Leader of the Conservative party David Cameron was finally accepted as the UK Prime Minister late on Tuesday after his party and the Liberal Democrats (the Lib-Dems) agreed on a five-year deal to form the UK’s first coalition government since the Second World War, on the promise of forming a “strong and stable government”. Lib-Dem leader Nick Clegg was confirmed as deputy PM while George Osborne will become Chancellor of the Exchequer. After winding up five days of political negotiations, Cameron pledged that the new government’s number one priority will be to tackle the UK’s £163 billion budget deficit., As Gordon Brown announced his resignation, Messrs. Cameron and Clegg declared that they had struck their remarkable political bargain to provide strong and stable government at a moment of crisis. A nation awaits with bated breath for the outcome

Meanwhile its has been announced that the number of UK unemployed rose by 53,000 to 2.51 million during the three months to March According to official figures issued by the Office for National Statistics the level of unemployment total is now since December 1994. On the positive front, the total number of people claiming unemployment benefit fell in April by 27,100 to just over 1.5 million, leaving the unemployment.

Data released on Tuesday by the Financial Services Authority revealed that banks and building societies had to deal with more than two million complaints between July and December 2009, as a waiver that had allowed them to defer claims relating to high penalty charges was lifted. The figure was more than double than processed in the first half of the year. The steep increase was mainly a result of the backlog of complaints relating to unauthorised bank charges. Complaints were put on hold for over two years as the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) entered a battle with a number of big banks to obtain a final ruling on the legality of the high level of charges imposed on customers who exceeded their overdraft limit. The waiver was lifted in December when the case was resolved, with banks winning a surprise victory over the OFT. Banks are estimated to have made more than £2.6 billion a year from unauthorised overdraft charges and might have faced claims of more than £1 billion if had they lost the case.

Blame for the "financial and economic crisis" in the UK has been attributed by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). To private sector wages tumbling further behind inflation more than in any other industrialised territory, excluding Mexico, Turkey and Iceland Research by OECD the Paris-based think tank revealed the gross average wage in Britain rose by 0.5 percent to £33,745, which is calculated to be the equivalent to a 1.6 percent fall after factoring in inflation. The OECD went on to warn that low-salaried workers were also more vulnerable to losing their jobs.

All in the entire financial well being of UK consumers was seen to deteriorate during the first quarter of 2010, following four successive quarters of relative improvement. A spokesperson for the body behind the index explained that the downward trend has been largely due to lower levels of earnings growth and the negative impact of higher levels of inflation on real disposable income. In addition, economic activity remains relatively subdued and there has been only a very slight improvement in the labour market.

UK Households have been helped during the last few months by some recovery in house prices and relatively strong equity market performance, but the prospect of cuts in public spending and increases in taxation following the election are expected to add further to the pressures facing households.

More evidence of a lack of confidence among UK consumers was an announcement from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) of a sharp fall in UK retail sales for the month of April.

According to the BRC, the total value of sales fell by 0.2% in April on an annual basis, while the like-for-like drop was 2.3%, making for the steepest fall since December 2008.

Again, the downturn could be attributed to uncertainty which surrounded the general election as well as the timing of Easter.

Broadband provider TalkTalk Telecom have announced their plans to target rapid customer growth in 2010, after it successfully boosted its new customer base by 144,000 in the final quarter of its year to March. In its first trading update since demerging from Carphone, TalkTalk credited their customer growth to the firm’s appeal as a straightforward broadband service provider and to the success of high-profile campaigns. However TalkTalk has ruled out the likelihood of rivaling Virgin Media and BT by buildings its own fibre optic cable to. Meanwhile, British Sky Broadcasting and Virgin Media have been seeking to encourage more new customers through bundling telecom and TV services.

A new company that has been formed after the T-Mobile and Orange’s UK merger has been named Everything Everywhere.

In a statement issued on Tuesday Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom, announced the name, along with a plan to launch a "new assault" on the UK business market. Orange and T-Mobile will retain their distinct brands, with their own shops, campaigns, pricing and service centres.

