Category: Articles

Venture capital funding for the Life Sciences sector, which includes Biotechnology and Medical Devices, increased 15% in value during the first quarter of 2014, compared to first quarter of 2013, according to a new PwC US report.

Capgemini, one of the world's foremost providers of consulting, technology and outsourcing services, has announced that Capgemini America Inc., its North American subsidiary, has been selected by NBCUniversal International (NBCUI), the international arm of one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies, to deliver business process outsourcing (BPO) services to help standardise and optimise its finance and accounting operations.

Comedian Jerry Seinfeld has emerged as the wealthiest actor on the Hollywood and Bollywood Rich List compiled by ultra high net worth intelligence and prospecting firm Wealth-X.

UK Financial Services companies are still struggling to comply with The Financial Conduct Authority regulations which require them to record mobile phone conversations, a new report from analyst firm Ovum has found.

Well services contractors operating in UK waters reported strong demand for their services according to figures in the 2014 Oil & Gas UK Well Services Contractors Report.

Unilever has announced that it has purchased, for a consideration of £715m, the rights left in family trusts by William Hesketh Lever which are convertible in 2038 into 70,875,000 Unilever PLC ordinary shares.

A rising level of threats to business, and increasing numbers of regulatory requirements, are combining to ensure in-house general counsel are no longer focused solely on company legal matters.

London has for the first time posted the highest score among the 30 cities studied by PwC US in the sixth edition of its Cities of Opportunity report.

AstraZeneca, the UK drugs company, has rejected a "final" takeover offer from US drugs firm Pfizer.

Fujitsu today announced it has appointed Michael Keegan as Head of its £1.8 billion business in the UK and Ireland.

There are clear business benefits to supporting employee health and wellbeing, says a new CBI and Medicash report.

Greece could save its businesses hundreds of millions of euros a year and improve their competitiveness by reducing administrative burdens, according to a new Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) report.

Sterling has taken a hit after Bank of England (BoE) Governor Mark Carney reiterated the message of no interest rate rises for some time, despite a rapid decline in unemployment and fast-rising house prices, says Mark McFarland, chief economist at private bank Coutts.

Statistics show that one in five adverts from consumer credit firms, for products including payday loans, fell short of the FCA's financial promotion expectations.

Global manufacturing executives rank the UK as one of the top destinations for future sales growth, level with China and ahead of established manufacturing economies such as Germany.

There has been a step change in the tax disclosures made by the UK's largest listed companies, a new PwC report published today shows.

Law firm Charles Russell LLP has appointed Ashley Freeman to head up the Islamic Finance practice in the firm’s Financial Services team.

Statistics in the 2014 UK Offshore Workforce Demographics Report published by Oil & Gas UK reveal the total number of people travelling offshore has increased by 8.6% compared to 2012

Global professional services company Towers Watson has announced the launch of a simplified global benefit solution designed for the multinational marketplace.

More than four out of five (81%) companies surveyed expect already heightened tax risks to accelerate in the next two years, according to a new global report by EY.

In addition to souring relations between Russia, Europe and the United States, further escalation of Russia's engagement in Ukraine could cost Russia more than 3 percent in GDP in real terms.

The world's 75 largest luxury goods companies generated luxury goods sales of £102 billion through the end of last fiscal year, according to a new report.

Chartered Institute of Taxation believes that HMRC's plans to extend capital gains tax to non-residents in certain circumstances may have a significant impact on UK residents with more than one property.

The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has upgraded its forecast for GDP growth as the recovery continues to take hold. But it warns politicians of all shades to put incentivising business investment ahead of short-term electioneering.

Pricewaterhousecoopers has warned that plans outlined in the Budget for new HMRC powers to settle unpaid demands by taking money from people's bank accounts could have grave consequences for businesses and individuals if errors in the process occur, and undermine the principle of independent taxation.

Whitebox Advisors, the US management firm led by industry veteran Andrew Redleaf, has announced the opening of the Whitebox Tactical Income Fund.

After growing only very marginally in 2012, growth accelerated rapidly, and is now running at around 3% year-on-year. The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) forecasts GDP growth of 2.9% this year, an upward revision of 0.4 percentage points on its forecast published just three months ago.

Latest figures show that in the past year alone almost 145,000 people have used the service to locate those long forgotten pensions. This is more than double the number who used the service in 2010, with numbers rising year on year.

Despite a fourth consecutive monthly fall in new property coming onto the market in April, 26% more chartered surveyors reported increased agreed sales, according to the latest RICS Residential Market Survey.

VocaLink, the UK-based international payment systems provider, has modernised the payments landscape in Singapore with an innovative real-time payments platform, FAST.

Investment managers should only use client dealing commission to pay for substantive research or costs related to executing trades, said the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as it published a policy statement on forthcoming changes to dealing commission rules.

Sustainable economic growth in Africa will require a step change in approach from both investors and governments, according to new research released today by FTI Consulting, Inc.

Weir Oil & Gas and the Rolls-Royce Power Systems company MTU announced they have signed an agreement to develop power systems specifically engineered for hydraulic fracturing.

Mercer's Pensions Risk Survey data shows that the accounting deficit of defined benefit (DB) pension schemes for the UK's largest 350 companies increased significantly during April.

The G20's plan to tackle corporate tax dodging, devised by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), needs a radical shake up so that developing countries can capture their fair share of foreign business activity, says Oxfam.

Recent changes to the UK tax system aimed at improving its attractiveness to businesses are paying dividends, according to KPMG in the UK.