Category Archives: Business

Tories have no room for tax cuts despite £52bn a year stealth rise, says IFS

Posted on by

UK stuck between weak economic growth and risk of persistently high inflation, says thinktank

The government has no room for unfunded pre-election tax cuts despite having pushed through a “colossal” £52bn a year stealth raid on household incomes on Rishi Sunak’s watch, the Institute for Fiscal Studies has warned.

Britain’s foremost economics thinktank said the dire state of the public finances meant that attention-grabbing tax cuts risked stoking inflation, leading to higher Bank of England interest rates and a lengthy recession.

Continue reading...

Former FTX executive says he was ‘embarrassed and ashamed’ of its excess

Posted on by

Nishad Singh testifies at Sam Bankman-Fried trial about millions spent by failed crypto exchange on celebrity partnerships

The jury at Sam Bankman-Fried’s fraud trial on Monday saw a photograph of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange founder with the singer Katy Perry and the actor Orlando Bloom at the 2022 NFL Super Bowl, as prosecutors sought to bolster their case that the failed crypto mogul squandered customer money on efforts to boost his stature.

Prosecutors displayed the image as Nishad Singh, FTX’s former director of engineering, testified about how the company spent hundreds of millions of dollars on celebrity partnerships and marketing in early 2022, months before the exchange declared bankruptcy amid a wave of customer withdrawals.

Continue reading...

Former Bank of China boss arrested on corruption charges

Posted on by

Liu Liange charged with accepting bribes and illegally granting loans amid country’s anti-corruption drive

China has arrested the former head of one of the country’s largest commercial banks on charges of accepting bribes and illegally granting loans, amid a two-year anti-corruption drive targeting the financial sector.

China’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), which is investigating corruption within the ruling Communist party, said on Monday that Liu Liange had been arrested, after announcing the start of the investigation in March.

Continue reading...

Bad management has prompted one in three UK workers to quit, survey finds

Posted on by

Study shows widespread concern over quality of managers, with 82% of bosses deemed ‘accidental’, having had no formal training

Almost one-third of UK workers say they’ve quit a job because of a negative workplace culture, according to a new survey that underlines the risks of managers failing to rein in toxic behaviour.

Research carried out by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) pointed to widespread concern about the quality of management, and its impact on workers’ daily lives.

Continue reading...

UAW says workers at GM battery plants will be covered by contract

Posted on by

As the autoworkers’ union grapples with the big three automakers for a contract, it expands its coverage to electric vehicle workers

Workers at General Motors’ electric vehicle battery manufacturing facilities will be protected by the company’s national contract with the United Auto Workers (UAW), the union’s president, Shawn Fain, announced last week.

It’s a landmark victory in the fight for a “just transition” away from fossil fuels which prioritizes labor rights, boosting hope that workers in legacy vehicle manufacturers’ EV divisions – and across the country’s burgeoning electric vehicle sector – will have the same protections that US autoworkers have historically enjoyed.

Continue reading...

David Pocock joins Greens in push to criminalise non-payment of super

Posted on by

Government’s closing loopholes bill yet to include superannuation theft, estimated to cost workers $5bn a year

The independent senator David Pocock has joined a push by the Greens and unions to criminalise the intentional non-payment of superannuation, after the measure was omitted from Labor’s industrial relations bill.

The Albanese government’s legislation has proposed to criminalise wage theft but not super theft, which is estimated to cost workers up to $5bn a year, and Pocock said if the government is “serious about closing loopholes then the intentional non-payment of super should also be criminalised”.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Dylan Mulvaney says woman-of-the-year award ‘means so much more’ after Bud Light backlash

Posted on by

Attitude magazine celebrates TikTok star who collaborated with beer maker who left her high and dry after conservatives boycotted

After gaining Attitude magazine’s first-ever woman of the year award, US trans activist Dylan Mulvaney said receiving such recognition from the UK-based LGBTQ+ publication “means so much more” after a substantial transphobic backlash undermined her Bud Light advertisement.

