stops were also smashed or damaged during the violence.
Video:Does Germany Trust Greece?
The leftist government was elected on 25 January on a promise to write off a chunk of the country's debt and end tough austerity measures which are blamed for pushing one in four Greeks out of work.
Meanwhile, Greece's four-month bailout extension is expected to get wide support in the German Parliament after a large majority of lawmakers in Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative bloc signalled their backing on Thursday.
Parliament will vote today on the deal hammered out by eurozone finance ministers.
Video:Tsipras: We Won Battle, Not The War
Volker Kauder, caucus leader of Mrs Merkel's bloc, said an "overwhelming majority" of his lawmakers will back the agreement.
In a test vote among the 311 conservative lawmakers, 22 opposed the bailout extension and five abstained. A minority of conservative lawmakers has consistently voted against bailouts over the five years of Europe's debt crisis.
Lloyds Banking Group is to pay a dividend for the first time since its taxpayer bailout after annual profits quadrupled to £1.76bn in 2014.
The taxpayer is set to net £130m from the payment, which equates to 0.75p-per-share or £535m in total.
It is a sign the bank's recovery plan is on track as the Treasury continues to slowly return Lloyds to private hands through share sales.
The Chancellor George Osborne said the pay-out was good news for millions of savers who hold Lloyds shares or have money invested in Lloyds through their pensions.
He added: "Today's results are another major milestone in the recovery of the British economy from the great recession and the bank bailouts."
However, there is likely to be a backlash against the Lloyds chief executive Antonio Horta-Osorio, who is in line to net £11.5m in bonuses, including a £7m long-term award set three years ago which was linked to a recovery in the bank's share price.
The bank's total bonus pool for the year was set at £369m - a decline of almost 4% on last year - and considerably lower than that of RBS for 2014 which yesterday confirmed it remained loss-making.
Like its high-street rival, Lloyds was rescued in 2008 with a £20bn injection of taxpayer cash which led to it being 40% owned by the Government.
That stake has since been reduced to 24%.
Mr Horta-Osorio said: "Over the last four years we have transformed Lloyds Banking Group into a low cost, low risk, UK-focused retail and commercial bank.
"This has been made possible by the hard work of everyone at the Group. Today's results also demonstrate that our profitability and capital position have improved significantly, and this has enabled the Board, for the first time in over six years, to recommend we pay a dividend to our shareholders.
"While we recognise we have more to do, we enter the next phase of our strategy from a position of strength.
"We will remain focused on our customers, embrace the digital age throughout the whole Group, continue our support for the UK economy and aim to deliver strong and sustainable returns for our shareholders."
Written By Unknown on Kamis, 26 Februari 2015 | 14.47
The bosses of HSBC have apologised in person to MPs over the "unacceptable" past behaviour of the bank and thousands of secret Swiss bank accounts it held for clients.
Chief executive Stuart Gulliver told MPs on the Treasury Select Committee that revelations about thousands of secret accounts held in Switzerland had caused "damage to trust and confidence".
Appearing alongside chairman Douglas Flint, he said: "I am apologising as CEO. I am responsible for cleaning it up."
Mr Gulliver added: "I'd like to put on record an apology from both myself and Douglas for the events that took place at our private bank in Switzerland in the mid-2000s
"(It's) clearly an apology we'd like to make to you all, to our customers, our shareholders, the public at large.
"It clearly was unacceptable; we very much regret this and it has damaged HSBC's reputation."
Committee chair Andrew Tyrie MP asked Mr Gulliver why he found it necessary to shield his own income through a shelf company located in Panama, while he was actually domiciled in Hong Kong.
Mr Gulliver stressed it was not for "tax purposes", instead saying it was because he did not trust other members of staff at the bank.
"It was purely about privacy. Privacy from colleagues in Hong Kong and privacy from colleagues in Switzerland," Mr Gulliver, whose has worked for the bank for 35 years, said.
