New fees for tribunals from 2013

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3 October 2011 Last updated at 14:33 GMT Employees will have to work for longer before being able to go to a tribunal A fee for bringing an employment tribunal will be charged for the first time from April 2013, Chancellor George Osborne has announced.

There will be a refund for any individual who wins their case.

The amount that will be charged and how it should be paid will be subject to consultation starting by the end of November.

There is currently no fee for an applicant who wants to make an employment tribunal claim.

The low-paid, or those without an income, may also have the fee waived or reduced at the start of the process, under the new scheme.

"We are ending the one way bet against small businesses," Mr Osborne told the Conservative conference in Manchester.

Timescale

The chancellor also confirmed that, from April 2011, the qualifying period for a claim for unfair dismissal will be that the individual must have been in the job for at least two years.

At present they only need to have been working for one year.

"We respect the right of those who spent their whole lives building up a business, not to see that achievement destroyed by a vexatious appeal to an employment tribunal. So we are now going to make it much less risky for businesses to hire people," Mr Osborne said.

Last year there were 236,000 employment tribunal claims - of which only some were unfair dismissal claims, with an average award for successful complainants of ￡8,900.

Under Mr Osborne's plan, workers will still be able to take action immediately if they suffer discrimination, but by reducing the risk of tribunals for unfair dismissals the government hopes bosses will feel more confident about hiring people.

The GMB union has criticised the plan.

"The very notion that reducing the rights of workers of between 12 months and two years service to bring unfair dismissal claims will create a single new job is quire frankly absurd. Job creation is not the real reason the Tory party want to take away these rights," said Paul Kenny, general secretary of the GMB.

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said the move was a "charter for bad bosses".

Abandoned

However, business lobby the CBI, welcomed it.

"We have been urging the government to do everything it can to make it easier for firms to grow and create jobs, and this will give employers, especially smaller ones, more confidence to hire," said director general John Cridland.

In 2010-11 the cost to the taxpayer of running employment tribunals and the Employment Appeal Tribunal in England, Wales and Scotland was more than ￡84m, according to the Ministry of Justice.

The Treasury said that more than 80% of applications made to an employment tribunal did not result in a full hearing.

Almost 40% of applicants withdrew their cases, but employers still had to pay legal fees in preparing a defence. More than 40% settled out of court and there was no record of how much applicants settled for, it added.

Martin Edwards, employment law expert at law firm Weightmans, said: "The changes may have mixed results. Someone who has not worked long enough to claim unfair dismissal may claim they are a whistleblower or a victim of discriminaiton instead, causing employers even more hassle than before.

"But people who have to pay to bring a claim may regard that as a significant disincentive to litigating a dispute."

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Banks rally on rescue deal hopes

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26 September 2011 Last updated at 20:21 GMT Continue reading the main story Last Updated at 17:44 GMT

Market indexCurrent valueTrendVariation% variationEuropean bank shares have risen as investors react to the latest attempts to stabilise the eurozone debt crisis.

A number of measures are being discussed according to reports from the weekend's international meeting in Washington.

They are expected to involve a 50% write-down of Greece's massive government debt, the BBC's business editor Robert Peston says.

French and German bank shares were up 10% at one stage in Monday trading.

European governments hope to have measures agreed in five to six weeks, in time for a meeting of the leaders of the G20 group in Cannes at the beginning of November.

But EU officials in Brussels stress that they should not be seen as "a single grand plan", the BBC's correspondent Chris Morris says.

The measures being discussed are:

Institutions that have lent money to Athens writing off about 50% of the money they are owedThe size of the eurozone bailout fund, the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), increasing dramatically to 2 trillion euros (￡1.7tn; $2.7tn)Strengthening big European banks that could be hit by any defaults on national debt obligations.

However, on Monday evening AFP reported that German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble had told television news channel NTV that there was no plan to boost the size of the EFSF.

"We are giving it the tools so it can work if necessary," Mr Schaeuble was reported as saying.

"Then we will use it effectively but we do not have the intention of boosting its volume."

Pan-Europe gains

Uncertainty over how to tackle Greece's problems has led to some European bank shares losing half their value in recent months due to concerns about their holdings of Greek debt.

But on Monday, French banks, which are particularly exposed to Greece, rallied, with BNP Paribas and Societe Generale up 4% and 5.4% respectively, and Credit Agricole up 3.7%.

Continue reading the main story

Unless the banks are fixed, there will remain too big a risk that a financial crisis could turn the current global economic slowdown into something more akin to depression than recession”

End Quote Robert Peston Business editor, BBC News Germany's big banks were also up sharply. Allianz was up 10%, Deutsche Bank 8% and Commerzbank 7.7%. In the UK, Barclays rose 6.8% and RBS 3.3%.

The Frankfurt was up about 3% at close, and in Paris by about 2%. The UK's main index, the FTSE 100, was virtually unchanged.

US shares closed higher, with the Dow ahead by 2.5%, the S&P 500 by 2.3%, and the Nasdaq by 1.4%.

However, commodity prices were lower on remaining concerns that the eurozone crisis could affect the global economy.

Philip Tyson of brokerage MF Global told the BBC that the proposed bailout fund had to be at least 2tn euros.

He said: "Markets need confidence that the fund has the firepower to deal with the likes of Italy and Spain should contagion risks spread.

"It does need to happen, but there are big question marks about the detail, and exactly how it will happen. Time is running out."

Ben Critchley, a sales trader at spread betting group IG Index, said: "For now at least, it looks as if markets are giving some credence to a firm plan on how to tackle the debt crisis beginning to emerge.

"But if recent experience is anything to go by, this patience is unlikely to last too long if details are not forthcoming."

Key elements

The reports about the rescue proposals emerged from the annual meeting of the IMF in the US capital last week, attended by finance ministers from the G20 group of countries.

The package is expected to involve a quadrupling - from the current projected level of 440bn euros - in the firepower of the eurozone's main bailout fund, the EFSF.

Continue reading the main story

The problem, they said privately, was that ministers couldn't talk openly about a new solution to the crisis when the old one had not even been passed by national parliaments. This was a particular issue, naturally, for Germany.”

