Tom Frew

Option to issue RBS sharesto UK citizens remains “open”. Vince Cable, the UK’s Business Secretary, has argued that government-held Royal Bank of Scotland shares could be divided amongst UK citizens. Speaking in an interview with the BBC Dr Cable said whilst there was “no immediate prospect” of the troubled bank returning to the private sector […]

Centrica has pulled out of plans to build the first in a new wave of UK nuclear power plants. The UK government’s energy plans have been put into doubt following a decision by energy giant Centrica to pull out of plans to build the first in a new wave of nuclear power plants. Arguing that […]

UK Chancellor supports measures to break-up banks that don’t reform Banks that fail to comply with new regulations to protect investment operations from high-street banking will risk being broken up, UK Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne has announced. By calling for “open markets with clear rules, properly policed” the Chancellor accepted a recommendation by […]

Senate passes bill to suspend debt ceiling ahead of budget negotiations. A bill to suspend the United States’ debt ceiling until May has been passed in the Senate in a 64-to-34 vote. Following an earlier 285-to-144 vote in the House of Representatives, the bill must now be signed by President Obama for it become law. […]

Petrol giant narrowly misses all-time profit high ExxonMobil, the world’s largest independent petroleum refiner, has announced a 6% increase in net-profits during the final three months of 2012. Reporting the $9.95bn profit increase ExxonMobil, for a total of $44.88bn during 2012, the company feel $340m short of its all-time high of £45.22bn recorded in 2008. […]

157,000 jobs created in January as Dow Jones passes 14,000. The US economy added 157,000 jobs during January, figures released on Friday reveal. Coming soon after the news that the national economy contracted by 0.1% in 2012 and on the day that the Dow Jones Industrial Average index passed 14,000, the job figures have added […]

Chief executive waives bonus following a difficult year for the UK bank”. The Chief Executive of Barclays Bank has chosen to receive a bonus following what the bank has described as a “difficult” year. Antony Jenkins had been expected to receive an additional £1m, of a potential bonus of £2.5m, on top of his annual […]

Chairman of budget airline set to quit after three years of internal difficulties. Sir Michael Rake is to step down as Chairman of EasyJet following difficulties with company founder and major shareholder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou. EasyJet, which recorded a record annual pre-tax profit of £317m in November 2012, is currently on the verge of joining […]

The President of the European Central Bank predicts economic recovery in the third and fourth quarters of 2012. Mario Draghi, President of the European Central Bank (ECB), has argued that he foresees economic recovery for Europe “in the second part” of 2013 as a result of national government’s “extraordinary” fiscal consolidation efforts. In December the […]

Mark Carney, incoming Governor of the Bank of England, says “the next two years will be decisive” for the UK banking sector. The incoming Governor of the Bank of England has argued that the issues of “shadow banking” and banks being “too big to fail” would need to be resolved in the next two years […]