UK holidaymakers going to the eurozone are getting 15% more for their money than a year ago, figures show.
Jitters about the debt crisis across Europe have knocked the euro and pushed the wholesale rate for sterling up to levels not seen since October 2008.
The pound rose to 1.2745 euros on Monday, another high for 2012 so far.
Consumers would get less than that at a bureau de change, with High Street rates at about 1.21 euros to the pound.
Holidaymakers can find offers of over 1.24 euros to the pound by ordering the currency online.
Three years ago some foreign exchange counters were giving less than one euro for each pound.
However, the situation is different with the dollar. Travellers heading over the Atlantic will find that sterling buys them fewer dollars than a year ago.
HSBC ignored drug money fear, alleges Senate - Financial Times
July 17, 2012 12:27 am
Qualifications: Universities provide new blood for sector - Financial Times
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Clouds gather over money market funds - Financial Times
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Money Woes Nag at a Penal Company Tied to Christie - New York Times
Senior executives at the company, Community Education Centers, even feared at the time that they might not have enough money to pay workers, the documents show.
Community Education’s senior vice president, William J. Palatucci, is one of Gov. Chris Christie’s closest friends and political advisers, and Mr. Christie has long championed the company.
Mr. Christie took office in January 2010, soon after Community Education defaulted on its debt, the documents show.
Since then, the state, while paying the company tens of millions of dollars a year for its services, has not closely examined Community Education’s financial standing or operations, according to the documents, former company executives and state officials.
If Community Education were to collapse, that could significantly disrupt New Jersey’s corrections system, and if the company remains financially hobbled, its halfway houses in New Jersey could continue to suffer.
The documents also suggest that Community Education’s chief executive, John J. Clancy, highlighted Mr. Palatucci’s ties to Mr. Christie in an effort to impress investors and secure desperately needed financing for the company.
The documents were submitted on Friday in federal court in Newark in an employment lawsuit brought against Community Education by a former executive. They portray a company that has been in crisis and trying to fend off creditors, even as it has mounted a robust lobbying and public relations campaign.
The New York Times, in a three-part series last month, detailed extensive problems in New Jersey’s halfway houses, including escapes, violence and drug use. The system of halfway houses, which the state has long promoted as a national model, handles thousands of inmates annually who are leaving prison or on parole.
Community Education has dominated the system for over a decade, and more than 15 former workers told The Times for its articles last month that the company had kept staffing levels very low in recent years to save money. As a result, the workers said, the company did a poor job delivering counseling and other services intended to help inmates make the transition to society.
The company’s financial difficulties have not stemmed from its government contracts in New Jersey, which have steadily grown over the last decade, according to the documents and interviews. Community Education has instead run into trouble after an aggressive expansion foundered in states like Alabama and Texas. The resulting shortfalls have been a factor in staff and other reductions in New Jersey.
Michael Drewniak, a spokesman for Mr. Christie, declined on Monday to comment on Community Education’s finances, referring questions to the Corrections Department.
Asked about Mr. Clancy’s emphasizing the political influence of Mr. Palatucci, Mr. Drewniak said, “We have no way of knowing the veracity of that assertion, but it would be inappropriate for any company to do that.”
The Corrections Department, which is part of the Christie administration, said there was nothing about Community Education’s finances that warranted concern.
“The company has consistently maintained its services under the terms of its contracts with the Department of Corrections and, like all similar providers, was scrutinized for financial stability prior to any contract award,” the department said in a statement.
In a statement, Community Education said it had been hurt by the financial crisis but was proud of the work that it continued to do. “C.E.C. has never had a disruption of a contract in New Jersey or any other state, never missed a payroll, and never had a basis that necessitated disclosure of a nonissue,” the company said.
The documents in the lawsuit, including depositions from current and former Community Education executives, show that the company was under threat of bankruptcy in 2010 because it borrowed too heavily for its national expansion and could not make debt payments.