End Quote Stephanie Flanders Economics editor, BBC News It is not entirely clear how any expansion of the facility would be managed, but one suggestion is for the EFSF to guarantee the first part of any losses creditors sustain from a government defaulting on its debts, with the European Central Bank (ECB) providing an additional 1.5tn euros of loans.

The EFSF would take on the main risk of lending to governments struggling to borrow from normal commercial sources - governments like Italy.

It is also thought that private investors in Greek debt are likely to have to accept a 50% reduction in what they are owed, our editor says.

Eurozone leaders agreed a plan in July, which has yet to be ratified, that provided for a reduction in Greece's repayments to banks of about 20%.

European officials in Brussels stressed that their current focus was on getting measures, including changes to the EFSF, agreed back in July ratified by 17 national parliaments within the eurozone.

It was proving a difficult task, the BBC's Chris Morris says, to get these less far-reaching changes passed, with Germany one of three assemblies to vote this week.

The third element of the rescue plan envisages a strengthening of big eurozone banks, which are perceived to have too little capital to absorb losses.

'Critical days'

Commodity prices remained under pressure, pulled between relief that a eurozone deal could be nearer and worries that the global economy faces a downturn.

Continue reading the main story Oil prices fell sharply in early trading, but recovered with Brent crude up 60 cents at $104.57 a barrel and US light, sweet crude up 55 cents to $80.40 a barrel.

The stronger dollar, which rose around 0.2% against a basket of currencies, also weighed on oil prices as it makes dollar-denominated assets more expensive.

Gold fell 3.2% to $1,603.95 an ounce, continuing recent declines from record highs. Copper, which has already fallen, was down another 4%.

Senior commodities analysts Edward Meir, at brokers MF Global, said: "These are very critical days and weeks ahead, reminiscent very much of the touch-and-go situation we were in back in 2008.

"The key difference this time around is that it is countries and not companies that are in danger of going bust."

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AUDIO: Germany 'committed to eurozone'

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Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel will today ask her country's politicians to sign off a plan to give more money to Europe's bail out fund.

Peter Altmaier, leader of the parliamentary group for the Christian Democrats, predicts the result and the long term consequences for Angela Merkel.

And Europe editor Gavin Hewitt previews a test of her power and authority.

Get in touch with Today via email , Twitter or Facebook or text us on 84844.

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Chelsea make stadium shares bid

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Chelsea played their first home game at Stamford Bridge back in 1905 Chelsea are a step closer to building a new stadium after making a bid to buy back parts of Stamford Bridge.

The club is still to decide whether to move, but cannot do so unless it regains ownership of the stadium's pitch and stands.

They are owned by Chelsea Pitch Owners - formed in 1993 to prevent the ground being bought by property developers.

"That threat has now gone under (Roman) Abramovich's ownership," insisted Blues chairman Bruce Buck.

Buck and chief executive Ron Gourlay have appealed to the 12,000 shareholders, who are mostly fans, to sell their 15,000 shares to the club for the price they paid in return for various incentives at any new stadium.

Each share cost ￡100 and Chelsea are hopeful they would not be held to ransom, insisting there was no room for negotiation.

Buck said shareholders were getting back far more than the land was worth when the 199-year lease on Stamford Bridge was taken into account.

He said: "Bear in mind that no-one bought these shares as a financial investment.

"Everyone bought these shares as a way of helping the club and they also bought them as mementoes and souvenirs.

"We think we're paying well over the odds."

The incentives for selling include a guarantee that Chelsea would only relocate within a three-mile radius of Stamford Bridge if the club did decide to move before 2020.

A decision on the bid is expected at a Chelsea Pitch Owners' general meeting on 27 October.

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Can the iPhone still scare rivals?

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4 October 2011 Last updated at 23:33 GMT By Tim Weber Business editor, BBC News website Sony Ericsson hopes that Android will help it regain market share The days when Apple had a free run for our smartphone hearts and minds are over.

It's the first time that Apple's latest offering, the iPhone 4S, encounters a truly competitive field of rivals.

The competition is powered by Apple's former partner Google, whose Android operating system for smartphones is rapidly gaining marketshare.

Mobile phonemakers, long suffering under Apple's smartphone dominance, have embraced Android with gusto and are jostling to add software and hardware touches that trump Apple's offering.

The iPhone rivals

Samsung's Galaxy S II, for example, is already slimmer and lighter than both the old iPhone 4 and the new 4S and arguably has a better screen.

Taiwanese competitor HTC, meanwhile, hopes that a clever user interface dubbed HTC Sense will help it to best Apple.

Instead of the iPhone's static icons, HTC has improved Android to offer a raft of rich, dynamic widgets that bring information and functionality directly to the smartphone screen. HTC's Sensation, for example, is currently hard to best in terms of ease of use, not just when compared to the new iPhone but Android rivals as well.

For its top-end phones HTC also throws in a free service that allows owners to track and remotely manage their phones, probably one of the reasons why Apple recently stopped charging for a similar service.

Android has even allowed Sony Ericsson to get back into the game. For several years the company and its lacklustre range of phones have been losing market share; now the company is back with the Android-based Xperia Arc S - a well-built and user-friendly phone that can compete with most rivals.

Apple also lags in terms of hardware innovation, with several competitors pushing phones that sport 3D cameras and glasses-free 3D screens - like the Sharp 3D Aquos, the HTC Evo 3D and the LG Optimus 3D.

Google is also constantly updating Android, and provides the software free to manufacturers. This is not charitable behaviour, of course. Google search is deeply integrated into Android phones, providing healthy profits from clicks on sponsored search results (although a few network operators have begun to point customers to different search engines).

The rise of Android

The rise and rise of Android is reflected in the market share.

According to research firm Gartner, during the second quarter of 2011 Android captured a massive 43.4% of the global smartphone market - up from 17.2% just a year ago.

In contrast, Apple's iPhone software iOS gained just four percentage points to 18.2% - mainly by entering 15 new countries and signing up 42 new network operators to sell the iPhone.

The big losers are Nokia's Symbian smartphones, Blackberry maker RIM - and Microsoft who is struggling to gain traction for its new mobile operating system Windows Phone 7.

