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US Jobless Rate Tumbles To 5.5% In February

Written By Unknown on Sabtu, 07 Maret 2015 | 12.06

The US jobless rate plunged last month as hiring accelerated, raising expectations of a possible interest rate rise by the Federal Reserve.

The world's biggest economy created 295,000 net new jobs in February, despite some severe weather disruption and mounting layoffs in the oil industry because of recent price weaknesses, the Labour Department reported.

The unemployment rate was down to 5.5% from 5.7% in January - its lowest since May 2008.

The data meant that 3.3 million more Americans have taken jobs over the past 12 months.

Separate Commerce Department data also contained good news with the US trade deficit falling to $41.8bn in January as imports declined more than exports.

Financial markets expect the Fed to raise rates this summer and the payroll report will have done little to dampen that forecast.

The dollar, which is at 12-year highs against the euro, gained further ground though stocks barely moved amid the frenzy over rate rise speculation.

However, wage growth - a key metric eyed by the Fed - among the workers of private firms was just 0.1% last month.

It may be that Fed chair Janet Yellen would want to see a stronger rally in salaries before imposing increases in borrowing costs.

The report showed average hourly wages rose just three cents from January - 2% up on a year ago.

Hiring was strong in restaurants, health care and administrative services.

The oil and gas industry, just beginning to cut back in the face of the crash of crude prices, shed about 8,500 jobs.


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Big Firms Will Have To Reveal Gender Pay Gap

Thousands of large companies will be forced to share details of the difference between what they pay their male and female workers.

The Government has agreed to implement the Liberal Democrat measure despite years of Tory opposition to it.

The move will mean companies employing more than 250 people will be required to publish the gap between average pay for their male and female workers.

More than 10 million people across the UK are currently working at firms covered by the legislation.

The current approach, which is voluntary, has seen only five out of around 7,000 large companies publish their gender pay gap.

The new measure, which will come into force within 12 months, could result in fines of up to £5,000 for firms that do not reveal the details.

Equalities Minister Jo Swinson said she was "delighted" her party won the "argument in Government".

She said the move "will force companies to ask themselves difficult questions about how they are valuing the contribution of women in their workforce and act to address problems".

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said: "These measures will shine a light on a company's policy so that women can rightly challenge their employer where they are not being properly valued and rewarded."

The legislation will be debated in the Lords on Wednesday, with the Government tabling an amendment to the Small Business Bill.

A Government spokesman said: "Under this Government the gender pay gap is the lowest ever and has virtually been eliminated for those working full time under 40.

"However the pay gap persists, so we think it's time to move forward, so we can create the conditions to ensure that there is equality in workplaces across the country."

Shadow equalities minister Gloria De Piero said: "This is fantastic news for women but why have they waited so long?

"The reality is that it's only when the Government realised they would be defeated on this issue by Labour in the House of Lords that they saw the need to act."

The move comes as the head of the UN agency promoting equality for women said not a single country has reached gender parity.

UN Women executive director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka made the comments 20 years after a groundbreaking conference in Beijing where 189 nations adopted a blueprint to achieve equality for women.

Ms Mlambo-Ngcuka said that although progress had been made since Beijing, there are still fewer than 20 female heads of state and government.

She said the number of female politicians increased from 11% to just 22% in the past 20 years.

Ms Mlambo-Ngcuka also said "the sheer scale of the use of rape that we've seen post-Beijing", especially in conflict situations, "tells us that the women's bodies are viewed not as something to respect, but as something that men have the right to control and to abuse."


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ECB Starts QE Funding Amid Greek Warning

Written By Unknown on Jumat, 06 Maret 2015 | 12.06

The European Central Bank is to start buying government debt as part of its stimulus package within the week.

ECB president Mario Draghi said its new €1.1tn (£796bn) quantitative easing programme would commence purchases on March 9.

This follows on from a 22 January announcement of the plan to stem downward pressure on the 19-nation eurozone economy.

Mr Draghi said: "We have already seen a significant number of positive effects from these monetary policy decisions."

He also revealed upwardly revised annual real GDP projections of 1.5% for 2015, 1.9% for 2016 and 2.1% for 2017.

Inflation, he said, would be higher next year at 1.5% and 1.8% in 2018.

The announcements saw a rapid sell-off of the euro against the dollar, which was already hovering around 11-year lows.

Within minutes of the announcement the euro was trading down 0.62%, with the euro against the pound also down, around 0.55%.

The ECB said it would buy bonds from seven entities, including the Council of Europe Development Bank and the European Financial Stability Facility.