"That was because my pay was not a matter for public record."
Protesters gathered outside Parliament as Mr Gulliver spoke to MPs
He said the HSBC computer system at the time allowed staff to snoop on each other to find out how much they were paid.
Mr Gulliver admitted he was one of the best remunerated members of staff in Hong Kong.
Video:HSBC Whistleblower Speaks Out
He said: "The computer system showed everyone's pay and I was amongst the highest paid and I wished to preserve my privacy."
Protesters outside the House of Commons chanted anti-HSBC slogans, as public anger continues to rise over the secret accounts promoted by the bank's private arm in Geneva.
Swiss investigators raided the offices of the bank last week after reports said it turned a blind eye to handling funds for arms dealers and traders in conflict diamonds.
That announcement came just over a week after HSBC Switzerland found itself at the centre of a global scandal following the publication of secret documents.
The cache of files, made public in a French newspaper, claimed HSBC's Swiss private banking arm helped clients in more than 200 countries evade taxes on accounts containing £77bn ($119bn).
Video:Punishing Misbehaving Bankers
The files, which include the details of 30,000 accounts and the names of celebrities, were originally stolen by former HSBC IT worker Herve Falciani in 2007.
A number of regulators have launched investigations into the HSBC tax scandal.
In 2012 the bank agreed to pay fines and settlements of £1.2bn over an unconnected matter.
That followed a US investigation of Europe's largest bank which focused on the transfer of funds on behalf of nations such as Iran and the movement of $7bn (£4.5bn) in cash into the US financial system, suspected to have belonged to Mexican drug cartels.
At the time Mr Gulliver apologised for the actions of his bank, which dated back to 2007 and 2008.
Video:Cameron And Miliband Clash On HSBC
He said: "We have said we are profoundly sorry for them, and we do so again.
"The HSBC of today is a fundamentally different organisation from the one that made those mistakes."
The apologies were fulsome, forthright and frequent: for the top two executives at HSBC, their appearance in front of MPs on Wednesday was a well-choreographed damage limitation exercise.
After a fortnight in which damaging revelations re-emerged about the tax-evading assistance provided by HSBC's Swiss private bank between 2005 and 2007, the stage was set for a bruising encounter for Douglas Flint, chairman, and chief executive Stuart Gulliver.
The Treasury Select Committee did land some blows on the two men - but they landed more heftily on HSBC's reputation.
The bank had, it repeatedly became clear during the hearing, done little to eliminate federalist instincts bred by its former leadership during the 2000s.
According to Mr Flint, that structure had allowed a dangerous lack of oversight to prevail when HSBC was making acquisitions, even in areas such as private banking, where a detailed understanding of customers was crucial.
Video:HSBC Whistleblower Speaks Out
Systems for screening clients were not sufficiently robust, while some former executives did not carry out their brief to manage the private bank as effectively as they could.
Despite those oblique references to Mr Flint's predecessor, Lord Green, there was scant attention paid to the former Trade Minister by the MPs.
Mr Gulliver himself had joined the private bank's board in 2007, but he told the Committee that that was solely to monitor the interest rate risk it was taking.
"I had no operational role in the running of the division," he said.
The chief executive, who took over in 2011, repeated many of the points he made when presenting HSBC's disappointing full-year results on Monday: that he had sold more than 70 businesses, shed more than 50,000 jobs and overhauled the reporting structure of the group's senior management.
Video:Timeline Of Whistleblower's Claims
That work, said Mr Gulliver, was bearing fruit.
On his own tax affairs, he was robust: living in Hong Kong since 1980 allied with his intention to retire and die there entitled him to the non-dom status he had held for 12 years.
"I have paid full UK tax on my worldwide earnings," he insisted.
But misdemeanours at HSBC's Swiss private bank were not the only subject of scrutiny by the MPs.
It took Andrew Tyrie MP, the Committee chairman, more than a minute to read aloud the full list of regulatory investigations and legal actions to which HSBC is currently subject.