Operating System 2nd quarter 2011 2nd quarter 2010

Research in Motion (Blackberry)

Advantage Apple

Despite Android's advances, Apple still dominates the "mindshare" of the smartphone market.

This is less a function of the many Apple fans amongst tech journalists. It's more a question of first-mover advantage and, most importantly, branding.

Dozens of manufacturers are now selling numerous Android phones, ranging from the cheap and cheerful to the high end of the market. Apple and its network partners can focus all marketing around a single brand and - now - two devices.

No wonder that the iPhone is still seen by many as the benchmark against which other smartphones have to be measured - even though the new iPhone 4S has arguably failed to raise this benchmark in a significant manner. Some of the new features on the 4S have been standard on Android phones for many months.

The lack of a big "and one more thing" unveiling by Apple's new chief executive will have been greeted with loud sighs of relief by rivals.

Still, any move by Apple creates headaches for competitors. Internal documents of a mobile phone maker seen by the BBC last week showed how worried this company was that an iPhone 5 could steal all attention from the forthcoming launch of its top-end Android smartphone.

Microsoft, meanwhile...

Amidst all the Android and iPhone frenzy, spare a thought for Microsoft. A year ago and to considerable acclaim the software giant launched an all-new mobile phone software, Windows Phone 7.

Microsoft is betting on a distinct user interface

The operating system broke new ground in terms of usability, with a fresh look and many clever little features that neither Google's nor Apple's developers had thought of. Considering this was version one of the software, it was surprisingly polished.

So far, Microsoft has had little commercial success in return for its efforts. But Microsoft hopes that it can still challenge both Android and iPhone. After ironing out a few software wrinkles it has just launched Windows Phone 7.5, also known as Mango.

It's a compelling offering. The software delivers a deep integration with social networks like no other phone. Short messages exchanged with a friend - whether on SMS, Facebook or Twitter - will show up in one thread chronicling the conversation, regardless of which service was used.

A contact stored on the phone shows not just address and phone number but the most recent Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn status updates too. And the diary is easier to use than any other.

However, Microsoft's fresh assault on the smartphone market is slow out of the starting blocks.

Mango was presented to the public many months ago. A few handset makers have announced a handful of new Windows phones. The first HTC phones running Mango are only now - slowly - arriving in the shops. Microsoft's new best friend, struggling Finnish phone company Nokia, won't launch its first Windows phone before 26 October, at Nokia World in London.

Apple, in contrast, is set to bring the iPhone 4S to market in less than two weeks.

The ecosystem

As operating systems and mobile phone makers jostle for position (don't forget RIM's Blackberry, about to roll out a range of handsets with a new operating system) it may be neither clever software nor stunning hardware that decides who will win the smartphone war.

The clincher will be the services connected to smartphones. Just as Google uses Android to lure people into their ecosystem, from email to media storage to YouTube videos to documents, Apple tries to lock in its customers into the world of iTunes and iCloud services.

Surprisingly, it is Microsoft that is offering the most open mobile phone ecosystem right now.

Consumers should be able to cherish this fierce competition. They may not get the chance. As iPhones, Androids and other devices rush to market, the patent lawyers of all sides are gearing up for epic court battles over patents and protected designs.

Not all that we'll see presented on stage will reach consumers' hands.

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Zambia president nulls bank sale

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3 October 2011 Last updated at 17:10 GMT President Sata has begun a mass shake-out of political appointees inherited from his predecessor Newly-elected Zambian President Michael Sata has cancelled the controversial sale of one of the country's banks.

The $5.4bn sale of Finance Bank to FirstRand of South Africa was agreed under his predecessor, Rupiah Banda.

The bank had been seized from its shareholders in 2010 by Zambia's central bank, who alleged illegal and unsound practices.

Mr Sata, whose election ended the 20-year rule of the previous regime, has vowed to shake-up the political system.

After only a week in power, the president has already sacked the head of the central bank, as well as a string of other appointees of the previous government, including the head of the anti-corruption authority.

The original decision of the central bank to strip the bank's shareholders has also been overturned.

"There's no document of sale for Finance Bank and I am directing the ministry of finance to take the bank back to its owners immediately," said Mr Sata.

The bank's chairman, Rajan Mahtani, said he was grateful: "I am happy that Zambian investment has been restored to Zambian investors. It was all politically motivated."

FirstRand, a major South African bank, said it had received no formal notification of the decision and would continue to liaise with the Zambian central bank.

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Amazon unveils Kindle Fire tablet

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28 September 2011 Last updated at 16:42 GMT Amazon boss Jeff Bezos unveils the Kindle Fire

Amazon has unveiled a colour tablet computer called the Kindle Fire.

The $199 (￡130) device will run a modified version of Google's Android operating system.

Until now, the company has limited itself to making black and white e-readers, designed for consuming books and magazines.

As well as targeting Apple's iPad, Amazon is likely to have its sights on rival bookseller US Barnes & Noble, which already has a colour tablet.

The Kindle Fire will enter a hugely competitive market, dominated by Apple's iPad.

Amazon will be hoping to leverage both the strength of the Kindle brand, built up over three generations of its popular e-book reader, and its ability to serve up content such as music and video.

In recent years, the company has begun offering downloadable music for sale, and also has a streaming video-on-demand service in the United States. Those, combined with its mobile application store, give it a more sophisticated content "ecosystem" than most of its rivals.

Continue reading the main story 7" IPS (in-plane switching) display1024 x 600 resolutionCustomised Google Android operating system$199 (￡130)Weighs 413 grammesDual core processor8GB internal storage"It's the price and the backup services that make it really exciting," said Will Findlater, editor of Stuff magazine.

"Content is the big differentiator. It's what every other platform has been lacking, except the iPad."

Amazon's decision to opt for a 7" screen, as opposed to the larger 10" displays favoured by many rival manufacturers was a cause for concern for Ovum analyst Adam Leach.

"This screen size has undoubtedly helped them achieve a lower price point for the device but so far this form factor has not been popular with consumers, we shall see if this is related to other aspects of those devices other than its screen size. "

Digital dividend Digital content has already proved itself to be a money-spinner for Amazon.

Although the company has never released official sales figures for the Kindle, it did state - in December 2010 - that it was now selling more electronic copies of books than paper copies.