Meanwhile, the ECB also warned Greece that it cannot rely on it to help with short-term debt.

Mr Draghi explained that ECB rules prohibited direct or indirect financing of governments.

"The ECB is a rule-based institution. It is not a political institution."

Options are running out for Athens to fund itself, despite striking a deal with the eurozone in February to extend its bailout by four months.

It is faced with a fall in revenues and now expected to run out of cash by the end of March.

Some analysts believe funds may be exhausted before then.


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SFO Launches Investigation Into Crash Cash

The Serious Fraud Office is investigating material from the Bank of England over cash injections into the money market during the height of the financial crisis.

In 2014, the bank launched its own inquiry into procedures of liquidity-boosting to stabilise the system.

That inquiry was conducted by Lord Grabiner and its findings were referred to the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) on 20 November.

The liquidity auctions were held in 2007 and 2008 to bolster the system, following the collapse of Northern Rock.

The Bank of England (BoE) confirmed the investigation but declined to elaborate.

"Given the SFO investigation is ongoing, it is not appropriate for the bank to provide any additional comment on the matter at this time," the BoE said in a statement.

The SFO said it was "investigating material referred to it by the Bank of England concerning liquidity auctions" during those years.

In November, the Financial Times reported that the internal probe was examining if BoE staff were aware of or participated in manipulation of the auctions by staff at some commercial banks.

The SFO's duties involve investigation of complex fraud and corruption allegations within Britain.

The chairman of Parliament's Treasury Select Committee (TSC), Andrew Tyrie MP, urged both speed and transparency in the SFO investigation.

"The bank referred this to the Serious Fraud Office when Lord Grabiner's initial findings were made clear to them - this was the right thing to do," Mr Tyrie said.

"We must now await the outcome of the SFO's work. The sooner their findings are published the better."

An earlier and unconnected inquiry by Lord Grabiner involved the BoE in relation to foreign exchange manipulation.

He did not find evidence of any misconduct by bank staff.

BoE governor Mark Carney was asked by MPs earlier this week about the liquidity auction investigation but he declined to comment.

:: At midday on Thursday the BoE announced the historic low base rate of - in force for 72 months - would remain at 0.5%.


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ScottishPower Sales Ban For Complaint Failure

Written By Unknown on Kamis, 05 Maret 2015 | 12.06

ScottishPower has been handed a 12-day sales ban for failing to meet targets on handling customer complaints.

The industry regulator said the company, a member of the so-called 'big six' energy suppliers, had agreed to temporarily stop proactive selling from today as punishment for a series of failures.

Ofgem found the supplier had failed to remove a backlog of outstanding Energy Ombudsman decisions by a November deadline.

It said: "Customers were experiencing long call waiting times, receiving late bills and the firm was not implementing Ombudsman decisions.

"ScottishPower ... signed up to three Ofgem targets to improve customer service within three months or suspend proactive sales activities until the targets were met.

"It has failed to reach the target to remove the backlog for acting on Ombudsman decisions for individual complaints by the end of November."

Ofgem said ScottishPower's IT systems only allowed "a partial implementation" of the Ombudsman's proposed remedies and the firm had been providing thousands of affected customers with free energy and writing off past debt as a result.

The statement continued: "ScottishPower has assured us that these Ombudsman requirements will remain in force for any case where the company can only partially implement the Ombudsman's decisions.

"More than 2,000 customers are currently receiving free energy."

Sarah Harrison, who heads enforcement at the regulator, said: "A sales ban illustrates the difficulties ScottishPower is having in delivering the levels of service customers deserve.

"While Ofgem's targets have driven significant improvements in ScottishPower's performance, we remain very concerned about how customers are being treated.

"As well as our ongoing investigation, we require ScottishPower to undertake an independent audit of its progress on improving customer service.

"We will keep the need for any further action under review."

ScottishPower insisted it was committed to improving customer service and said it had voluntarily agreed to the improvement targets.

The chief executive of its retail and generation business, Neil Clitheroe, said: "The process of moving to our new (IT) system has been challenging and has resulted in service problems for some of our customers.

"We are determined to put this right. We continue to correct problems, pay appropriate compensation and ensure no customer is left financially disadvantaged."

It said the failure to clear complaints via the Ombudsman was down to the fact 30 cases had been closed incorrectly.

The statement continued: "We are all fully committed to delivering continued service improvements, return to the high service standards long associated with ScottishPower and ensure that our customers realise the very real benefits of our IT system investment."