The Orange and T-Mobile brands have 713 high street stores between them. Orange is the larger brand of the two, with 17.3 million customers to T-Mobile’s 13 million. Orange also brings with it 863,000 fixed-line broadband customers.

Doubts about the strategy of both British Airways and the Unite union began to emerge as the two sides squared up for the three weeks of strikes the airline’s cabin crew have threatened from next Tuesday.

Industry analysts began to state their doubts and fears about the length of the threatened stoppages, and concern about how long it would take to restore relations between management and staff. Strong backing was given to Mr Walsh’s determination to lower costs permanently at the loss-making airline, although none wished to be publicly identified. But it is clear that both the BA chief and his counterparts at Unite are about to enter the most difficult phase of a dispute that has lasted more than a year

There were signs of a growing Eurozone backlash arising against the outgoing (and incoming) UK government for refusing to take part in the eurozone’s €750bn rescue plan. So strong was the reaction that a senior French policymaker was heard to suggest that it may cause Europe to think hard about coming to the UK’s help in a sterling crisis.

Analysts pointed to a “crack in the sign of strong unity in Brussels as, with astonishing insensitivity for the dramatic situation, Britain coolly declared that the crisis was a problem for the Eurozone, as if the crisis would make a point of avoiding the UK.” In the wake of the eurozone rescue deal, there is a view in government circles that speculators might turn their attentions to sterling,

Meanwhile a warning has emerged among some leading global financial experts that that the European debt crisis posed the biggest threat to the US economy, despite some recent relatively upbeat assessment of the US financial recovery.

Gold on Wednesday traded near record prices amid investor concerns that the massive rescue plan for indebted eurozone states will hit currencies. Gold prices hit record highs in Europe amid volatile financial markets. Spot gold in London surged to above $1,230 a troy ounce, exceeding the record set in December last year. Gold prices in euro terms also hit a fresh all-time high of €969 an ounce in late London trading, up almost 26% since the start of the year.

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Tags: Bank, Bank Charges, Banking, British airways, British Economy, British Retail Consortium, British Sky Broadcasting, Carphone Warehouse, Conservative, David Cameron, Economics, Economy, Employment, Financial News, Financial Services Authority, George Osborne, Gold, Liberal Democrats, Money, Nick Clegg, Office of Fair Trading, Orange, Overdraft Charges, T-Mobile, TalkTalk, UK Banks, UK consumers, UK Economy, UK government, UK Recession, unemployed, Virgin Media

The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has reported receiving five offers for their Williams & Glyn’s branch network. RBS were ordered to sell these branches as part of a European Commission state aid ruling in 2009, the business is valued at around £2 billion.

By Tuesday night’s deadline, speculations were that Santander, Virgin Money, National Australia Bank, BBVA and JC Flowers had all submitted bids, with Santander is widely believed to be the favourite bidder, with an offer potentially worth at least £2 billion. Santander recently completed the rebranding their UK operations under their own name

However, with Virgin now being backed by Wilbur Ross, the US billionaire, offering pledges on jobs their offer has to be taken seriously, with elections in a month’s time.

The UK government holds a 70 per cent equity stake in RBS, giving politicians and the public far greater influence over its fate.

The chief executive of U.S. telecommunications company Verizon Communications has said that there is "no compelling reason" for the U.S. Company to merge with British mobile network operator Vodafone. The two companies are continuing talks regarding their strategic options. Vodafone owns 45 percent of Verizon Wireless with Verizon holding the remaining 55 percent. However, there has been some conflict recently; with Vodafone pressuring Verizon to resume paying dividends since the U.S. Company blocked payments in order to reduce its debt burden. Shares in Vodafone dropped 2 pence to 149.6 pence on the statement.

Recent figures released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) show that the number of cars on the UK roads has decreased for the first time since records began in 1904. The country’s total car fleet has declined by 0.7 percent in 2009. According to the SMMT factors that had to be taken into account for decline are the recession, the government car scrappage scheme, and new Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) regulations which remove the details of unlicensed vehicles from the database.