Its US rival, Barnes & Noble, has also enjoyed success with its Nook devices.

In October 2010, the company unveiled the Nook Color, which also runs a version of Android, albeit with lower hardware specs than many fully featured tablets.

While the Nook Color is largely focused on book and magazine reading, some users have managed to unlock its wider functionality and install third-party apps.

Amazon has dropped the keyboard from some of its Kindles in favour of touch

The Kindle Fire's $199 (￡130) price tag undercuts the Nook Color by $50 (￡30) and is significantly cheaper than more powerful tablets from Apple, Samsung, Motorola and others.

It is due to go on sale on 15 November in the US, although global release dates are currently unavailable.

Price cuts

Alongside the Kindle Fire, Amazon also announced a refresh of its Kindle e-readers.

The entry level device has had its keyboard removed and will now sell for $79, down from $99. Amazon UK announced that the new version would retail at ￡89.

A version with limited touchscreen capability, known as the Kindle Touch, will sell for $99. Only the US pricing has been announced so far.

"These are premium products at non premium prices," said Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos. "We are going to sell millions of these."

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Qatar gears up for 2022 World Cup

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6 October 2011 Last updated at 23:01 GMT By Bill Wilson Business reporter, BBC News Qatar now has 11 years to prepare for the 2022 World Cup To say the football world was shocked when Qatar was given the right to host the 2022 football World Cup would be an understatement.

Critics, and many still remain, wondered how such a massive event could be held in a country with a total population less than Greater Manchester's, and where the summer temperature can reach 50C.

However, the man at the helm of organising the tournament insists criticism is misplaced and that the Middle Eastern Emirate will be able to stage a memorable tournament 11 years from now.

Hassan al-Thawadi, the secretary-general of the Qatar 2022 Supreme Committee, is looking to provide a World Cup memorable for all the right reasons.

Mr al-Thawadi said that two billion people were within a four-hour flight of Qatar, and that the World Cup would "build bridges of understanding between the Middle East and rest of the world".

And some bridges need to be built.

He said that since Fifa had awarded it the tournament, the emirate had faced an "avalanche of accusations and allegations" relating to claims it had bribed its way to securing the World Cup.

Mr al-Thawadi said Qatar had in fact conducted its bid campaign "to the highest ethical and moral standards".

'Promises'

Now he wants to focus on leaving a "bold legacy" from hosting a World Cup which some analysts estimate could cost as much as ￡138bn to bring about.

Qatar hopes to leave a legacy in the areas of football development, air-cooling technology, building modular stadiums (which can be downsized after the event), and fan experience.

New stadiums will be built and existing ones will have their capacity extended

"We can deliver... and fulfil the promises we made to the world," Mr al-Thawadi told delegates at the Leaders in Football conference in London.

He said Qatar has been drawing inspiration about how to host a successful event from a number of sources, including London 2012.

The small nation, population 1.7 million, is now looking to appoint a project management company by the end of the year - "a crucial appointment which we must get right".

It is also looking to draw up a "master schedule" for stadiums and infrastructure, in order to resolve any potential pitfalls on the road to 2022 as soon as possible.

There will be 12 stadiums in use at the World Cup, and it is hoped the first new one with air-cooling technology with will be in place by 2015.

Cooling

In addition, Mr al-Thawadi said the 2022 World Cup would benefit from a "state-of-the-art transport infrastructure" which needed to be largely constructed from scratch.

The official said that the small size of the emirate meant fans would be able to stay in the same hotel for the duration of the tournament, and also to travel easily and take in two games in one day at different venues.

One on the thorny question of temperature, the country says it is also developing air-cooling techniques.

"Technology is already being trialled in open spaces in Qatar," says Mr Al al-Thawadi.

There has been talk of moving the World Cup to the winter, but this notion has been scotched my many, including the German football federation.

"We submitted a bid that looks towards hosting a summer World Cup - we are moving towards that," says the 2022 supremo.

He said it was up to the global football community to come to any unanimous decision if that situation was ever to be changed.

Meanwhile, nine of the stadiums being used will be modular, and Qatar will donate 170,000 seats to developing countries after the World Cup, when stadiums are slimmed down.

That he said, meant the country would not be lumbered with any large "white elephant" rarely full stadiums after 2022.

Alcohol

For potential visiting fans, Mr al-Thawadi wanted to quell fears that there would be nothing for them to do after matches.

Continue reading the main story

We are confident and excited that this will leave a legacy of understanding, and that people can unite through a shared love of football”

End Quote Hassan al-Thawadi Qatar 2022 "There is significant investment in tourism in Qatar, museums and entertainment sites, and a service industry dedicated towards fans," he says.

"We have always said alcohol would be available. It might not be as available as it is in London, but any fan that wants to enjoy a drink can do so."

He said the Qatar public would also be prepared for the influx of fans and, for example, their different dress sense.

In addition, he said Qatar was host to many different communities, including English people, and was "used to being hospitable".

He added: "We have hosted major events over the years" - including the 2006 Asian Games.

Catalyst

The country has also applied to host the 2017 World Athletics Championship - in competition with London - and also the 2020 Olympics.

"The Olympic Games bid is not a distraction to 2022, and may be an opportunity for some synergies with the World Cup."

It is hoped the 2022 World Cup will help improve football quality in Qatar

Hosting these large sporting events could, he said, be used as "an economic tool".

"The World Cup can be a catalyst of economic change," he believes, not only for Qatar but for the whole Middle East region.

He said a number of yet-to-be-revealed initiatives were in the pipeline to involve other Middle East countries' participation in the World Cup.

Finally, on the playing field, it is hoped that 2022 will provide the same boost to football in West Asia that the 2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan did for East Asia, particularly the two host countries.

"We want people to come and explore, and learn about us," he says.

"We are confident and excited that this will leave a legacy of understanding, and that people can unite through a shared love of football."

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VIDEO: The future for in-flight movies

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Keith Wallace reports on how technology could bring about major changes to in-flight entertainment in the skies.

Airlines are looking at options to link your phone or laptop to the aircraft's entertainment system or the internet and touch-screen ordering for your drinks and snacks on board.

