December, 2009

All Posts / Banking / Credit Crunch / Financial Services — 1 Comment
17
Dec 09

UK/Greek parallels and a tax conundrum

BA’s ceo Walsh on strategic imperatives

A tax system should be straightforward and predictable. Gordon Brown’s tinkering with the tax system in his years as Chancellor put paid to the former. Moves on the tax front in 2009 have put paid to the latter. The City will suffer.

My worry is that the latest “one-off” bonus tax may become an annual charge. Think about it. Assuming the Conservative Party makes it into power in May, it will be faced with even worse government finances, following Chancellor Alistair Darling’s budget, which failed to make the budget cuts that markets will demand soon enough.  Continue reading...

All Posts / Financial Services / FSA / Governance / Regulation — Comments Off
8
Dec 09

The train has left the station

The FSA’s Tom Huertas on regulatory overkill

It was but a small item in the FT. “South Africa reveals HIV initiative.”

What a change from former President Thabo Mbeki. There stands a man who at one point looked like going down in history as a stalwart defender of political stability and orthodox economic policies that, however imperfect, helped his country post continuous growth. But this was compromised by an Achilles heel: his irrational attitude to HIV/AIDS.

Every day up to 1,000 people die from HIV/AIDS in South Africa – a massive blot on Mbeki’s legacy. Current President Jacob Zuma, a populist who markets feared, said a few days ago that the state would roll out anti-retroviral drugs to many more people and that he had made plans to be tested for HIV. Meanwhile, his government’s economic stimulus policies have the support of both business and labour.  Continue reading...