“No matter how hard I try or what I wear, or what I say, or what surgeries I get, I will never reach an acceptable version of womanhood by those hateful people’s standards,” Mulvaney said in social media videos that showed her accepting the award this week. “But as long as I have the queer community that sees me for my truth – I’m gonna be OK.”

Continue reading...

Africa’s ‘optimist-in-chief’ on the continent’s renaissance: ‘Don’t just believe me, believe the data’

Posted on by

In an exclusive interview, Akinwumi Adesina, head of the African Development Bank, says the outlook is good for a continent with the workers of the future and the best investment opportunities

Africa holds the future workforce for the ageing economies of the west, according to one of the continent’s leading financial figures, who also said it was time to ditch the myths around corruption and risk.

In an exclusive interview before this weekend’s World Bank meetings in Morocco, Akinwumi Adesina said there was a resurgence of belief in Africa’s economic prospects and attacked negative stereotyping, adding that there was “every reason to be optimistic”.

Continue reading...

Boss of world’s largest cinema chain victim of catfish blackmail plot

Posted on by

Adam Aron duped into sending explicit photos to ‘Mia’, fake ballet dancer created by US woman who pleaded guilty to cyberstalking

The boss of the world’s largest movie theatre chain sent sexually explicit messages and photos to a woman who then tried to blackmail him for hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Adam Aron, the chief executive of AMC Entertainment, which also owns the Odeon chain in Europe, exchanged messages for weeks last spring with an individual he believed was a ballet dancer with whom he had previously been in a romantic relationship.

Continue reading...

KPMG boss says Carillion auditing was ‘very bad’ as firm is fined record £21m

Posted on by

Jon Holt says some employees ‘simply didn’t do their job properly’ in run-up to one of UK’s biggest corporate failures

The UK boss of KPMG has said he “simply cannot defend” the firm’s auditing work on the failed government contractor, Carillion, describing it as “very bad,” as the accounting giant was hit with a record £21m fine by Britain’s accounting watchdog.

The fine comes almost six years after the outsourcing firm collapsed with £7bn debts. Carillion had been one of the UK’s biggest construction and facilities management companies, with several major government contracts.

Continue reading...

Finland says ‘state actor’ not ruled out in mystery of damaged Baltic gas pipeline

Posted on by

US secretary of state pledges support for Finland and Estonia, as Finnish officials say Russia is treating their country as ‘hostile’

Finland has said it cannot exclude the possibility that a “state actor” was behind damage to a gas pipeline under the Baltic Sea, amid what its national security intelligence service called “significantly deteriorated” relations with Russia.

The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said on Thursday the US would support Finland and Estonia as they probed the damage to the Balticconnector pipeline and parallel Estlink telecommunications cable between the two countries.

Continue reading...

Spanish rail firm planning London to Paris service to rival Eurostar

Posted on by

Evolyn says route is ‘strategic and high demand’ and it intends to launch its first service in 2025

A Spanish rail company has announced plans to launch a Paris to London high-speed train service to rival Eurostar.

The company, Evolyn, said the route was “strategic and high demand” and that it intended to launch its first service in 2025. It had reached an agreement to buy 12 high-speed trains from the French manufacturer Alstom and had the option of acquiring four more, it added.

Continue reading...

‘Green coal’ company owned by LNP figures received $5.5m grant a week before Morrison government entered caretaker mode

Posted on by

Exclusive: Green Day Energy has had its bank account frozen after going into administration amid a legal dispute between its owners

A fledgling “green coal” company owned by two Queensland Liberal National party figures has had its bank account frozen and become mired in legal action, 18 months after being awarded a $5.5m commonwealth grant in the dying days of the Morrison government.

Guardian Australia can reveal the federal government is “considering its position” in relation to the grant to Green Day Energy, after the company was placed in voluntary administration by director David Hutchinson, the former LNP president. Hutchinson is being sued by Green Day’s largest shareholder, Brad Carswell, a former party official and candidate.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Abattoirs overwhelmed as farmers offload livestock before big dry begins

Posted on by

Growth in herd sizes and declaration of El Niño push industry into ‘somewhat of a panic’

Wait times for farmers seeking to offload livestock to feedlots and abattoirs are increasing from weeks to months in some areas, putting further strain on producers facing a grim summer outlook.