Get in touch with Fast Track via e-mail or Facebook.

Watch Fast Track on the BBC World News channel on Saturdays at 0430, 1230 and 1930 GMT or Sundays at 1930 GMT.

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UK 'will resist' EU financial tax

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28 September 2011 Last updated at 22:30 GMT Jose Manuel Barroso: "We have to understand we are in a situation where we have to do things together"

Bank shares have fallen in London after the UK said it would "resist" a financial transaction tax on EU members proposed by the European Commission.

The tax would raise about 57bn euros ($78bn; ￡50bn) a year and would come into effect at the start of 2014.

At close, Royal Bank of Scotland was behind by 3.64%, Lloyds Banking Group by 2.4%, and Barclays by 1.22%.

London would be hardest hit by the tax as the majority of banking transactions in Europe come through the city.

'Tax on London?'

City of London officials have said that about 80% of the revenues of any Europe-wide financial tax would come from London.

Stuart Fraser of the City of London said the question that had to be asked was whether the proposal was "a tax on London".

The banking sector played a role in causing the economic crisis, the commission said

Mr Fraser also warned that such a tax could mean a lot of banking transaction being lost to outside of the EU, and that the cost of setting up the scheme could outstrip whatever monies it raised.

Under the proposals, the financial tax would be levied at a rate of 0.1% on all transactions between institutions when at least one party is based in the EU. Derivative contracts would be taxed at a rate of 0.01%.

The BBC's business editor Robert Peston said that while dealers and investors in financial products such as derivatives and bonds were not happy about the proposal, share dealers were more relaxed as the tax would cost less than the existing stamp duty, which the tax would replace.

Meanwhile, in Germany and France bank shares also fell at close, and the European Banking Federation called the tax a "nonsense".

Among the market losers were Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank in Germany, and Societe Generale and BNP Paribas in France.

'Contribution' Chancellor Merkel faces a crunch vote on the eurozone bailout fund

Despite the opposition Algirdas Semeta, EC commissioner for taxation, customs, anti-fraud and audit, said: "Our project is sound and workable. I have no doubt this tax can deliver what EU citizens expect - a fair contribution from the financial sector."

The EU executive also points out that financial services are "in the majority of cases exempt from paying VAT (due to difficulties in measuring the taxable base)".

Germany and France have been among countries pressing the European Commission to propose the tax on all financial investment systems, as they seek to show their citizens they are serious about recouping some of the costs of the banking crisis.

Austria, Belgium, Norway and Spain also support such a tax.

Earlier, Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso had said banks must "make a contribution" as Europe faced its "greatest challenge".

A transaction tax would need the approval of the UK in order to be implemented across the EU.

The commission said that if the UK vetoed the tax, it would look to implement it in the eurozone.

Referring to "the constraints of unanimity", Mr Barroso said "further changes to the Treaty of Lisbon" may be required in order to push through measures to stabilise Europe's economy.

'Additional revenue'

The commission said the tax was "to ensure that the financial sector makes a fair contribution at a time of fiscal consolidation in the member states".

It said financial firms had played a role in the current "economic crisis" and was "under-taxed" compared with other sectors.

The "significant additional revenue" raised would contribute to public finances, it added.

A spokesperson for the UK Treasury said it would "absolutely resist" any tax that was not introduced globally.

Continue reading the main story Use the dropdown for easy-to-understand explanations of key financial terms:AAA-rating GO The best credit rating that can be given to a borrower's debts, indicating that the risk of borrowing defaulting is miniscule."We would not do anything that is not in the UK's interests," he told the BBC.

The Treasury has said there are also a number of practical issues that need to be worked through.

And the financial secretary to the Treasury, Mark Hoban, said the transaction tax would be ineffectual unless it was a global agreement.

"If it's not done at a global level, it's not done as part of a comprehensive package, then people will find ways around it," he said.

"They'll move business out of Europe, somewhere else, they'll find different products that are outside the scope of this transaction tax, so I think there's a lot of detail to be looked at to get this right."

Earlier, in his annual State of the Union address in Strasbourg, Mr Barroso had called not only for the transaction tax but for eurozone members to issue debt collectively, through so-called eurobonds.

"Once the euro area is fully equipped with the instruments necessary to ensure both integration and discipline, the issuance of joint debt will be seen as a natural and advantageous step for all," he said.

Further austerity

Officials from the commission, along with those from the European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund, are due to begin reviewing Greece's attempts to reduce its debt levels on Thursday.

Greece's new property tax has proved particularly unpopular

They will then decide whether to release about 8bn euros from a 110bn bailout package agreed last summer, money the Greek government badly needs in order to pay its bills.

A key obstacle to the payment was removed on Tuesday when the Greek parliament passed a controversial new property tax bill that aims to boost revenues.

Eurozone members are in the process of ratifying proposals put forward in July, one of which would see private lenders writing off about 20% of their loans to Greece.

The proposals also included expanding the powers of the eurozone bailout fund. Finland approved the plan on Wednesday, while Germany will vote on it on Thursday.

With 330 seats in the 620-seat Bundestag, Chancellor Angela Merkel can afford no more than 19 rebels if she is to deliver the 311 seats required for a majority.

Greek write-off

There has been renewed optimism this week that eurozone leaders may finally be ready to take decisive action to tackle the debt crisis.

G20 leaders met over the weekend to discuss the best way forward, but EU officials stressed that no grand plan of action had been agreed.

A number of ideas were reportedly discussed, including a 50% write-down of Greece's government debts.

Other proposals included strengthening big European banks that could be hit by any defaults by highly indebted governments, and boosting the size of the eurozone bailout fund.

These helped to boost investor sentiment with stock markets rising sharply on Tuesday, although Asian and European markets were largely flat on Wednesday.

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VIDEO: Greek payout decision delayed

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4 October 2011 Last updated at 05:29 GMT Help

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Full Tilt Poker licence revoked

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29 September 2011 Last updated at 15:38 GMT Online poker is a multi-billion-dollar industry despite being banned in the US Besieged online gambling site Full Tilt Poker has had its licence revoked.

The move comes after the Alderney Gambling Control Commission (AGCC) held a hearing about the US-run site, which is registered on the Channel Island of Alderney.