The company, which is privately owned, received roughly $300 million annually from government contracts around the country in 2009 and 2010. But one projection by the company in 2009 showed that because of its debt burden, it would soon have only $13,702.02 in cash on hand.
“Everybody in that building was aware on a daily basis that we were making choices of who to pay, who not to pay, “ Community Education’s former treasurer, Frank English, said in a deposition, referring to the company’s headquarters in West Caldwell, N.J.
“Everybody knew that the company was struggling,” Mr. English added.
Asked directly whether the company had contemplated bankruptcy, Mr. English said yes.
He added that the company had hoped that it would not come to that and had always found a way to make its payroll.
Nevertheless, another former company executive, Chris Rausch, said in a deposition: “We were short cash. We couldn’t afford any extra head count.”
“We were cutting heads,” he added.
On the brink of bankruptcy, Community Education received $235 million in financing in December 2010, at interest rates as steep as 15.25 percent.
The documents in the lawsuit indicate that the company’s finances have not improved markedly since then. Despite the new financing, the company remained in debt even to its auditors.
IMF slashes UK growth outlook, sees bigger budget gap - Reuters UK
LONDON |
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's growth prospects for the next two years have worsened more than those of any other big advanced economy over the past three months, the International Monetary Fund said on Monday.
The sharp downgrade chimes with other economists' darkening assessments, and the IMF said it was too soon to say if a recent flurry of official measures to stimulate growth would be enough, or if the government will have to ease back further on its fiscal austerity plans.
In a quarterly update to its World Economic Outlook, the IMF cut its British growth forecasts for 2012 and 2013 by 0.6 percentage points each, to just 0.2 percent and 1.4 percent respectively -- well below what Britain's official forecaster, the Office for Budget Responsibility, predicted in March.
By contrast, the IMF's 2012 growth forecast for advanced economies as a whole is unchanged at 1.4 percent and for 2013 it has been cut by just 0.2 percent to 1.9 percent.
Britain's economy entered its second recession in four years around the turn of the year as it struggles to recover from the effects of the financial crisis, and the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition's political commitment to deficit reduction limits its options to boost growth.
Earlier this month the Bank of England said it would pump an extra 50 billion pounds ($78 billion) of newly-created money into the economy, its third round of monetary stimulus and taking the total to 375 billion pounds.
On Friday, the BoE and Britain's finance ministry said it would make around 80 billion pounds of cheap financing available to help banks sustain lending to households and businesses, while on Monday the government detailed 9.4 billion pounds of long-term rail infrastructure spending.
EURO CRISIS
The IMF said the euro zone debt crisis was largely to blame for the slowdown in growth in economies outside the bloc, and that the impact was disproportionately felt by the countries closest to it -- though it did not discuss Britain specifically.
Nonetheless, this matches the view of the BoE and Britain's coalition government, which has banked on overseas demand and business investment to offset the drag on growth from its fiscal austerity programme.
"Because the euro area is the UK's largest trading partner we are now feeling the effect across our economy. But ... we are not powerless to act," a finance ministry spokesman said in response to the IMF forecast downgrade.
The IMF said slower growth would limit the pace at which the government could reduce its budget deficit this year and next, predicting the gap would total 7.1 percent of GDP next year, rather than the 6.6 percent it forecast three months ago.
At a news conference to present the economic outlook, a senior IMF official, Thomas Helbling, said it was too early to tell if the government would need to change tack on austerity -- something the IMF has said may be needed if growth disappoints.
In May, the IMF said that "if growth does not build momentum and is significantly below forecasts even after substantial additional monetary stimulus and further credit easing ... fiscal adjustment would need to be reconsidered."
Temporary tax cuts and more infrastructure spending were the measures it suggested then to help the economy out of a slump.
Helbling said the IMF wanted to see if the 80 billion pound 'funding for lending' programme was successful in easing credit conditions before urging broader changes.