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Eurostar Stake Sale Raises £757m For Treasury

The Government has confirmed its stake in Eurostar is to be sold to a consortium of British and Canadian pension and infrastructure funds, raising almost £760m.

The Chancellor George Osborne said the sale, reported by Sky News on Tuesday night, represented a "fantastic deal" for the taxpayer and the money would be used to draw down debts and on core infrastructure.

However, rail unions accused him of putting short term financial gain ahead of the travelling public.

Under the agreement Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec (CDPQ) and Hermes Infrastructure have agreed to acquire the Government's 40% holding for £585.1m.

In addition, Eurostar will redeem the Government's preference share, raising a further £172m.

The stake in the cross-channel rail link operator was put up for sale last autumn as part of a plan to raise £20bn from asset sales by the end of the decade.

Eurostar, which launched its inaugural service in 1994, has seen a surge in demand, with more than 10 million passengers travelling on its trains in 2013 alone.

Among the other bidders for the Eurostar stake were 3i, the private equity firm, a division of the French bank Credit Agricole and an arm of the Singaporean government.

The remainder of Eurostar is owned by SNCF, the French state-owned rail operator, which controls 55%, and the Belgian government.

Mr Osborne said it was "a fantastic deal" for UK taxpayers that exceeds expectations.

"Investing in the best quality infrastructure for Britain, getting the best value for money for the taxpayer and tackling our country's debts are key parts of our long term economic plan, and in today's agreement, we are delivering on all three".

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  1. Gallery: Eurostar: Fires, Frost And Facelifts

    Feb 1986: The Treaty of Canterbury is signed and the construction of the Channel Tunnel commences

May 1994: The Queen opens Waterloo International before travelling to Calais for the Channel Tunnel inauguration with the French President

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Anglo-Canadian Duo Swoops For Eurostar Stake

Written By Unknown on Rabu, 04 Maret 2015 | 12.06

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor

A consortium of British and Canadian pension and infrastructure funds is poised to swoop on the government's stake in Eurostar in a deal that will raise hundreds of millions of pounds for the Treasury.

Sky News understands that Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec (CDPQ) and an infrastructure arm of Hermes, a major UK institutional investor, are close to a deal to buy the government's 40% shareholding.

The deal will be announced on Wednesday, a rail industry source said, although the price was unclear.

The stake was put up for sale last autumn as part of a plan outlined by George Osborne, the Chancellor, to raise £20bn from asset sales by the end of the decade.

Eurostar, which launched its inaugural service in 1994, has seen a surge in demand, with more than 10 million passengers travelling on its trains in 2013 alone.

Among the other bidders for the Eurostar stake were 3i, the private equity firm, a division of the French bank Credit Agricole and an arm of the Singaporean government.

The remainder of Eurostar is owned by SNCF, the French state-owned rail operator, which controls 55%, and the Belgian government.

CDPQ's involvement will mark the latest investment by a Canadian entity in the UK's rail infrastructure.

In 2010, the Canadian pension funds Borealis and Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan paid £2.1bn to take control of High Speed One, the line which runs from London to the Channel Tunnel.

The sale of the Eurostar stake will underline the continuing appeal of UK infrastructure assets to overseas investors despite some suggestions that political uncertainty ahead of the General Election could hamper such deals.

The Treasury declined to comment ahead of its announcement about the deal with CDPQ and Hermes Infrastructure.


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Taxpayers To Meet £30m Bill For UK Coal Staff

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor

Taxpayers are poised to fund a multimillion pound bill to help workers at two of the UK's remaining deep coal mines as part of preparations for their closure, ministers are expected to disclose this week.

Sky News understands that the Government will propose amendments to the Small Business Bill to facilitate so-called concessionary coal payments to hundreds of UK Coal workers.

The commitment to the payments, which could be made on Wednesday, would come just weeks after ministers reiterated earlier rejections of a trade union plea for £300m of state aid to keep the sites open.

A source with knowledge of the latest plan said that if it proceeded, concessionary coal payments to workers at UK Coal collieries would be made in July and December.

They said the aggregate sum involved was unclear but added that between £28m and £30m was "a sensible estimate".

The development, which was the subject of talks in Whitehall on Tuesday, followed a pledge by George Osborne in 2013 to guarantee free coal deliveries or a substitute cash sum under a scheme dating back to the 1980s.

The UK coal mining industry has been in long-term decline, accelerated by falling prices on international markets.

Under a deal struck with UK Coal last September, the Government agreed a £4m loan on commercial terms to ensure the managed closure of deep mines at Kellingly in North Yorkshire and Thoresby in Nottinghamshire.