The AGCC said that the owners of Full Tilt Poker had misled authorities over the amount of cash to hand.

This month, the US accused the firm of being a "global Ponzi scheme" that defrauded players out of $440m (￡289m).

Full Tilt Poker's licence was suspended by the AGCC in June.

Full Tilt Poker "had fundamentally misled AGCC about their operational integrity by continuously reporting as liquid funds balances that had been covertly seized or restrained by US authorities, or that were otherwise not actually available to the operator," the regulator said.

The AGCC said the revoking of the licence did not prevent new owners from rescuing the business.

Continue reading the main story Use the dropdown for easy-to-understand explanations of key financial terms:AAA-rating GO The best credit rating that can be given to a borrower's debts, indicating that the risk of borrowing defaulting is miniscule.Illegal

Although online gambling is illegal in the US, internet poker remains a multi-billion dollar industry because companies use a variety of ways to flout the law, including locating operations offshore.

The US Justice Department said earlier this month that Full Tilt had "defrauded players by misrepresenting that their funds on deposit in online gambling accounts were safe, secure and available for withdrawal at any time".

"In reality, Full Tilt Poker did not maintain funds sufficient to repay all players, and in addition, the company used player funds to pay board members and other owners more than $440m since April 2007," it said.

The US also charged two other online poker companies, PokerStars and Absolute Poker, with money laundering and illegal gambling in April.

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IBM now second biggest tech firm

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AppId is over the quota
30 September 2011 Last updated at 09:23 GMT Continue reading the main story For the first time since 1996 IBM's market value has exceeded Microsoft's.

IBM's closing price on 29 September was $214bn (￡137.4bn) while Microsoft's was a shade behind at $213.2bn (￡136.8bn).

The values cap a sustained period in which IBM's share price has moved steadily upward as Microsoft's has generally been in decline.

The growth means IBM is now the second largest technology company by market value. Apple still holds the top slot with a value of $362bn (￡232bn).

Since the beginning of 2011, IBM's share price has made steady gains and is now 22% higher than at the start of the year, according to Bloomberg figures. By contrast, Microsoft's value has dropped 8.8% over the same time period.

Analysts put the switch in the number two slot down to a decision IBM made in 2005 to sell off its PC business to Chinese manufacturer Lenovo to concentrate on software and services.

"IBM went beyond technology," Ted Schadler, a Forrester Research analyst told Bloomberg. "They were early to recognise that computing was moving way beyond these boxes on our desks."

By contrast much of Microsoft's revenue comes from sales of Windows and Office software used on PCs. Also, Microsoft is between releases of Windows which can mean a fallow period for its revenues.

Windows 7 was released in 2009 and Windows 8 is not expected to be released until late 2012 at the earliest.

Many have also claimed that the rise of the web, mobile computing and tablets spells the end of the PC era. In early August, Dr Mark Dean, one of the designers of the original IBM PC, declared that the centre of the computing world had shifted away from the humble desktop.

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Banking on technology to stop the rogues

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26 September 2011 Last updated at 23:05 GMT By Michael Millar Business reporter, BBC News WATCH: Risk averse: Used correctly, technology could help to avoid losses like UBS trader Kweku Adoboli's $2.3bn

When news broke that Swiss investment bank UBS had lost $2.3bn (￡1.5bn) through alleged rogue trading, the shock was matched by an equally exasperated response of "not again!" as another financial risk management disaster hit the headlines.

After all, not only did the suspected trader, Kweku Adoboli, work in a 'Delta 1' team - the same desk that the biggest ever rogue trader, Jerome Kerviel of Societe Generale, once plied his trade - but the world continues to reel from a global financial crisis which itself stemmed from a monumental failure of risk management amongst financiers.

It leaves a sceptical public scratching its collective head and wondering just what needs to happen for risk to be kept under control in the financial sector.

It might sound surprising but there is no question whether managing risk is a central obligation for financial firms.

"Under UK company law all companies are required to have a duty of care towards shareholders assets and that includes risk management," explains Prof Brian Scott-Quinn from Henley Business School.

"Under FSA rules they have additional responsibilities, they have to take reasonable care to ensure that any activities in control functions [essentially roles with 'significant influence'] are properly controlled," he adds.

But it is no mean feat to do this; across August an average of 880,000 trades were completed each day on the London Stock Exchange alone, with an average daily value of ￡6.17bn.

Financial firms have back-office functions that are there to confirm transactions are above board, but such is the volume that the only way they can keep up is with increasingly advanced technology.

Technology kicks in

Mat Newman is vice-president at SunGard; its software processes millions of transactions for its financial sector clients every day.

Adaptiv is one of Sunguard's risk management software options

"The interconnectedness of what banks are trying to do across different geographies, different time zones and different trading desks, and asset classes is just immense these days," he says.

"One of the key things banks are faced with as a challenge is how to bring this together, this vast amount of data and make sense of it at the same time - so they can see the wood for the trees."

Without such technology companies don't have a hope of gathering the information they need, analysing it and presenting it to the right people at the right time.

"These days you have systems that will monitor your current positions against those risks and you have a whole series of bells and whistles that will flag not just if you breach those limits but if you come close to those limits," says Mark Hanney, CEO of Valbury Capital stockbrokers.

This is crucial for Valbury Capital, which takes trades from clients and then passes them on to the markets, theoretically running a no-risk business model.

Mark Hanney: "You have a whole series of bells and whistles"

"If a client is trading with us they put up a certain amount of margin, and if that margin is insufficient for their positions then our systems can automatically stop them out," Mr Hanney explains.

"Those systems can apply internally as well, so if a trader goes beyond a certain position then those systems are able, once they've breached those limits, to automatically close the position out."

The "bells and whistles" that flag up problems come in all shapes and sizes, dependent on the technology a firm opts for.

"Exceptions can be flagged graphically on summary dashboards with a number of graphical metaphors employed in the form of traffic lights, dials and graphs," says Daren Cox, CEO of Project Brokers, which supplies data analysis tools to investment banks.

He says that graphics rather than tables of data are often favoured simply because they mean that potential problems are easier to spot.

There are certain key areas of risk on which the technology is often brought to bear.