But the opposition Labour Party finance spokesman Ed Balls -- who has called for a temporary cut in sales tax -- said change was needed now.
"There can no longer be any excuses for delay. We need ... urgent action now to boost the British economy," he said.
(Reporting by David Milliken, additional reporting by Matt Falloon; editing by Stephen Nisbet)
Would you lose money replacing your car? - Daily Telegraph
Gap insurance is often sold by the dealer at the time of car purchase and can be expensive, but there are alternatives that can reduce the cost significantly – but make sure you choose the right policy to suit your needs. Warranty Direct, for example, which offers gap insurance for cars up to a maximum value of £50,000, provides three levels of cover.
First, its return-to-value cover is for cars that have not been bought from a dealer within the last three months, and will pay the difference between what the car insurer pays and the value of your car when you took out the gap cover.
Second, there is return-to-invoice cover, which is for cars which have been bought from a dealer within the last three months and will pay, in the event of a write-off, the difference between what the insurer pays and the original invoice price paid for the car.
Both these policies are available for cars that are under seven years old and with less than 80,000 recorded miles on the clock.
Finally, there is vehicle replacement cover, designed for new cars under three months old and with fewer than 500 recorded miles, which will pay the difference between the insurance
payout and the cost of a brand-new car.
Whichever car you drive, and however careful a driver you might be, do not assume that a write-off will never happen to you.
According to the RAC, more than 500,000 vehicles are written off each year, and numerous ‘total loss claims’ are caused by the action of third parties, so it pays to be protected against the risk of financial loss.
Gap Insurance is available from only £130 for a three year policy. To find out more about the available cover, contact Telegraph Gap Insurance, provided by Warranty Direct, on 0800 097 8834 or simpliy visit telegraph.co.uk/gapinsurance
National Finance rose from ashes of previous firm - Stuff
Failed finance company National Finance 2000 was created after a previous company with a similar name went broke owing over $600,000, the High Court at Auckland has heard.
The trial of former National Finance director Carol Braithwaite for allegedly misleading investors began this morning.
In his opening address, Crown prosecutor Steve Symon said in the 1990s National Finance's predecessor entity lent more than $20 million via 6000 loan contracts.
But between 1994 and 1997 a number of non-performing loans created a shortfall in its accounts of $625,924.
The company had to enter into a compromise with its creditors in which they agreed to its boss, the-now jailed Trevor Ludlow, setting up a new finance company National Finance 2000.
The Crown argues that with all this information clearly stated in the company's registered prospectus, Braithwaite should have heard alarm bells.
Braithwaite has pleaded not guilty to making false statements in the 2005 prospectus.
"The last time Mr Ludlow had a finance company, it went bust," Symon said.
"If you wanted to remind yourself how bad it was, some of your profit was being used to pay off the creditors of the last one."
National Finance 2000 paid $250,000 to the previous failed company.
"Do you think alarm bells were ringing in her head?" Symon said. "Because the last time Mr Ludlow said they were okay, they weren't"
Braithwaite, whose biography in the prospectus stated she had worked in fashion design, made no mention in the document she was the de facto wife of Ludlow - a "telling omission", he said.
She was also an office administrator with the previous failed company in which she oversaw loan repayments.
"No disrespect, it's fine she had a background in the fashion industry but you may wonder if she had the skills to be a finance company director," Symon said.
"She chose to do that (become a director)... She has said to the public that she's got the skills to do that job."
National Finance 2000, which went into receivership in 2006 owing more than 2000 investors $24.8 million, was lending sums as high as $100,000 without security, the Crown said.
It was also providing undocumented loans.
"This company was giving money to people with no documentation. You can start to see some of the problems with this company," Symon said.
The charge against Braithwaite was brought by the Financial Markets Authority under the Securities Act, and carries a maximum penalty of five years' imprisonment or a fine of up to $300,000.
Originally she was due to stand trial with fellow former director Anthony Banbrook, but he changed his plea to guilty last month and will be sentenced on August 14.