More than £15m was received from suppliers, customers and other stakeholders to prolong the sites' operations alongside the Government loan.

The mines' closures, which are due to take place later this year, are expected to cost up to 1,300 jobs.

A separate £8m loan to prevent the insolvency of Hatfield colliery in South Yorkshire was agreed in January.

A putative attempt by employees and the National Union of Mineworkers to buy UK Coal was aborted last year.

On Tuesday, the Pension Protection Fund said it had agreed to sell its stake in Harworth Estates, UK Coal's former property arm, in a deal worth £150m.

Vince Cable, the Business Secretary, said in August that the mines had "no long-term future unless very large amounts of taxpayers' money are involved".

"The state aid case remains unaffordable, particularly given the fall in the price of coal," a source said.

A Government spokesman said: "The Government is working closely with UK Coal to keep these two coal mines open.

"We will make sure UK Coal miners receive the security they are entitled to through concessionary payments."


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StanChart Risks Reigniting Bank Bonus Row

Written By Unknown on Selasa, 03 Maret 2015 | 12.06

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor

The emerging markets bank Standard Chartered will risk reigniting a row over City bonuses this week when it reveals that it is cutting bonuses by a smaller percentage than its decline in profits.

Sky News understands that the lender, which announced a boardroom clearout last week, will say on Wednesday that it is shrinking its bonus pool by approximately 9% from last year's $1.208bn (£786m), according to insiders.

That would mean Standard Chartered's bonus pool for 2014 will be in the region of £715m, they said.

However, the consensus among City analysts is for annual pre-tax profits to have slumped by as much as 20%, which one source acknowledged would leave Standard Chartered exposed to criticism that it is rewarding "payment for failure".

A person close to the company pointed out that Peter Sands, the bank's chief executive, had last year cut bonuses by 15% while profits had fallen by 11%.

The source also said that Standard Chartered paid out more in shareholder dividends than it did in staff bonuses, highlighting a contrast with banks including Barclays, which reports its full-year results on Tuesday.

Nevertheless, the remuneration figures may stoke criticism of Mr Sands even as he prepares to leave the bank, which is the shirt sponsor of Liverpool FC.

That will be reinforced when Barclays says that bonuses have fallen from close to £2.4bn to less than £2bn despite an increase in profits.

Last week, Sky News revealed that Standard Chartered had recruited Bill Winters, a former JP Morgan executive, to replace Mr Sands, which was later confirmed by the bank.

The company also said that Sir John Peace, its chairman, would also step down, alongside some other executive and non-executive directors.

Standard Chartered, which recently announced the sale of its consumer finance operations in Hong Kong, has endured a torrid couple of years.

US authorities recently said they were extending their scrutiny of the bank until 2017 as part of a deferred prosecution agreement.

In 2012, Standard Chartered struck a deal with regulators that saw it pay a $667m fine for violating sanctions requirements, and was forced to pay a further $300m in August after failing to make sufficient improvements to its systems and controls.

The management changes were welcomed by leading shareholders including Temasek, the Singaporean state fund, and Aberdeen Asset Management, the fund management group which is heavily exposed to emerging markets.

Standard Chartered, which has seen shares fall by more than 22% during the last year, has shaken confidence among investors after a string of profit warnings, regulatory bust-ups and management changes.

The bank declined to comment.


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Tidal Lagoon Plants Could Power 8% Of UK

Plans for a vast tidal lagoon power plant which could provide enough energy for all the homes in Wales have been launched.

The lagoon, between Cardiff and Newport, would include 90 turbines set in a 14-mile breakwater and could provide enough electricity for 1.5 million homes for 120 years, according to supporters.

The idea would build on a previous proposal in Swansea Bay, which is awaiting a planning decision in June.

Tidal Lagoon Power, the business behind the plans, said it was looking at four other potential lagoons at Newport, West Cumbria, Colwyn Bay and Bridgwater Bay.

Together the lagoons could provide 8% of the UK's electricity with clean renewable power, the company said.

An Environmental Impact Assessment will be submitted by the company for the Cardiff lagoon.

A full planning application could be submitted in 2017, and if it was approved it could start generating power in 2022.

Mark Shorrock, chief executive of Tidal Lagoon Power, said: "Full-scale tidal lagoon infrastructure gives the UK an opportunity to generate electricity from our amazing tidal range at a cost comparable to fossil fuel or nuclear generation.

"We have the best tidal resource in Europe and the second best worldwide. We now have a sustainable way to make the most of this natural advantage.