Video:Cameron And Miliband Clash On HSBC
During the period since 2011, it has set aside billions of pounds for mis-selling compensation and been forced to sign a deferred prosecution agreement with the US Department of Justice over breaches of money laundering laws.
Mr Gulliver and Mr Flint have styled themselves as the team charged with "cleaning up" the bank.
The two men undoubtedly have the backing of HSBC's biggest shareholders for the time being: but as with their counterparts across the banking industry, the clean-up job may outlast both of them.
A £4bn writedown on its US business meant Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) remained in the red in 2014, with the bank confirming a £3.5bn loss.
The annual loss marked the seventh consecutive year the part-nationalised bank has failed to achieve profitability however the figure was a marked improvement on 2013 when it lost £9bn.
RBS said it would have made a profit but for the money it had written off at its US bank Citizens, which was built up over 25 years, through what it called a "fair value adjustment".
The bank also confirmed a Sky News story of Wednesday evening that chief executive Ross McEwan was giving up his £1m "role-based allowance" for 2015, which is intended as a top-up to his £1m basic salary.
He had already decided not to take a bonus for 2014 and RBS said it was reducing the size of its total bonus pool for the year by 16% to £483m.
Sir Howard Davies, currently leading the Airports Commission, was to be its new chairman and he would replace Sir Philip Hampton from September, it added.
Written By Unknown on Rabu, 25 Februari 2015 | 14.47
By Mark Kleinman, City Editor
One of London's most controversial listed companies will effectively put itself in play on Wednesday by disclosing initial takeover discussions with potential buyers.
Sky News can reveal that Gulf Keystone Petroleum is poised to say that its board is considering a sale or merger amid protracted talks with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) over delayed payments for oil exports.
The news may pave the way for an end to a torrid few years on the public markets for Gulf Keystone, which has fought a succession of battles with institutional shareholders over pay and corporate governance.
Its former chief executive, Todd Kozel, stepped down from the role last year following hints of a further revolt by leading investors.
The company's shares have slumped by more than 75% during the last year, valuing it at just £322m.
Deutsche Bank is understood to be advising the company on its options, according to City sources.
A sale of Gulf Keystone is by no means certain, although it is likely to attract interest from possible buyers including rival oil explorers in the region.
Earlier this month, the company said it was suspending exports while it held discussions with the KRG's Ministry of Natural Resources about outstanding payments "and establish a stable payment cycle for export crude oil sales in the future".
John Gerstenlauer, Gulf Keystone's chief executive, said at the time that it was "taking a prudent approach to its capital expenditure in 2015 [while] a number of longer term financing options are currently being progressed by the board".
London-listed oil companies have been hit hard by the fall in the price of crude, with Afren among those which are facing urgent restructurings as they buckle under the financial strain.
Another Kurdistan-focused group, Genel Energy, which is run by Tony Hayward, the former BP chief executive, has also been impacted by the payments delay, although it has a much stronger balance sheet.
The ongoing unrest in Iraq has been a significant factor in obstructing payments for oil exports as the KRG has devoted resources to countering incursions by Islamic State insurgents.
A Gulf Keystone spokesman declined to comment on Tuesday.
Companies to blame for nuisance calls and texts can be fined up to £500,000 under tough new regulations that come into force soon.
Changes to the current law, which has been described as "a licence for spammers and scammers", will make it easier to impose hefty sanctions.
From 6 April the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) will no longer have to prove that unwanted messages are causing a "substantial damage or substantial distress" before taking action against those responsible.
The Government is also hoping to introduce measures to hold board-level executives responsible for nuisance calls and texts.
"For far too long companies have bombarded people with unwanted marketing calls and texts, and escaped punishment because they did not cause enough harm," said digital economy minister Ed Vaizey.
Video:Nuisance Calls: 'Must Be Stopped'
"This change will make it easier for the Information Commissioner's Office to take action against offenders and send a clear message to others that harassing consumers with nuisance calls or texts is just not on."