Kraft Foods came under attack in a report from a committee of U.K. lawmakers in a report critical of moves the American company made after its hostile $17.5 billion (£12 billion) takeover of Cadbury, the beloved British chocolate maker. The report by the U.K.’s Business Select Committee accuses Kraft of acting "irresponsibly and unwisely" after reneging on a promise to keep a Cadbury factory in Somerdale open, instead planning to move the plant’s production to Poland, resulting in the loss of 400 jobs. Meanwhile, British union leaders have called for a "Cadbury law" to protect British businesses from aggressive foreign takeovers.

ESPN, the Disney-owned sports television channel, has acquired the rights to deliver Premier League football highlights on UK mobile phones until 2013, supplanting British Sky Broadcasting, which has held the rights since 2007-08. The move strengthens ESPN’s position as a competitor to BSkyB and underlines the US broadcaster’s determination to expand its share of the UK sports market. For the three football seasons from August onwards, ESPN will deliver in-match, post-match and highlights from all 380 Barclays Premier League matches, Purchase of the mobile rights is the latest in a series of additions to ESPN’s sports portfolio.

Research conducted on behalf of the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS), representing an association of 33,500 small shopkeepers, indicates that 85 percent of the public oppose a liberalisation of trading laws that, if passed would allow large retail chains to open for longer on Sundays. The ACS stated that the current regulations assisted small retailers by encouraging local shopping in small stores. Large retailers including Topshop and House of Fraser have recently been lobbying the Business Secretary Lord Mandelson with requests to relax the existing laws.

The pound fell continues to recover if ever so slightly closing on $1.5273, whilst also gaining against the Euro to close on 1.1441

The U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index retreated from a 21-month high after a sell-off in commodity production shares .The benchmark Index lost 67.65 points to 5,712.7.

Former Federal Reserve governor Alan Greenspan has defended his record at a congressional hearing into the financial crisis. In a statement, Mr Greenspan denied that his policy of maintaining low interest rates had been a major factor in the crisis. Consistently low interest rates have been blamed for the expansion in the sub-prime mortgage market which led to the credit crunch. However, Greenspan voiced his opinion that the way the banks repackaged their loans was a major contributing factor to the crisis.

Stocks rallied yesterday after U.S. jobs increased by the most in three years, boosting optimism about the strength of a recovery in the world’s largest economy. Since March last year, the gauge has rebound more than 60 percent.

The Dow Jones closed up 45.87 points to 10943.39, while the NASDAQ index rose 9.15 points to close on 2440.31

As part of a global tie-up of the brands German carmaker Daimler announced that they are to give Renault and Nissan a 3.1% stake in its business, with Daimler taking a 3.1% stakes in both Renault and Nissan, in exchange. Renault and Nissan have held a trading alliance for more than a decade.

The deal will allow the companies to share technology and development costs while remain separate trading entities. According to a spokesman for Nissan, one of the key areas of co-operation will be in the development of electric cars and light commercial vehicles.

European financial markets continue to feel the pressures over the state of Greece’s debt-ridden economy. Banking stocks in particular, not only in Greece but in most of the other leading European countries, have seen sharp falls. Meanwhile it has been reported that the Greek government’s cost of borrowing has risen to record levels, reflecting investors’ concerns that Greece might not be pay back the loans due to the poor state of the country’s public finances.

The Athens Composite share index fell by 3.1%, with banks down 6.4% on average.

All major European markets also suffered, and banks in France and Germany were especially hit due to their exposure to Greece’s borrowing.

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Tags: Alan Greenspan, Association of Convenience Stores, Bank, Banking, Barclays, BBVA, British Economy, British Sky Broadcasting, BskyB, Cadbury, Credit Crunch, Daimler, Dow Jones, Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, Economics, Economy, Employment, ESPN, Financial News, FTSE, House of Fraser, JC Flowers, Kraft Foods, Money, Money Markets, NASDAQ, National Australia Bank, Nissan, Recession, Renault, Retail, Royal Bank of Scotland, Santander, Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, Stocks and shares, Topshop, UK Banks, UK Economy, UK government, UK Recession, Verizon Communications, Virgin Money, Vodafone, Wilbur Ross, Williams and Glyn