These include liquidity risk (how much cash you have and whether you can meet your obligations), market risk (what's going on out there in the markets) and one of the biggest of all, credit risk - basically how much people owe you and whether they are going to be able to pay it back.

Abusing the system

With the key flash points picked out and technology that can make a decision on whether a deal is a good idea in less than 10 milliseconds, the obvious question is why things seem to go wrong so regularly?

"One of the main problems these days - as it was in 2008 - is not the system but its operators," says Michel van Leeuwen, CEO of financial compliance consultancy, IMS.

"Their intelligence, experience, vigilance, their clout in the hierarchy and the simple analogy of 'having a clock' is irrelevant if you never look at it or don't look at it frequently."

Technology is also open to manipulation if you know how.

"Part of the problem is the rogue traders we have seen in the past have come from a back office function and they know these processes very well," says Mat Newman of SunGard.

"What's quite common in the City is to grow your own talent from the back office and bring it through to the front office."

Mr van Leeuwen calls this "akin to inviting the cat into the pigeon coop".

"It would be wise not to hire a trader that used to be a... back office employee," he says.

"The imperative, regulator imposed, 'Chinese wall' imposed in process and procedures, doesn't seem to have made it to the frontal lobe of HR or the heads of trading."

Positive thinking

There is a temptation with financial crisis in the air and an angry public after blood to overemphasise the down side of the risks financial institutions take.

This Algorithmics software shows where the trade has failed on a graph

But John Macdonald, executive vice-president at financial software firm Algorithmics, says risk management technology should not just be a way to stamp down on transgressors.

"Any one transaction can be analysed by one individual but it may take some time - if you have a customer you provide banking services to they don't want to wait two or three days for a decision," he says.

"Businesses need to be able to have access to funding and making the right decisions helps the economy grow.

"That's all part of risk management - being able to measure and then decide what level of risk you decide to take because you make a return on the capital you use by taking risk."

Of course there will be those that argue that on occasion slowing everything down a bit and taking a day or two rather than a thousandth of a second to mull a deal over might be a good thing.

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Making Olympic technology work

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28 September 2011 Last updated at 23:07 GMT Weighty task: Making the technology for the London Olympics work is a "huge responsibility" says chief integrator Michele Hyron Each week we ask high-profile technology decision-makers three questions.

Michele Hyron: Viewers will be able to choose which competition, nation or athlete they want to follow

This week it is Michele Hyron of Atos,?chief integrator for the Olympic Games in London. She is responsible for leading the consortium of IT partners to design, build and operate the massive IT infrastructure that will support the London 2012 Games.

Ms Hyron leads a team that include employees from Atos and technology partners LOCOG, as well as volunteers.

She already has nearly 10 years of Olympic Games experience, serving as operations manager at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, integration manager at Athens 2004 and quality manager at the winter Games in Salt Lake City 2002.

What's your biggest technology problem right now?

As the chief integrator for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, I suppose that people would expect me to have a long list of problems. After all, if the IT doesn't work, then effectively the Games can't take place.

It is a huge responsibility, and one that everyone takes extremely seriously, but this is now my third Olympic Games and Atos's sixth.

While the technologies advance every time and we are faced with fresh problems as we integrate new applications, we have developed a robust process that ensures that we test everything in the lab over and over again.

By the time we get to the Games themselves, we have covered an extensive testing program.

In fact, our work is analogous to training pilots in aircraft simulators.

We throw every possible scenario at the IT teams - from the failure of the communications network to someone accidentally pulling out a plug - and ensure that we can recover from these without anyone at the Games or watching on TV noticing that a problem has even occurred.

The most challenging aspect of the job, though, is undoubtedly the massive increases in the amount of data which has to be organised and channelled with split-second timing.

It is estimated that between the dawn of civilisation - some four to five thousand years ago - and 2003, mankind had created about five exabyte's of data, which is 5bn gigabytes.

Across the world, we now create that amount of data every two days and the volume of business data is doubling every 18 months.

The Olympic Games is no exception. For Beijing, we produced 50% more data than we handled at the Athens Games.

The London 2012 Games will see us process significantly more information than we had at Beijing, as we meet the demands of sports fans worldwide for the latest information on their favourite events and sports stars, and deliver this information via broadcasters, internet and mobile.

What's the next big tech thing in your industry?

Atos is a global business with a presence in more than 42 countries and a workforce of 78,500 business technologists. In many respects our industry covers virtually every aspect of IT and every industry sector.

However, from my personal perspective it is the magic that we can now work with metadata to create a completely different TV experience for watching sport which is the most exciting.

We will have the ability to offer viewers the chance to choose exactly which competition, nation or athlete they want to follow, and enable them to follow more than one sporting event simultaneously.

This digital quality service will be offered over fixed and mobile devices, and is designed to allow sports fan to watch events that aren't even being broadcast on a regular programme.

So unlike the type of technologies people are used to today, with a personal video recorder (PVR) integrated into a set-top box allowing them to select when they view broadcasts, this new approach makes the viewer the director, selecting what they watch, when and from what angle.

Our approach incorporates face-recognition technologies, and this means that a viewer can either have automatic selection of the best shot or a recommendation that they can accept or reject.

The amount of data that has to been managed to offer this service is staggering, and by 2014 we estimate that more than 90% of all data traffic in the world will be video content.

It will be the equivalent of 32 million people streaming Avatar in 3D continuously every month.

What's the biggest technology mistake you've ever made - either at work or in your own life?

As a complete beginner in software development, at the start of my career, I enjoyed developing a program in Assembler.

I made it as compact as possible, playing with the stack and using other tricks. It was great fun!

What I didn't appreciate at the time was that this piece of code was completely unmaintainable.

My colleagues were still blaming me for this work years after I moved on to other things.

It was a really good lesson so early on in my career, and taught me the importance of looking ahead and appreciating the impact of what I do, not just tomorrow but years into the future.

It also taught me that while playing with software is really fun - and it is - delivering programs that are robust and practical is what counts.

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PM warns over eurozone break-up

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2 October 2011 Last updated at 12:27 GMT David Cameron warns that the UK cannot shield itself from the crisis in the eurozone Prime Minister David Cameron has warned that it would be "very bad" for the UK if the eurozone was to break up.