Which? led a taskforce last December calling for a review of the rules in order to act as a stronger deterrent to rogue companies.
Its executive director, Richard Lloyd, said: "These calls are an everyday menace blighting the lives of millions so we want the regulator to send a clear message by using their new powers to full effect without delay.
Video:Action Urged On Nuisance Calls
"It's also good news that the Government has listened to our call and is looking into how senior executives can be held to account if their company makes nuisance calls."
Written By Unknown on Selasa, 24 Februari 2015 | 14.47
By Becky Johnson, Sky News Correspondent
Farmers have warned that almost half of the UK's food will come from abroad by 2040.
Research by the National Farmer's Union (NFU) has found that over the last 30 years a downward spiral of self sufficiency means less and less of what we eat is British grown or reared.
Currently just 60% of food consumed in the UK is British. That is predicted to fall to 53% in 25 years time, with a warning it could fall below 50% by 2080.
NFU vice president Guy Smith said: "Currently, farming grows most of the raw ingredients for Britain's food and drink industry - worth £97bn - which provides jobs for 3.5 million people across the country.
"With that in mind, the prospect of the UK becoming less than 50% self-sufficient should ring alarm bells across all political parties.
"Our burgeoning trade deficit in food and drink isn't just worrying in terms of food security; it also has important implications for jobs and general economic health."
Mike Gorton has been farming in Cheshire for nearly five decades. He told Sky News it is important to protect the quality of the food we eat.
"Recently we saw the 'horsegate' scandal where you can't be as sure of products from abroad as you can from our domestic produce that has the red tractor where we're working hard as an industry to ensure the standards the public demand are met."
The NFU says it has the support of the public, citing a recent poll which found 85% of people want to see more British produce on supermarket shelves.
However many shoppers who spoke to Sky News in Handforth, Cheshire, admitted price dictates what they buy over whether it is British or not.
An over reliance on imported food led to rationing during World War Two. A subsequent drive to increase food production has now subsided since self sufficiency peaked in the 1980s.
The NFU says the UK's food security should be a priority whichever Government is in power after the general election.
A spokeswoman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) said: "From farm to fork, our food industry is in good health - it generated a record £103bn for our economy last year, more than cars and aerospace combined.
"We are helping the industry become more competitive, at home and abroad, by opening up record numbers of international food markets to export our produce, making it easier for our schools and hospitals to buy local, helping consumers choose UK products through improved country-of-origin labelling, and investing in cutting-edge technology like GPS-guided tractors."
The UK's offshore oil and gas industry needs Government support if its future is to be secured following its most costly year since the 1970s, a report says.
The study, conducted by the industry pressure group Oil & Gas UK, was said to have found "striking evidence" of how rising costs, taxes and "inadequate regulation" had taken their toll on international competitiveness.
The body's 2015 activity survey of exploration and production companies, operating mainly in the North Sea, found that revenues declined to just over £24bn last year, the lowest since 1998.
That, combined with rising costs, resulted in a negative cash flow of £5.3bn - the worst since the 1970s.
Investment in new projects over the next three years was last year forecast at £8.5bn, but this year's survey estimates it at around £3.5bn.
Video:Charting The Future Of Oil Prices
It can be partly put down to the collapse in world oil prices - falling by 60% at their weakest, below $50-per barrel - while raw gas costs are 30% down on 12 months ago.
Companies have reacted by scaling back exploration plans and cutting jobs and pay, particularly among sub-contractors.
Chancellor George Osborne has promised measures in next month's Budget to support the industry.
The report demanded urgent action to secure new investment and address a "collapse" in exploration that saw only 14 out of the expected 25 new wells drilled.
Oil & Gas UK's chief executive Malcolm Webb said: "This year's activity survey paints a bleak picture but also identifies this region's potential, emphasising the importance of government and industry now putting the right measures in place to secure its long-term future.