World leaders announced the Group of 20 nations is replacing the G-8 as the main forum for global economic coordination, reflecting a shift in power from rich countries to emerging markets. The G-8 is not due to be disbanded, instead it will focus on development and security matters. The transfer of influence to the broader group, whose membership ranges from the U.S. to China to Saudi Arabia, symbolizes the fact that the richest industrial nations now lack the sway to govern the world economy alone after their excesses sparked the turmoil that tipped the globe into recession. At the end of a two-day G20 summit, hosted by US President Barack, the world’s leading nations have agreed tough new regulations designed to prevent another global financial crisis. The measures will relate to the amount of money banks have to hold in reserve and to excessive pay for bankers. With a recovery now underway, leaders are trying to temper the excesses that helped trigger the worst financial crisis in seven decades and the deepest recession since World War II. At the same time, richer governments acknowledge they now lack the ability to govern the world economy alone as power shifts to emerging markets such as China.

Before setting of for Pittsburgh, Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling, announced the appointment of Stephan Wilcke as chief executive of the Asset Protection Agency (APA) The APA has been established to oversee the £585 billion toxic asset insurance scheme, reckoned to be the biggest and perhaps riskiest deal the government has signed:

Wilcke, a former management consultant and private equity boss, will lead a team of up to 50 staff to enforce ensure that Britain’s part-nationalised banks properly manage their impaired loans. Expectations are that Mr. Wilcke’s task will be complicated, not least because the banks have trouble explaining how some of the exotic assets work, due to the fact that many of the officials who agreed the loans left the banks long ago. RBS agreed earlier this year to insure £325 billion of toxic assets while Lloyds aimed to include £260 billion of loans; Lloyds is now trying to raise private capital to limit its participation.

Total business investment in the UK dropped a seasonally adjusted 10.2% sequentially in the second quarter, better than a 10.4% fall estimated previously. Economists expected the decline to be 10.4%. In the first quarter, investments were down a revised 8.9%. In the manufacturing sector, business investments fell 16.2%, faster than a revised 4.6% fall in the first quarter. In the non-manufacturing sector, investments fell 9.5%, more or less the same fall than in the first quarter of 2009. On a yearly basis, business investments fell 21.8%, more than the 18.4% drop that had been estimated, and considerably more than the revised 9.8% fall in the first quarter. Economists expected the decline to remain at 18.4%.

An 18-month high for British Sky Broadcasting helped keep the FTSE 100 steady on Friday, rising 2.4 per cent to 359¾ pence, making them the top blue-chip performer for the week.

Meanwhile, ITV closed 3.5 per cent lower at 44 ¾ pence after refusing to meet the pay demands of prospective chief executive Tony Ball.

JJB Sports, which narrowly avoided administration this year, revealed that first-half losses had almost tripled after problems with stock took a heavy toll on sales and profit margins.

The sportswear retailer struggled to convince suppliers to keep trading with it after breaching its banking covenants last year. The lack of goods in stores saw sales fall 43 per cent to £178.6 million. This translated into a rise in pre-tax losses from £14.8 million to £42.9 million. Shares in the company fell by 2.5 percent to 38.5 pence. .

Shares in 3i Group declined 3.1 percent to 279 pence after the pace of new investments dropped as a lack of debt financing nearly brought the buyout market to a halt. The company have invested £155 million pounds (in the five months through August, compared with the £622 million in the same period of 2008.

British Airways sank 4.3 percent to 220 pence as brokers announced that heir mid-cycle share-price valuations were reached “far earlier than expected.”

Europe’s largest discount airline Ryanair Holdings Plc had their shares slide by 3.4 percent to 3215 pence as the company lowered their estimate for passenger growth while maintaining its earnings forecast.

The FTSE 100 made a minor upward adjustment by an impressive 2.93 points to close on 5,082.20, giving the index a 1.8 per cent decline for the week, while the FTSE 250 continued its free fall on Friday, down 32.58 points to 9060.44.

The pound has hit a four-month low against the dollar, a day after Mervyn King the head of the Bank of England stated this less than welcome opinion that a weak currency was "helpful" to the economy. The pound fell as low as $1.5917, the lowest since early June and then edged back to $1.5939. The pound is still well above the levels hit early in the year when it traded below $1.50 against the dollar. The pound also dropped to a fresh five-month low against the Euro. Another factor hastening the decline in sterling value was renewed fears that interest rates would remain low as G20 leaders announced that their stimulus measures would remain place well into 2010.

