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Richard Murphy finds the government's code of conduct – which looked like good new over the weekend – to some more serious scrutiny and finds it wanting.
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Brendan Barber
With Britain now in the grip of the worst recession since the 1930s, we’ve got to do everything in our power to safeguard pension schemes. Unless we act now, there is a very real danger that ordinary people could pay a severe price in retirement for the monumental profligacy of City bankers.
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The Ethical Trading Initiative has launched its new website – masses of ethical trade information and resources are available to download
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Nigel Stanley
Vince Cable had a superb article on banking regulation in the New Statesman last week. It’s a pity that he has followed this up with such a poor one about public sector pensions in the Mail on Sunday. Of course he has every right to say that public sector pensions should join the race to the bottom to chase the private sector employers who have cut or closed them. But it’s disappointing to see so many disingenuous arguments – especially from someone who even when you disagree with him, normally adds light to whatever he is writing or talking about.
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Tim Page
David Cameron has today launched what the Guardian describes as a “blistering personal attack” on the Prime Minister, claiming there is a “thread of dishonesty” running through his premiership.
Among the examples he gives of such dishonesty are “cancelling the election and then saying it had nothing to do with the opinion polls” and the Prime Minister’s insistence that Alistair Darling was his first choice of chancellor, to which Cameron adds: “We all know that wasn’t true.”
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Brendan Barber
We’ve been examining the voting records of institutional investors for seven years now at the TUC, through our Fund Manager Voting Survey (2009 full survey here), and we’re noticing a worrying trend- we’re now down to 40% of fund managers responding to our survey, compared to 68% only five years ago. The data that many other fund managers are choosing to make public outside our survey is often only partial and of a pretty low quality.
Coupled with this, there seems to be a pattern of complacency amongst many funds. The vast majority of institutional investors didn’t challenge the remuneration reports of leading banks in the run up to the crash. Only one respondent (Co-operative Insurance Society) opposed RBS’ acquisition of ABN Amro (which is now widely regarded as one of the worst deals in UK corporate history). Such a strong pattern of siding with the board on controversial decisions looks like fund management on autopilot.
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Banks that refuse to sign the code of conduct or act against the ‘spirit’ of the current tax laws will be subjected to heavier scrutiny from the tax authorities (Guardian)
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Chris Dillow is an exception to Nigel’s complaint yesterday that there is little serious debate about public spending
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Vince Cable has a superb analysis of why the bankers are so happy once again. As he says, “Banks should either surrender their (taxpayer) protection and compete like other firms, or be protected and have their profit regulated like utilities.”
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This is an important report. How many bets it will happen?
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This should have happened years ago. Commission payments introduce incentives not to give the best advice, and it’s only the privileged status of the financial sector that has allowed it to continue for so long.
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Adam Lent
I couldn’t let this pass. A quote in yesterday’s Guardian from Tim Lebus, a partner at Duke Street private equity firm:
While less leverage may mean huge returns will be harder to come by, the risk will be lower.
Private equity spent all of 2007 defending itself by saying that the high returns it delivered had nothing to do with high levels of leverage (just the result of excellent management skills); and that there was no extra risk associated with high leveraged buyouts. These comments completely contradict this.
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Tom of Labour and Capital fisks the Telegraph's analysis of the UK's private pensions.
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The new co-treasurer of the Conservative, ultra-wealthy Crispin Odey, gives a revealing and scary insight in to what the Conservative's paymasters think.
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New research from the Centre for Cities on the likely prospects for youth unemployment
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