Video:Why BP Is Cutting British Jobs?
"This is crucial, not only for the energy security that domestic oil and gas production provides, but also for the hundreds of thousands of highly skilled jobs, advanced technology and billions of pounds of exports which the industry underpins.
"Without sustained investment in new and existing fields, critical infrastructure will disappear, taking with it important North Sea hubs, effectively sterilising areas of the basin and leaving oil and gas in the ground."
"Even at $110-per-barrel the ability of the industry to realise the full potential of the UK's oil and gas resource was hamstrung by escalating costs, an unsustainably heavy tax burden and inappropriate regulation.
"At current oil prices, we now see the consequences only too clearly.
"The industry recognises that its cost base is unsustainable. Cost and efficiency improvements of up to 40% are required to give this basin a viable future. This adjustment is now under way, but cost control alone is not the answer."
Video:Oil: The Winners And Losers
A Government spokesman said: "The Oil & Gas UK report underlines the need for a concerted and joined-up approach between the Government, the Oil and Gas Authority and industry to ensure investment and exploration in the UK North Sea continues and is able to get through this difficult period.
"The UK Government recognises how important the North Sea is, both in terms of the thousands jobs it supports and the benefit it brings to the UK economy.
"The package of fiscal changes and initiatives announced by the Treasury in early December shows the Government understands the challenges and is on the front foot in dealing with them."
Written By Unknown on Senin, 23 Februari 2015 | 14.47
By Mark Kleinman, City Editor
The UK's biggest banks slashed the number of employees earning at least £1m last year in a move they will argue demonstrates that they are heeding calls for greater pay restraint.
Sky News understands that Barclays, Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) will disclose alongside their annual results during the next eight days that the number of millionaires they created during 2014 fell sharply from the 583 a year earlier.
Insiders familiar with the figures said that the combined number of £1m-plus pay deals across the three banks would fall to approximately 450.
That decline partly reflects the fact that the bonus pool at each bank will be lower for 2014 than in the previous year despite the fact that City analysts expect them all to report stronger financial performances for the last 12 months.
Sky News revealed last week that the three banks were close to finalising bonus pools worth an aggregate £2.8bn, down from nearly £3.4bn in 2013.
However, the fall in the bonus pools can be partly explained by the fact that under new European rules, banks have shifted sums of money from senior employees' variable pay to their fixed remuneration.
This has led some critics to accuse the banks of sleight of hand in seeking to claim credit for reducing bonus payouts just weeks before the General Election campaign gets underway.
The banks are therefore likely to argue that the reduced number of millionaire pay deals - the figures for which include both fixed and discretionary pay - is illustrative of their determination to exhibit more restraint.
Last year, Barclays said it had paid 481 staff more than £1m, while at Lloyds the figure was 27 and at RBS, 75.
Collectively, bonuses at the three banks will be roughly 15% lower than the equivalent numbers for 2013.
Barclays, which is independent of the taxpayer and has by far the largest investment bank of the three institutions, will say that bonuses fell from almost £2.4bn in 2013 to below £2bn last year.
The fall will come amid a retrenchment at Barclays' investment bank, with thousands of jobs being shed under a revamped strategy announced last year by Antony Jenkins, the chief executive.
Analysts are forecasting an uptick in annual profits at Barclays, which is due to report its results on March 2.
The news on pay will mark a contrast with last year's situation at the lender, which provoked a row with some leading shareholders by increasing bonuses despite a fall in profits.
Barclays has also set aside £500m to pay fines related to control failings in its foreign exchange operations, although it has yet to reach a formal settlement with any regulators.
Lloyds and RBS will collectively pay out approximately £875m in bonuses for 2014, sources said on Thursday, compared to an equivalent figure of roughly £975m a year earlier.
The two banks, which report results towards the end of the week, are continuing negotiations over their bonus plans with UK Financial Investments (UKFI), which manages the taxpayer's stakes in them.