• Pound/US dollar 1.5939
• Pound/Euro 1.10858
• Pound/Japanese Yen 143.0041
• Pound/Swiss Franc 1.639

Wall Street on Friday made its biggest weekly loss since July after a surprise drop in the sale of durable goods prompted a sell-off in the industrials sector.

New orders for long-lasting goods, from fighter jets to washing machines, fell 2.4 per cent in August, adding to investor concerns over the pace of economic recovery.

Analysts had been expecting a modest rise of 0.4 per cent compared to a 4.8 per cent gain in July, when car sales were boosted by the cash-for-clunkers scheme.

After opening in negative territory, stocks were lifted by data showing consumer confidence was higher than expected this month. Disappointing new home sales soon renewed investors’ concerns and Wall Street gave up its fleeting gains

The Dow Jones Industrial Average continued to fall going into the weekend down 42.25 points to 9,665.19. The NASDAQ also dropped by 16.69 point to close on 2090.92.

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Tags: 3i Group, Alistair Darling, Asset Protection Agency, Bank, Bank of England, Banking, British airways, British Economy, British Pound, British Sky Broadcasting, cash for clunkers, Credit Crunch, Currency, Dow Jones, economic recovery, Economics, Economy, Financial News, FTSE, G20, G8, Global Credit Crisis, ITV, JJB Sports, Lloyds, Mervyn King, Money, Money Markets, NASDAQ, RBS, Recession, Ryanair Holdings Plc, Stephan Wilcke, Stock Markets, Stocks and shares, Tony Ball, UK Banks, UK Economy, UK government, UK Recession, Wall Street

Royal Bank of Scotland is considering approaching the market for extra money to avoid handing more control to the government. The bank, now 70% owned by taxpayers, is preparing to join the government’s Asset Protection Scheme (APS) to stop some toxic investments going bad. But it is also considering asking shareholders to invest further to prevent the government’s stake rising to a possible 84.5% if it insured all its bad assets with the APS.

According to official figures released on Friday, the UK government posted a record budget deficit for an August as the recession continues to bite into government tax receipts, The Office for National Statistics said the public sector net cash requirement (PSNCR) stood at £10.379 billion in August. That was lower than the 12 billion pounds expected by analysts but still twice the level of the same month a year ago and a record for the month of August. July’s PSNCR was also revised up by some £1.5 billion. The government’s preferred accruals-based measure, public sector net borrowing came in at £16.119 billion s, also weaker than expected and a record high for August, versus £9.876 billion pounds in 2008.

The flow of net lending to companies fell in July by the largest sum on record, according to a statement issued by the Bank of England on Friday. The figures provide further indication that more action may be needed to get credit flowing in the UK economy.

On a more positive note, mortgage approvals by major UK lenders rose in August for the seventh consecutive month to 57,000 from 53,000 in July. The net flow of lending to UK businesses fell £15.5 billion in July after a £3.6 billion pounds fall in June, making for the largest single decline since 1998.

UK Business Secretary Peter Mandelson has called on the European Union to intervene to prevent governments using state aid as a bargaining chip to protect jobs during Magna International Inc.’s takeover of General Motors Co.’s EU plants. Mandelson has joined the list of European politicians concerned that a German plan to provide €3 billion in loan guarantees to support the GM-Magna deal will sway the company. As the carmaker struggles with overcapacity, Magna has said it plans to cut about 10,500 jobs.

According to senior officials at the State Bank of India,(SBI) India’s largest lender, are looking at acquisitions of up to $1 billion in the UK and expect to maintain a 40 per cent growth rate in its UK business.

The bank’s overseas business plans, expected to be driven by both expansion and acquisitions, include the opening of 40 overseas branches, according to SBI chairman OP Bhatt. The bank was looking at all regions of the World, including the UK, for acquisitions. Besides the UK, the regions where the bank plans to open new branches include North America, Bangladesh and Nepal, where its subsidiary will set up 11 more outfits. It will open five more in branches in the UK by June next year and make London a hub for its European operations to boost international business. At present, the lender has seven branches in the UK and plan to open another, hopefully in October.Currently, the UK contributes over $3 billion to SBI’s turnover.

