At present the upper cap on the compensatary award for unfair dismissal claims is £66,200.  This is to be reduced to £65,300 for dismissals that take place on or after 1 February 2010 and reflects the reduction in the retail price index over the last year.  The cap on a weeks pay for the purposes [...]

Posted: December 23rd, 2009 under Employment/HR.
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Markets
London - The FTSE 100 rose 34.67 points to close at 5,328.66 yesterday. Energy shares lifted the blue chip index after Opec said it would not change its oil output. In contrast miners were among the biggest losers, including Fresnillo, Kazakhmys and Xstrata. This morning the FTSE is 35.77 points higher at 5,364.43. Investors will be eyeing the minutes from the Bank of England’s latest interest rate policy meeting, scheduled for release at 0930 GMT.

Posted: December 23rd, 2009 under AML Information.
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Markets
London - The FTSE 100 rallied 97.18 points to 5,293.99 yesterday. Stocks were lifted after the Confederation of British Industry raised its 2010 economic growth forecast. It said growth will resume again with a 0.5% GDP increase in the current quarter, marking an end to Britain’s longest recession on record. This morning the index has continued where it left off, climbing 26.8 points to 5320.79, mirroring strength overnight in the US and Asia.

Posted: December 22nd, 2009 under Asset Management.
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Markets
London - Jitters in the financial sector prompted by tough new proposed regulations sent banks sliding on Thursday while commodity stocks also retreated on weaker raw material prices, pulling the FTSE100 102.65 points lower to close at 5217.61. Banks were the biggest drag on the index as investors sold the sector on concerns that new rules proposed by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision will mean big banks will have to set aside more profits or even raise capital as protection against hard times. Barclays, HSBC, Standard Chartered, RBS and Lloyds Banking Group fell 3.5 to 8.1 percent. The banking sector extended losses after Citigroup got a cool rejection for its stock offering which received a much lower price than expected, prompting the US Treasury to delay a plan to sell its stock in the bank.

Posted: December 18th, 2009 under Asset Management.
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Markets
London - The FTSE 100 rose 34.49 points higher to 5,320.26 yesterday. Mining stocks were stronger after metal prices rose. Banks were also higher after the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision agreed effectively to delay enforcement of new capital adequacy rules for major banks. Today the FTSE is 18.45 points lower at 5,310.81. Banks and miners retreat from yesterday’s gains, with Lloyd’s biggest faller, down 2.2%.

Posted: December 17th, 2009 under AML Information.
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