Sky News revealed on Friday that the chief executives of Barclays, Lloyds and HSBC would receive annual bonus awards for 2014 totalling more than £3m, although the payouts have been reduced because of fines imposed on them for mis-selling and market manipulation.
HSBC will kick off the reporting season on Monday, when it is expected to disclose that its bonus pot for 2014 was more than 5% lower than the previous year.
None of the banks would comment on their pay proposals.
Stuart Gulliver, HSBC's chief executive, reportedly kept millions of his own money sheltered in the bank's private Swiss offshoot.
The Guardian says Mr Gulliver - due to announce the bank's full-year results this morning - kept $7.6m (£4.93m) via an account held by a Panamanian company.
Leaked files reportedly show that in 2007 he was the beneficial owner of an account held by Worcester Equities Inc.
It comes amid the ongoing scandal over claims HSBC's Swiss private banking arm helped wealthy clients evade and avoid tax, and provided services to criminals including arms dealers.
The Derby-born banking chief apologised for the behaviour of the Swiss division in national newspaper advertisements last week.
Video:Timeline Of Whistleblower's Claims
Mr Gulliver insisted it had been "completely overhauled" since 2007, when whistleblower Herve Falciani opened the door to the scandal, stealing company data and passing it to French authorities.
Swiss prosecutors have launched a criminal investigation into allegations of money laundering after raiding the bank's offices in Geneva.
The 55-year-old - believed to have raked in a £7.4m reward package last year - is legally domiciled in Hong Kong after working there for many years, despite now working in the UK.
Video:HSBC Whistleblower Speaks Out
Representatives for the banking boss told the Guardian he had paid his bonus payments into HSBC Suisse until 2003.
They said Hong Kong tax had been paid and that Mr Gulliver had also told the UK taxman about the account a "number of years" ago.
A representative said: "Full UK tax has been paid on the entirety of his worldwide earnings less a credit for tax paid additionally in Hong Kong…"
Video:Cameron And Miliband Clash On HSBC
But, according to the newspaper, they would not say why a Panamanian company had been used to hold the money when Swiss accounts already offer secrecy.
MPs are set to grill HMRC tax officials on Wednesday over accusations they failed to act properly on the leaked files and potential evidence of tax evasion by more than 3,000 Britons.
Heathrow has announced a 10% fall in annual operating profits and argued it should be granted expansion because it is "full".
The west London hub airport said a strong operational performance in 2014 resulted in its busiest year ever, with 73.4 million passengers served, up 1.4%, but no real growth in flights.
It put the lack of flight growth down to being at full capacity.
The statement said: "With Heathrow full, Britain is falling behind in direct flights to growth markets – that's why calls for Heathrow expansion are growing from all parts of the UK".
The Airports Commission is due to release its recommendations on expansion following the General Election, with Heathrow squaring up to rival Gatwick in the race for investment.
Heathrow insists it is best placed to deliver the needs of a modern hub airport.
Its operating profits fell 10% to £839m though revenues climbed to £2.69bn.
Accounts showed that depreciation costs associated with the new Terminal Two were a factor in the decline in operating profits.
John Holland-Kaye, Heathrow's chief executive, said: "Heathrow performed very well in 2014, with record levels of passenger service and numbers of passengers served.
"The successful opening of Terminal 2 means the nation now has a world class front door and passengers rate us the best hub airport in Europe.
"But with Heathrow full, Britain is falling behind European rivals in the race for growth.
"An expanded hub airport is best for Britain and backed by Britain.
"We have made Heathrow better - now it is time to make it bigger, and connect all of Britain to global growth."
:: Ian King Live will be broadcast from Heathrow tonight, with the bosses of Heathrow and Gatwick debating the merits of their plans for controversial expansion. That is live on Sky News at 6:30 pm.
Written By Unknown on Minggu, 22 Februari 2015 | 14.47
Eurozone finance ministers have agreed to extend Greece's rescue loans - although not by as long as the government wanted.