British Sky Broadcasting has accused the media regulator of making elementary errors in an official review of the pay-television market, and said that Ofcom, the independent regulator and competition authority for the UK communications industries, was exceeding its powers. BSkyB delivered its detailed response to the regulator’s findings that it should sell its most valuable content, including Premier League football and first-run films, to rivals at prices set by Ofcom. In the document, the broadcaster accuses the regulator of producing a financial analysis is fundamentally flawed, as well as challenging Ofcom’s right to even rule on the case, that has taken two years to decide. The pay-TV review was prompted by a complaint from four of BSkyB’s competitors, Top-Up TV, BT Vision, Virgin Media and the now defunct Setanta.

The biscuit group that makes Jammie Dodgers and Wagon Wheels, Burton’s Foods have been taken over by its lenders in a debt restructuring move that leaves Duke Street Capital, its private equity owner, nursing a considerable loss. The fate of Duke Street’s investment in Burton’s comes just over two years after its plans to close one of the biscuit maker’s factories caused the private equity group to be invited to a parliamentary inquiry for questioning.

On the FTSE Standard Life rose 1.8 per cent to 283 pence after Goldman added the insurer to its “buy” list.

Leading property stocks were higher. British Land gained 3.3 per cent to 528 pence after completing the sale of half its Broadgate development to Blackstone. Hammerson followed, gaining 2.6 per cent to 439½ pence.

The UK’s FTSE 100 index continued to climb but at a slower pace , rising 8.94 points to close at 5172.89, making for a 3.2 per cent gain for the week.

Meanwhile the FTSE 250 lost almost all of its previous day’s gains on Friday, falling 57.15 points to wrap up for the weekend on 9,306.93

The dollar fell to fresh one-year lows this week as rising risk appetite stemmed haven demand for the US currency. Continued improvement in sentiment encouraged investors to abandon the low-yielding dollar to seek higher returns elsewhere. The pound continued to lose value against the main currencies on Friday’s trading.

• Pound/US dollar 1.6271
• Pound/Euro 1.1059
• Pound/Japanese Yen 148.7878
• Pound/Swiss Franc 1.6751

Another two US banks have been closed by the federal regulator, taking the total number of American banking failures this year to 94.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), which controls the banking sector, has shut Irwin Union Bank & Trust and Irwin Union Bank.

The move comes after their parent firm – Irwin Financial – was unable to meet an FDIC demand to boost their capital.

The failure of the two banks is likely to cost the FDIC £522 million.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average continued to move upwards towards the weekend , up 36.28 points at 9,820.2. The NASDAQ consolidated a little, up 6.11 points to 2132.86.

Gold dominated trading this week with bullion inching towards its record high of $1,030.80 a troy ounce set in March 2008.

It reached $1,023.85 on Thursday but was back to $1,012 on Friday, up 0.7 per cent on the week. It found support from dollar weakness and concerns about the outlook for inflation.

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Tags: APS, Asset Protection Scheme, Bank, Bank of England, Banking, British Economy, British Pound, British Sky Broadcasting, BskyB, BT Vision, Burton’s Foods, Currency, Dow Jones, Duke Street Capital, Economy, FDIC, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Financial News, FTSE, General Motors, GM-Magna, Irwin Financial, Irwin Union Bank, Magna International Inc, Money, Money Markets, NASDAQ, Ofcom, Office for National Statistics, Peter Mandelson, PSNCR, RBS, Recession, Royal Bank of Scotland, Setanta, State Bank of India, Top-Up TV, UK Banks, UK business, UK Economy, UK government, UK Recession, US Banks, Virgin Media

U.K. home sellers lowered asking prices in August by the most in eight months as banks continued their credit squeeze.

The average cost of a home fell 2.2 percent to around £225,000 after gaining 0.6 percent in July. Prices in London dropped 3.8 percent, while in the East Midlands the asking price by sellers fell by the highest level, averaging 9 percent.

