Category: News Wire

MPs who questioned former Barclays chief executive Bob Diamond on the rate-rigging affair have expressed surprise at some of his evidence.

Inventors may be able to protect their inventions across Europe more easily after a deal was reached to set up a new patent court that will pave the way for a single European Union patent, although experts have expressed doubts over the benefits of a unified approach.

Owners of small businesses live in fear of HM Revenue & Customs throughout the whole of their working life, according to the results of detailed research carried out for the tax authority.

British owners of holiday homes in France are to be hit with punitive tax rises under plans announced by the new Socialist government.

Research In Motion Ltd’s freshman CEO insisted on Tuesday that nothing is wrong with the maker of BlackBerry smartphones and that it certainly isn’t in a “death spiral,”

The pound looks set to climb against the euro even if the Bank of England turns on its printing presses this week and buys more bonds in an attempt to pump money into the struggling economy.

The Government is under pressure to honour its pledge to “name and shame” large public-sector contractors who delay paying their small suppliers, after research revealed that outsourcing companies’ payment performance has deteriorated.

A new drive to increase funding for business start-ups was under way on Monday with the launch of the UK Business Angels Association and Sir Nigel Rudd, industrialist and successful angel investor, as its first chairman.

Bob Diamond has resigned as chief executive of Barclays with immediate effect, bowing to calls to go over the interest rate rigging scandal at the bank.

Spain’s manufacturing activity contracted at its fastest rate in over three years in June as output fell again in the face of weak internal demand and sliding

Apple has agreed to pay $60m (£38m) to Chinese firm Proview to settle a dispute involving rights to the “iPad” name, a court in China has said.

Marcus Agius, the chairman of Barclays, has resigned over the interest rate rigging scandal at the bank.

The Bank of England is expected to make a fresh push to kickstart lending by freeing up billions of pounds held by banks.

Barclays chief executive Bob Diamond has admitted for the first time that the bank made a conscious decision to falsify Libor rates in order to protect the bank at the height of the financial crisis.

Germany has today caved into demands made by Italy and Spain for immediate eurozone aid to bring down their soaring borrowing costs.