The deal, which will enable Athens to continue paying its bills, was reached at talks in Brussels which were delayed for four hours as ministers worked on a draft accord.
Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the eurozone's top official and the Dutch finance minister, said Athens had asked for a six-month extension but this was rejected.
"Four months is the appropriate delay in terms of financing and future challenges," he said.
The agreement was clinched just a week before Greece's €240bn (£178bn) bailout expires, leaving just enough time for some member country parliaments to endorse it.
Video:Greek Rescue Package Explained
As part of the deal Greece must provide a list of economic and other reforms based on the current bailout programme by Monday.
This will be reviewed on Tuesday by the European Central Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the European Commission.
If the three institutions do not believe the proposals go far enough, the list will be revised with a view to it being agreed by the end of April.
Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said the deal would mark a new era for Athens and its relations with the European Union.
Video:Osborne Urges Eurozone Deal
"Today was a pivotal moment because Greece for five years now has been lonely, isolated in the Eurogroup. Today that isolation has broken," Mr Varoufakis said.
He said Greece had not used any threats or bluff to get the agreement and added it was a small step in a new direction for the country.
Markets reacted positively to the deal, with the Dow and S&P 500 surging to fresh records on Wall Street.
Mr Dijsselbloem said it was a "first step in this process of rebuilding trust" between Greece and its euro partners and allows for a strategy to get the country "back on track."
Video:Greece: Everything You Need To Know
"Trust leaves quicker than it comes," he said.
Mr Dijsselbloem worked flat out on Friday to secure an agreement as Germany insisted Greece stick with the austerity commitments included in its bailout programme.
The fraught discussions focused on a new package of concessions beyond those contained in the formal request for a loan extension submitted on Thursday.
Greece has ruled out another bailout like the existing one, saying the people who swept the anti-austerity Syriza party to power last month would not tolerate it.
1/20
Gallery: Art War On The Streets Of Athens
Athens has become a Mecca for street artists as anger grows over the impact of Greece's bailout deal with Europe
Wall paintings have sprung up all over the city reflecting the general frustration at rising unemployment and falling living standards
The high street fashion retailer New Look has recruited bankers to work on a stock market listing that could value it at as much as £2bn.
Sky News has learnt that the company this week appointed JP Morgan, the Wall Street investment bank, to work on options for a flotation.
The hiring will fuel expectations that New Look's owners are actively preparing to take it public five years after it aborted an identical move amid challenging markets.
JP Morgan is working alongside Goldman Sachs, which is working with New Look to identify other potential investors for the company.
The chain, which trades from more than 800 stores in 21 countries around the world, is the UK's second-biggest women's value clothing and accessories retailer, according to Kantar Worldpanel, a research firm.
New Look has been owned since 2004 by Apax and Permira, two private equity firms, along with Tom Singh, its founder.
According to third-quarter financial results released last week, New Look saw like-for-like sales in the UK declined by 1%, a dip that it attributed to unseasonably warm weather.
The company is continuing to expand internationally, as well as attempting to grow its menswear business.
It now has nearly 20 shops in China although it retreated from Russia and Ukraine because of continuing instability in the two countries.
Anders Kristiansen, its chief executive, described New Look's trading performance as "robust...against a challenging backdrop".
"It was a record online sales performance over the Christmas period with all channels well-prepared for peaks in demand around Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Boxing Day, whilst our high street presence came into its own as we handled a surge in demand for our Click & Collect and Order in Store offerings," he said.
Mr Kristiansen said last week that New Look was a company "ready to float" although he added that a decision to do so rested with the chain's owners.
New Look's examination of a stock market listing makes it one of several well-known companies looking at such a move.
Sky News revealed earlier this week that Center Parcs had hired bankers to work on a flotation which would value it at about £2.5bn.
The clue came right at the start of Yanis Varoufakis' press conference.
