Antonis Samaras, the country’s prime minister, has said that Greece will leave the European bailout scheme next year without needing a third aid package and having to endure the painful austerity that is invariably a corollary of acceptance, according to The Guardian.
Mr Samaras said that the end of the country’s financial assistance plan was in sight after almost four years of painful austerity as he proclaimed that Greek citizens could look to next year with confidence.
Greece has already received two aid packages, with around €130bn (£109bn) wiped off its debt in 2012. Greece is expected to finally leave recession in 2014 and investor confidence in the country has grown through the last year.
Barclays: Trust could take a decade to rebuild
The boss of Barclays has said it could take as long as a decade for the bank to regain customer trust, following a plethora of banking scandals, reports The Telegraph.
Barclays was the first bank to be implicated in the London interbank offering rate rigging scandal, and faced a £290m fine from the regulator. It was also involved in the payment protection insurance mis-selling scandal and set aside billions for redress.
Speaking on this morning’s Today programme, Antony Jenkins, chief executive of Barclays, warned that trust is easy to lose and difficult to build back, adding that in his view it will take five to ten years to rebuild trust in Barclays.
Former Bank of England governor is knighted
Paul Tucker, a former deputy Bank of England governor, has been knighted in the New Year Honours list.
Mr Tucker, who played a vital role in maintaining the UK economy during the credit crisis, has been rewarded for services to central banking.
He was the leading candidate to replace outgoing Bank of England governor Lord Mervyn King before Mark Carney pipped him to the post in 2012. Mr Tucker left the bank in October after 30 years, four of which were spent as deputy governor.
Hargreaves says companies shouldn’t pay tax
Peter Hargreaves, co-founder of broker Hargreaves Lansdown, said that companies should not pay any tax, reports the Daily Mail.
He argued that companies shouldn’t pay tax as they do not have a vote and that relieving the taxation burden on enterprise would make the UK market far more attractive to firms, which would in turn lead to higher employment levels and more individuals paying tax.
Mr Hargreaves added that Hargreaves Lansdown pays the highest rate of tax in comparison to turnover of any FTSE 100 company. He said that companies come up with artificial schemes to avoid paying tax.
Senior Goldman Sachs’ staff received £2.7m pay deal in 2012
According to the Guardian, senior staff at Goldman Sachs in London received average pay deals of £2.7m in 2012, a 50 per cent rise on 2011.
The firm published the pay deals for 115 of its staff to comply with European Union rules which require banks to reveal how many ‘code staff’ – those who are authorised to perform roles that relate to the taking and management of risk – are employed and how much they are paid each year.
Goldman Sachs revealed it paid them £122m in cash and, according to Guardian estimates, £200m in shares, which they receive over three years and must hold on to for five years.
