The other business news stories of the day...
Iceland's PM trusts voters to back debt deal
Iceland’s prime minister said yesterday she was ready to put her trust in the voters to ratify a deal aimed at repaying Britain and the Netherlands more than $5 billion (€3.46 billion) arising from the country’s banking collapse.
Reaching agreement with the two countries is vital for the continued flow of aid to Iceland, still in the grip of a devastating recession after its 2008 financial meltdown. But President Olafur Grimsson unexpectedly refused to sign an amended law this week on repayment, citing a wave of popular anger over the bill. Under Iceland’s constitution, his move has forced a national referendum on the bill. Lawmakers came back to work yesterday, nearly three weeks ahead of schedule, to thrash out the date and wording. – (Reuters)
UBS data transfer order "illegal"
The order last year compelling UBS to release the names of 255 US offshore clients by the Swiss financial regulator was illegal, it was revealed yesterday.
The decision last February by the Finma regulator caused alarm among Swiss private bankers at the loss of legendary client confidentiality.
“Finma will analyse the ruling closely before deciding whether to launch an appeal to the federal supreme court”, the regulator said of the verdict.
However, the decision may
be of limited value to the clients concerned, as their details
have already been given to the US Internal Revenue Service and justice department.– Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2010
United Drug pays directors €2.8m
Executive directors at United Drug received total remuneration of €2.8 million in 2009, according to the company’s annual report.
Chief executive Liam FitzGerald was paid a basic salary of €580,000 for the year to the end of September 2009, plus share options worth €129,000, a pension contribution of €164,000 and benefits-in-kind of €44,000.
Executive directors’ salaries and non-executive directors’ fees were cut by 5 per cent on February 1st, 2009, as part of the company’s cost-cutting programme. Executive directors also waived their bonus entitlements last year.
German export recovery continues
German exports rebounded further late last year but Europe’s largest economy is expected to cede its title as top world exporter to China.
Exports rose 1.6 per cent in November, continuing a nearly V-shaped recovery since April, the German statistics office said. After near-catastrophic falls at the start of 2009, a resurgence in global demand for its exports, as well as government and central bank intervention, allowed Germany to escape recession in the second quarter of last year.
Germany’s recovery has failed to keep pace, however, with China, where 2009 exports are widely expected by economists to have been higher than in Germany. German exports were worth $1,020 billion in the 11 months to November, versus $1,070 billion for China, according to Goldman Sachs. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2010
“A pay freeze on executive director salaries and non-executive director fees has also been introduced for the 2010 financial year,” it stated.