Ludlow was found guilty of charges laid by the Serious Fraud Office a year ago and in October was jailed for five years and seven months.
He also admitted charges brought by the Financial Markets Authority and in January was sentenced to an additional nine months' imprisonment.
The company's accountant John Gray also admitted charges brought by the SFO and was sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment in November 2010.
The trial is set down for two weeks.
- © Fairfax NZ News
Scotland: Catholic equal marriage referendum ‘a colossal waste of money’ - pinknews.co.uk
The call by Cardinal Keith O’Brien, head of the Catholic Church in Scotland and the most senior Catholic in the UK, for a referendum on equal marriage rights for gay couples has been criticised by advocates of the move.
The Equality Network said support in opinion polls indicated the Scottish public would likely support equal marriage rights for gay and straight couples in such a vote, but said the cardinals argument was “not the way Scottish democracy works”.
Cardinal O’Brien, who has previously described the idea of equal marriage rights as a “grotesque subversion of a universally accepted human right”, said the matter should be put to a public ballot.
Today, he argued in the Scotsman: “The concern for those who demand equality cannot allow us to consign to history our understanding of the basic goods of human society.”
Comparing it to the planned referendum on whether Scotland should become independent from the rest of the UK, he added: “Clearly, if it is sensible to hold a referendum on independence, it is crucial that we have one on marriage. It is the only way the country can move forward on this issue.
“Let all those who have a view on this subject place their trust in the Scottish people and let Scotland decide.”
A Scottish government spokeswoman said: “The cabinet have had a first discussion on the next steps following the consultation on same sex marriage and the registration of civil partnerships and have asked for some further detail.
“We fully expect to be in a position to publish the way ahead this month.”
The Equality Network has said in response that MSPs were elected with promises to consider whether gay should be allowed to marry and to come to a decision on behalf of the Scottish people.
Tom French, Policy Coordinator for the Equality Network, said: “If there was a nationwide referendum, conducted fairly, we are sure that Scots would vote for equality for same-sex couples. But that is not the way Scottish democracy works.
“Our MSPs were elected on clear manifesto commitments to consider the evidence, and decide, and we have confidence in them to do that. A referendum would be un-Scottish, unfair and a colossal waste of taxpayer’s money.”
He added: “We urge the Scottish Government to stand firm, stick by its principles and make the right decision. With cross-party support in Parliament, and majority support amongst the public, it is now time for the Scottish Government to back equality and bring forward equal marriage legislation without delay. It is the right thing to do, and now is the right time to do it.”
Discuss this →Tense times ahead for Chidambaram as BJP all set - Daily Mail
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Union Minister P Chidambaram
Amid the buzz that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is keen on shifting Union home minister P. Chidambaram to the finance ministry, all eyes are on the Supreme Court hearing.
And on a petition filed by Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy on Chidambaram's alleged role in the telecom scam during his earlier stint as the finance minister.
If the court makes any adverse comments, the PM may find it difficult to give Chidambaram the finance portfolio.
Chidambaram is likely to be in the Opposition's line of fire in the upcoming monsoon session of Parliament. His son Karti's alleged role in the Aircel-Maxis deal is set to haunt him in the Rajya Sabha where discussion on the issue had remained inconclusive in the past session.
The House was adjourned sine die on the last day of the Budget session before then finance minister Pranab Mukherjee could reply to leader of the Opposition, Arun Jaitley's charges.
The BJP was assured that the reply would be given in the next session. Now, with Mukherjee out of the finance ministry, the onus may fall on the PM, who currently holds the finance portfolio.
However, the ruling UPA needs to brace itself for embarrassment if it chooses to make Chidambaram the finance minister before the session. Sources said he'll not able to respond to the charges against his own relatives.
The onus will again be on the PM then to defend him. BJP sources said in either case, Chidambaram will be on a sticky wicket as the attack on him is likely to get stronger.
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