The number of new homes on the market was reported to be almost half of what they were before the financial crisis began. ,

Further evidence that the traditional UK high street banks catering manly to the private individual is about to be come scarcer over the coming years was provided in a recently published report. The reports points out that the major British banking groups are considering closing down a third of their branches in a drive to reduce cost and restore profitability. During the recession, retail banks lost money in droves as the public drew in their belts and in future retail banks will not be able enjoy profits personal loans and overdraft that they did during the so called “ boom years”..

Despite all the hooing and hahing on the subject, bonuses for the top directors of major UK companies remained at an unacceptably high level in 2008, showing that the trend is far away from disappearing, despite the country still being in the depths of a recession, and companies that succeed in making profits still reducing their dividends. A recent report showed that some of Britain’s largest companies were still voting to pay their senior executives around half of the bonuses they were receiving before the financial downturn began, around two years ago. A fact that has not been well received by company investors.

Bradford & Bingley plc has released its interim financial report, covering the first six months of the year and the figures are less than inspiring.

The company made pre-tax losses of £160 million, and bucking the UK trend they were substantially worse than the same period in 2008, when the bank succeeded in only losing £26.7 million.

As the financial crisis hit its peak late last year, Bradford & Bingley was nationalised, and has since been sold of to Spanish banking giant Banco Santander.

British Sky Broadcasting has expressed their “serious concerns” regarding the recent actions of the Project Canvas trust. Project Canvas is behind the plan to establish an internet-connected successor to Freeview, the free-to-air digital TV service that will compete with Sky.

Since February, the Trust has been conducting an assessment to ascertain whether Canvas, comprising the partnership of BBC with ITV, BT and Five, is doing justice to UK licence fee payers. Canvas was intended to be the blue-print for assessing and progressing on-demand video from the PC to the television. The introduction of a smarter set-top box would strengthen the competition from free-to-air broadcasting for pay-TV operators such as Sky and Virgin Media.

Trading was slow in the city with the only rising star being GlaxoSmithKline who gained 0.8 per cent to close on 1167½ pence after analysts advised investors to buy shares in anticipation of the news that the company’s long awaited cervical cancer vaccine is likely to win US regulatory approval early next month.

Also in the news were the world’s largest water company Veolia Environment SA who were rumoured to be selling £500 million-pound stake in its U.K. water business to either the Blackstone Group LP or the Goldman Sachs. On the news, Veolia shares fell 2.5 percent to 22.74 pence.

The FTSE 100 continued to indicate that profit taking was rife, dropping 68.96, points to close on 4645.01. The FTSE 250 collapsed by 2.84 percent on the day, meaning a 241.74 point fall to close on 8,274.09.

Sterling had another mixed day on pre-weekend trading yesterday’s markets, falling against the major currencies, apart from the Japanese Yen.

• Pound/US dollar 1.6386
• Pound/Euro 1.1606
• Pound/Japanese Yen 155.4618
• Pound/Swiss Franc 1.7624

US stocks suffered their worst day since the beginning of July on Monday after the global share sell-off caused the market to fall. Concerns over the health of the US consumer were at the forefront of investors’ minds after last week’s weak retail sales and consumer confidence figures. .

The Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted 186.06 points on an edgy market to close on 9135.34 with the NASDAQ faring little better down 54.68 points to close on 1930.84. .

Japan’s economy grew by 0.9% in the April-to-June quarter meaning that the country has joined the fast growing list of industrialised nations to come out of recession.

The rise has been attributed to the Japanese Government’s huge stimulus package. The test for the Japanese economy will come when their stimulus package will come to an end and the economy will require standing alone.

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Tags: Banking, Bradford & Bingley, British Economy, British Sky Broadcasting, Credit Crunch, Dow Jones, Economy, Financial News, FTSE, GlaxoSmithKline, Global Credit Crisis, Goldman Sachs, Money, Money Markets, Mortgages, NASDAQ, Project Canvas, Property Prices, Recession, Santander, UK Banks, UK Banks, UK Recession, Veolia Environment SA, Virgin Media