EU gives three airlines anti-trust warning

BRUSSELS — The EU competition regulator said on Friday that it has warned British Airways, American Airlines and Iberia over agreements on transatlantic routes which could breach anti-trust rules.The regulator, the European Commission, said that it had sent a "statement of objections" last month to the three companies, which are all members of the oneworld airline alliance.The action concerns agreements between them "regarding the coordination of the parties' commercial, operational and marketing activities in relation to passenger traffic on transatlantic routes," it said in a statement."The commission considers (the accords) may be in breach...

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Housing data sinks Wall Street

Stock markets in the United States fell yesterday as signs of weakness in housing and investors' worries that authorities might be curbing stimulus efforts too soon sparked caution.World central banks said they would scale back infusions of U.S. dollars, fueling unease triggered a day earlier when stocks sold off following the U.S. Federal Reserve's decision to slow purchases of mortgage debt. That program has been one of the key pillars of the Fed's efforts to support mortgage lending.Yesterday's losses drove the benchmark S&P 500, which has rallied nearly 60% in six months from 12-year lows, to its worst two-day drop in three weeks.The...

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G20 Leaders Tout Progress on Bank Regulation, But Big Issues Remain

"What would have been considered as a provocation until only recently is now seriously looked at by the G-20," Sarkozy said. He was referring in particular to the G-20's request that the International Monetary Fund look at possible ways in which the financial sector could "make a fair and substantial contribution toward paying for any burdens associated with government interventions to repair the banking system."Several unresolved issues remain, however. U.S. officials have argued that the world's largest banks should hold much more capital than other financial companies because of the risk they pose to financial markets, but European officials...

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Is anyone listening?

YOU are not really listening’, Mohammad Nasheed of the Maldives told a hundred fellow heads of state and government at the ‘UN Summit on Climate Change’ at New York this week. ‘If things go as usual, we will not live. We will die. Our country will not exist.‘We cannot come out from Copenhagen as failures. We cannot make Copenhagen a pact for suicide. We have to succeed and we have to make a deal in Copenhagen.’ He was referring to the UN Climate Change Conference to be held in December 2009 in that city (COP 15).President Nasheed leads a predominantly Muslim nation of some 300,000 people on 26 atolls in the Indian Ocean (1,192 islets – 200 inhabited)...

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RBS to sell fund manager for £300m

Royal Bank of Scotland is selling the majority part of its £50bn asset management arm as part of a series of fund-raising moves. RBS is engaged in the final stages of negotiating the cost of its entry into the Government?s insurance scheme for toxic assets Photo: GETTYThe disposal will break up RBS Asset Management (RBSAM), with RBS retaining the upmarket private bank Coutts, while putting the other half up for sale with a £300m price tag.Morgan Stanley, which is advising RBS on the sale, has sent out information memorandums on the company to a series of private equity and trade buyers ahead of next month’s bid deadline. It comes as RBS is...

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Shoppers' anger as M&S ditches famous 90-day returns policy Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1216439/Shoppers-anger-M-amp-S-ditches

Generations of shoppers remained loyal to Marks & Spencer, comforted by the knowledge it had the most generous refund policy on the High Street.For decades there was no time limit on returning a skirt or pair of shoes, providing they were unused, there was a receipt and it could be put back on the racks.However in 2005, the store triggered some anxiety by imposing a maximum return date of 90 days.And now it has now emerged that the deadline has been reduced again, without any fanfare, to just 35 days.Internet forums reveal that a number of shoppers are unhappy about the change, which appears to have been prompted by cost-cutting at the store...

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UK car production falls 31.5pc as fears grow over car scrappage scheme

A pick-up in new car production driven by the launch of the scrappage scheme ended in August, sparking concerns for the health of the industry when the Government's £300m programme ends.One industry analyst claimed the incentive plan, which encourages consumers to scrap an old car for a new model, could run out of funding as early as next week and called on the Government to extend the scheme.UK car production fell 31.5pc in August, ending a run of three consecutive months when the decline caused by the financial crisis eased.The scrappage scheme had helped to turn a 56.5pc year-on-year drop into a 23.7pc decline by July by boosting consumer...

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New Look ponders market listing

New Look ponders market listingFashion chain New Look is considering a £1.7 billion stock market flotation, it has been reported.The group, which is owned by private equity firms Permira and Apax, as well as its founder Tom Singh, could list on the stock market during the first quarter of next year, according to the Sunday Telegraph.Investment banks are said to be lining up to handle the flotation, with Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and Credit Suisse all thought to be interested.It is understood that the company is also looking for a new chairman with City experience to handle the listing, with current chairman Phil Wrigley expected...

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New Look 'seeks stock flotation

Fashion chain New Look is poised to return to the stock market with a flotation as early as next year, according to reports.The company was bought by private equity firms Permira and Apax in 2004, although founder Tom Singh still retains a 22% stake.New Look is one of the few High Street retailers to have benefitted from the downturn as consumers look for value.Reports also suggest that the company will look for a new chairman.The owners tried to float the business unsuccessfully in 2007. They then tried to sell it, but did not receive an offer to meet their price.But with sales improving during the downturn - they rose by 15% in the year to...

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Fame': Where are they now?

Another Optimistic Bunch, Determined to Live ForeverOf course. After three “High School Musical” installments, “Bandslam” and the Fox series “Glee,” “Fame” — the 1980 film that spawned a stage show and a television series or two — was due for a makeover. The new version, like the first, covers four years at a New York performing-arts high school. And while the movie, the feature debut of the choreographer and video director Kevin Tancharoen, suffers from a surfeit of flash, it nonetheless offers the undeniable power of young performers pursuing art at peak dexterity.“Fame” revisits some of the original’s sequences, including a spontaneous lunchroom...

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Iran test-fires missiles amid nuclear tension

By Fredrik Dahl and Hossein JasebTEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran test-fired missiles on Sunday to show it was prepared to head off any military threat, four days before the Islamic Republic is due to hold rare talks with world powers worried about its nuclear ambitions.The missile manoeuvres coincide with escalating tension in Iran's nuclear row with the West, after last week's disclosure by Tehran that it is building a second uranium enrichment plant.News of the nuclear facility south of Iran added a sense of urgency to a crucial meeting in Geneva on Thursday between Iranian officials and representatives of six major powers, including the United States.An...

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