"We will build on the template established for the Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon - applying the expertise and learning, scaling the UK supply chain and turbine assembly plant, leveraging the institutional investor partnerships we have developed - to deliver a Cardiff tidal lagoon capable of working in harmony with nature to supply around 1.5 million UK homes, now and for generations to come, with affordable, reliable, low-carbon electricity.

"There is still a long way to go and many environmental surveys to undertake but we will work in partnership with all nature conservation bodies so as to understand, avoid, minimise and mitigate any environmental impacts."

The proposal at Cardiff would see the lagoon stretch out into the Severn Estuary, joining the land east of the entrance to Cardiff Bay and west of the mouth of the River Usk.

It would enclose an area of around 27 square miles and could generate power for 14 hours a day.

Robert Lloyd Griffiths, director of the Institute of Directors in Wales, said: "Today's announcement for Cardiff proves that the Swansea Bay project really does have the potential to kick start a whole new industry here in Wales and what's more it can be delivered quickly.

"It is great to see that after so much talk about how we can harness the power of the Severn, we now have some very real plans to work with."


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First-Time Buyers 'Get 20% Discount On Homes'

Written By Unknown on Senin, 02 Maret 2015 | 12.06

First-time buyers aged under-40 will be given the chance to buy a starter home at a 20% discount under a new Government scheme.

Planning rules for under-used brownfield sites will be relaxed from Monday in return for developers using the land to build properties to sell at 80% of the market value.

The scheme could save potential buyers tens of thousands of pounds, as the average cost of a first home is currently £218,000.

The Prime Minister said the discount "could be a real game-changer for many aspiring home-owners".

About 45 developers have so far expressed an interest in taking advantage of the move, that would save them around £15,000 per home in obligations.

Suggested designs for the new homes have been compiled by a panel including leading architects Sir Terry Farrell and Sir Quinlan Terry based on the best from around the country.

They highlighted "attractive properties that can meet the demands of modern life".

Potential buyers can express interest online now and the discount will apply for five years to prevent anyone seeking to make a quick profit.

Mr Cameron said: "We want to help people who work hard and want to get on in life but have been priced out of the housing market.

"A 20% discount off the price could be a real game-changer for many aspiring home-owners. My message is clear: we are on your side and we will help you fulfil your dream of buying your first home."

Communities Secretary Eric Pickles said: "The number of first-time buyers is already at a seven-year high and these starter homes... will help even more people realise their dream of home ownership.

"This will also form part of our wider efforts to get the country building again, which have already led to 700,000 new homes being delivered since the end of 2009."

But shadow housing minister Emma Reynolds said it remained unclear how the policy would deliver.

She said: "Warm words from David Cameron about home ownership will ring hollow for those young people and families who have been priced out of home ownership over the past five years.

"This Government has presided over the lowest levels of house building in peacetime since the 1920s and home ownership is at its lowest level for 30 years.

"There is also a record number of young people living at home with their parents in to their twenties and thirties.

"Labour will get at least 200,000 homes built a year by 2020, including badly needed affordable homes, and we will give first-time buyers first call on homes built in local areas of housing growth."


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Licence Fee Needs Updating, BBC Boss To Argue

BBC boss Tony Hall is expected to warn the corporation is at "a crossroads" and that the licence fee should be updated.

In a speech, the director general is to argue adapting the levy for the internet age is "vital".

Mr Hall is set to highlight a recent report by MPs which called for changes to the licence fee to include its catch-up iPlayer service and also suggested an alternative to the current system.

The preferred option of the Commons Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee was for a universal household levy, regardless of whether people watched television or not.

Mr Hall will tell his audience at New Broadcasting House in central London: "We've always said that the licence fee should be updated to reflect changing times.

"I welcome the committee's endorsement of our proposal to make people pay the licence fee even if they only watch catch-up television.

"The committee has suggested another route to modernising the licence fee - a universal household levy.

"Both proposals have the same goal in mind: adapting the licence fee for the internet age.

"This is vital. Because I believe we need and we will need what the licence fee - in whatever form - makes happen more than ever."

In their report, members of the select committee said the licence fee, which was not currently required to watch iPlayer, must be changed to cover "catch-up television as soon as possible".

It went on: "The German model of a broadcasting levy on all households is our preferred alternative to the TV licence.

"Such a levy on all households would obviate the need to identify evaders and would be a fairer way of ensuring those people who use only BBC radio and online services contribute to their costs.

"A broadcasting levy which applied to all households regardless of whether or not householders watched live television would help support the use of a small proportion of the revenue raised for funding public service content and services by others, enhancing plurality."


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