Up until last night's bailout extension deal, the Greek finance minister spent most of his international media appearances addressing an international audience - speaking fluent, verbose English, taking questions from outlets from around the world.
Last night, in the small Greek briefing room in the Justus Lipsius building in Brussels, he was talking to someone else entirely.
His eyes fixed down the barrel of the cameras, for a quarter of an hour he spoke only in Greek.
"We are now co-authors of our own destiny," he said.
Video:Greek Rescue Package Explained
"Negotiation means compromise. But this deal is a small step in the right direction.
"We are no longer following a script given to us by external agencies," he added.
Unusually for him, though, he was reading his speech rather than talking off the cuff.
It did not take a political genius to work out what was going on.
Syriza came to power in Greece last month promising not to do a deal with the shady characters in Brussels.
It promised not to sign up to a continuation of the unpopular bailout programme.
It promised not to have its domestic policies monitored and influenced by the so-called Troika of lenders (the International Monetary Fund, European Commission and European Central Bank).
Video:Greeks Win Loan Extension
But the deal it signed up to on Friday night involved, essentially, all of the above.
There were changes in some of the terminology.
The "programme" is now renamed the "contract"; the hated "memorandum of understanding" which entailed the reforms the country needed to make, is called the "Master Financial Assistance Facility Agreement"; the "Troika" is now referred to as "the institutions".
But, for the most part, the bailout extension Greece signed up to looks like precisely the thing Syriza and Varoufakis said they would not agree to.
True, there are some important changes: Greece will be given more leeway on its public finances this year; it will have the opportunity to curtail some of the tougher reforms, such as firesales of assets and changes in pension provisions - though these, too, will have to be approved by the Troika, sorry, institutions, in conversations starting on Monday.
Crucially, Syriza can rightly claim that its government has eased the conditions on the bailout a lot more than its predecessors.
However, this was hardly the revolution in economic policy that many Greeks will have hoped for.
Video:Greece: Everything You Need To Know
It does not represent a new deal - so much as an old deal in new clothing.
Then again, perhaps that is the best that could have been expected.
This is only a short-term extension to bide the country over.
Without it, there was a distinct chance it would have defaulted and left the euro - the latter of which the vast majority of Greeks are set against.
The country's financial system was looking perilously exposed.
Throughout the Eurogroup meeting, the ECB president Mario Draghi warned repeatedly that unless Greece and its euro counterparts came up with a deal soon, money could start escaping from Greek bank accounts rapidly that there might be a full-blown financial crisis as soon as Monday.
This was a difficult meeting for Mr Varoufakis.
Video:Anti-Austerity Party Wins In Greece
The former academic has taken the political world by storm in recent weeks, carrying out a whistlestop tour of European capitals to explain the Greek position.
However, so visible has he been in this period, so adamant that Greece will not water down its demands, that the events of the past 24 hours may prove tough to contextualise.
What made the job harder still is the fact that he and the finance ministry were marginalised towards the end of the negotiations.
Alexis Tsipras, the Prime Minister, stepped in and carried out some of the talks behind the scenes with his fellow leaders when things looked as if they were breaking down.
After the previous Eurogroup meeting on Monday descended into farce, amid a flood of leaks, the PM insisted that all press communications should be done through his office, rather than Mr Varoufakis'.
It was said that behind-the-scenes, the Germans were refusing to talk to Mr Varoufakis - that some Greek finance officials had been urged to get rid of their boss.
That would be a terrific mistake: their new finance minister is one of the biggest assets Greece has, particularly when it comes to explaining to an international audience why austerity has not worked, and why future deals might have to be different.
Video:Family Living Off Food Donations
And there will almost certainly need to be another deal once these four months have elapsed.
In the meantime, Mr Varoufakis and his colleagues have a tough job on their hands explaining why what was agreed in Brussels was a triumph rather than a defeat.
Their previous feat - overturning decades of two-party domination in Greece - may end up looking easy in comparison.
