Today, the House of Commons is due to debate once again the thorny question of loan sharks. More specifically, MPs will be discussing whether the Government's levy on banks should be extended to firms providing short-term loans
Read full article...Careful what you wish for is a well-worn expression. But that does not mean it is wrong where the LSE is concerned
The harsh reality of the retailers that have gone into administration or are busy shedding branches and staff, is that their identities come as no surprise
Years ago, I investigated a blatant £150 million aluminium fraud. There was no question that some of the best-known firms on the London Metal Exchange had been ripped off. They said so, the lawyers agreed. Sitting in a café in Zug, Switzerland, the chief perpetrator of the scam, tried to deny it, but couldn't
Every which way I like this idea. It's one that has been mooted by the Centre for Policy Studies for a while, and has now been taken up by Nick Clegg
One of the sadder aspects of the City is that not enough stars are prepared to take a cut and put their experience back into the industry that served them so well
Have we reached a point in our contempt as a society for anything that smacks of City and profit, and therefore capitalism, that we cannot see reason?
If I were in mischievous mood, I would go round the Savoy Grill or the next meeting of the Institute of Directors or gathering in Davos and put a copy of Adapt on every place
The markets don't lie, but while the Chancellor's move may not hurt right now, the City knows it has taken a hit
I've always had a sneaking admiration for big-time property developers. I suppose it must stem from playing Monopoly as a child. I never knew which way to go - should I buy every square on which I land or play a waiting role, saving my cash and picking them off?
The initial drop in the share prices of the banks today tells you pretty much all you need to know about George Osborne's ring-fencing of retail and investment banking - and the pain the banks will endure. Just 1%
Can we continue to defend city greed? How can the actions of Blackstone in packaging up the Southern Cross nursing homes, pocketing £1 billion from selling them, and watching as they sank under a burden of debt, possibly be justified?
George Osborne's current strategy is still the best way to ensure long-term recovery of Britain's economy
Ian Wace hesitates. Then he says: "You know, there was my life before the accident and life after the accident." He shakes his head in puzzlement. "The truth is, I don't remember that much before it." For anyone who knows Wace, this is a deeply significant moment
A once sceptical business community is now realising what a massive opportunity the Games presents. Chris Blackhurst finds the mood among the capital's most high-profile firms to be one of feverish excitement
It's said of Serco that it's the biggest company you've never heard of. For reasons that escape me, the outsourcer takes great exception to this description, thinking it's somehow demeaning, that they've got their own brand uniqueness and so on
The new Bribery Act will criminalise acts of hospitality and place another bureaucratic burden on business
Not for the first time I have to do a double-take. TV presenter Mary Portas is to lead a Government-backed review of the future of the High Street. Is that a snigger in the radio announcer's voice? No, he's deadly serious. Me? I laugh out loud
A French person looks set to replace a French person at the top of the world's most powerful financial institution. I will say this for the French: they know how to look after their own
The Strauss-Kahn and Clarke rows show we are still a long way from being a genuinely non-sexist society
We sent one lucky family off to experience inspirational Iceland. Read the full story here.
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