A rapid shift to drier conditions, low commodity prices and labour constraints have created the “perfect storm” in Australia’s meat processing supply chains, according to the industry.

Sign up to receive Guardian Australia’s fortnightly Rural Network email newsletter

Sign up for the Rural Network email newsletter

Join the Rural Network group on Facebook to be part of the community

Continue reading...

Dominica may have sold thousands more ‘golden passports’ than it disclosed, analysis suggests

Posted on by

Investigation raises questions about transparency and governance of $1bn citizenship by investment scheme

The Caribbean island of Dominica may have sold thousands more “golden passports” than its government has publicly disclosed, according to analysis that raises questions about the transparency and governance of its $1bn (£822m) citizenship by investment scheme.

An investigation by the Guardian and 14 other international news organisations, in partnership with the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, has conducted the first detailed examination of the identities and numbers of individuals who paid for Dominican citizenship.

Continue reading...

Birkenstock shares open below offer price in US stock market debut

Posted on by

Shoemaker lands on NYSE with $8.3bn valuation but analysts warn public debut comes amid difficult market conditions

Shares in Birkenstock have opened 11% below their offer price on the company’s US stock market debut, valuing the German shoemaker at $8.3bn as investors bet there was less mileage in consumer demand for its cork-soled sandals, which have become an unlikely fashion success story.

On Tuesday evening the footwear firm priced its shares at $46 ahead of the first day of trading in New York, where it is using the symbol “BIRK”. That figure was in the middle of the $44 to $49 guidance provided last week and valued the company at $8.6bn (£7bn).

Continue reading...

Revealed: thousands who bought ‘golden passports’ through Dominica’s $1bn scheme

Posted on by

Former Afghan spymaster, convicted millionaire and former Libyan colonel among those who became Dominican citizens

The Caribbean state of Dominica has sold citizenship to thousands of individuals including a former Afghan spymaster, a Turkish millionaire convicted of fraud and a former Libyan colonel under Muammar Gaddafi, the first detailed examination of the country’s controversial “golden passports” scheme has found.

The findings are from Dominica: Passports of the Caribbean, an investigation by the Guardian and 14 other international news organisations, in partnership with the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP).

Continue reading...

Luxury rooms and a swim-up bar: hotel with funding from Dominica’s golden passport scheme

Posted on by

Former Afghan spy chief among those to gain citizenship though investment in Caribbean island

Nestled in a valley formed by an extinct volcano on the Caribbean island of Dominica, the InterContinental Cabrits resort has 101 luxurious rooms overlooking an emerald bay. Its website invites guests to “explore and unwind in paradise while discovering the pristine island”.

But waterfront views and a swim-up rum bar are not the hotel’s only attraction: for the wealthy investors who helped fund the project, it was also a route to another nationality.

Continue reading...

Pop group Easy Life forced to change band name amid dispute with easyJet owner

Posted on by

The group have decided not to defend lawsuit due to financial burden, after easyGroup labelled the Leicester-formed band a ‘brand thief’

British pop group Easy Life have been forced to change their name after easyGroup, the parent company of easyJet, filed a lawsuit claiming their name infringed on a trademark.

The band will not defend the high court lawsuit, saying the financial burden of doing so would be too high. They have not announced a new name.

Continue reading...

Undersea pipeline damage appears to be deliberate, says Finland

Posted on by

Media cites intelligence sources saying Russian sabotage suspected after unusual drop in pressure

Extensive damage to an undersea gas pipeline and communications cable connecting Finland and Estonia “could not have occurred by accident” and appears to be the result of a “deliberate … external act”, Finnish authorities have said.

“It is likely that the damage to both the gas pipeline and the communication cable is the result of external activity,” the Finnish president, Sauli Niinistö, said on X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday, adding that the cause of the damage was not yet clear.

Continue reading...