Speaking to the BBC's Andrew Marr Show, he said the debt crisis in the eurozone was "a threat not just to itself, but also a threat to the UK economy, and a threat to the world economy".

He reiterated that eurozone leaders had to take quick and decisive action.

Mr Cameron said that, as 40% of UK exports went to the eurozone, it could not shield itself from the problem.

The prime minister said the UK government had "a very clear view" of what needed to be done, and that it was pushing this with its partners in Europe and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

He said eurozone leaders had to strengthen the region's financial mechanisms, ensure the greater involvement of the IMF, and deal decisively with the high levels of sovereign debt.

Mr Cameron added: "Action needs to be taken in the next coming weeks to strengthen Europe's banks, to build the defences that the eurozone has, to deal with the problems of debts decisively."

He said these emergency measures were needed before any long-term plans of more economic coordination across the eurozone were introduced, such as a single tax system.

Greek fears

European stock markets again fell heavily on Friday due to concerns about the debt crisis in the eurozone.

Continue reading the main story Use the dropdown for easy-to-understand explanations of key financial terms:AAA-rating GO The best credit rating that can be given to a borrower's debts, indicating that the risk of borrowing defaulting is miniscule.It meant that for the three months from July to September, the main UK share index, the FTSE 100, recorded its biggest quarterly fall since 2002.

The concerns centre on Greece, the most indebted eurozone nation.

Greece needs its next 8bn euros (￡6.9bn; $10.9bn) instalment of European Union (EU) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout loans by the middle of this month to be able to continue paying its civil servants and teachers.

This tranche was delayed in September after EU, IMF and European Central Bank officials said the Greek government was not carrying out sufficient austerity measures.

The wider fear is that Greece will ultimately default on its debt payments, and of the knock-on effect this would have on banks across Europe which own Greek government bonds.

Some commentators also warn that Greece may ultimately have to leave the eurozone, plunging the region's economic and political systems into chaos.

Eurozone leaders and the IMF are now continuing to work on a solution to the debt crisis, with French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel due to speak again this week.

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Dot brand versus dot com

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30 September 2011 Last updated at 03:54 GMT By Fiona Graham Technology of business reporter, BBC News Death sentence?: As brands are given the opportunity to have their own domains, could the dominance of .com be at an end? Business is good. Your bathroom fittings company has replaced the conveniences in half the homes in your neighbourhood. But there's one small fly in your ointment.

You were a bit late to the game when it came to the internet.

And when you finally decided to go online, www.bloggsbogs.com was already taken. You're pretty sure this must be the reason you haven't made quite the splash you wanted in other towns.

Is there another way?

Domain dominion

Beginning in January 2012, applications open for a new class of gTLD (generic top level domain).

The people who control the use of internet domains, Icann (Internet Committee for Assigned Names and Numbers), announced in June they were extending the suffixes used for web addresses beyond the existing 22 (.com, .net, .uk, etc).

Interested parties can apply to run one, and either retain it for themselves, or set up as a registrar selling domains within groups like .car or .bank.

Icann voted to allow the proposals for the new domains at their meeting in Singapore in June 2011.

The suffixes don't have to be roman letters, so could for example be Chinese characters.

Some rules do apply - for instance, they must have at least three letters (Icann is holding onto the remaining two letter domains in case new countries are created).

So now companies can bid for their own gTLD for the first time. Think .hitachi, .coke, .facebook.

Could .com's dominance be coming to an end?

Time limited

If your dream of registering .bloggsbogs is going to become reality, you'd better get your skates on. The application period opens on 12 January 2012, and closes three months later on 12 April.

Miss this and you may be twiddling your thumbs till 2015 according to Tim Callan, chief marketing officer at domain experts Melbourne IT DBS.

"[Companies] have to be prepping, and they have to be getting ready and figuring out what they're doing so they're ready."

Some may be left behind, says Simon Briskman, partner and IT specialist at law firm Field Fisher Waterhouse.

Tim Callan: "Verisign predicts there will be 1,500 applications"

"I think it's difficult for brands to take this very short period we've got - the last quarter of this year - to assess and make a full business case."

Mr Briskman says some companies have stalled, initially put off by the cost.

"I think we've now got to the point where people are going: 'Hang on a minute, this is a drop in the ocean compared with the investment we make in the brand. We really do need to properly assess the business case.'

"[Some] big brands are going to miss the window - simple as that. You can't move large organisations at this speed."

Shirt off your back

Cost may cut out all but the megabrands.

Applying will set you back $185,000, and it doesn't stop there, says Melbourne IT DBS's Tim Callan: "Your corner mom-and-pop shop, this is not right for them.

"A good estimate is it will cost between $150,000 - $200,000 a year to run [a gTLD]. So costly yes, compared to your and my wallets, but for the companies we're talking about - trivial.

"I've yet to run into anybody who I would consider a prospect for this who has a cost objection."

Rebecca Moody, head of planning at advertising agency Euro RSCG, agrees: "It's a no-brainer for John Lewis or for Coca-Cola, for example, both successful big brands who can probably afford dot brand."

Bloggs Bogs may have to settle for registering for a dot category domain - if anyone applies for .toilet that is.

The cost of applying for your own gTLD will probably restrict it to megabrand corporations like Coca Cola

When the application period closes, Icann will decide who has a viable bid.

"They're taking the public facing internet, they're slicing chunks off and they're giving them to people to operate," says Mr Callan. "So they want to be confident people can run it correctly."

Where there are multiple qualifying bids, Icann has a set of criteria to decide who wins - in the case of dictionary words for example, open communities trump private ones.

If this process doesn't resolve the situation, then it goes to auction, with the highest bidder winning. The first gTLDs could be live by early 2013.

Return on investment

So what is pushing companies to buy their own dot brand?

Mr Callan says protecting your trademark is one motive, not only to thwart cybersquatters, but to beat other companies using the same name to it.

"Trademark law allows non-colliding trademarks to exist. If I'm operating in North America and you're operating in Europe and we don't cross over, then we can both have a trademark. But only one of us can have the TLD."

Continue reading the main story dot category: .bank, .music, .shopdot place: .london, .berlin, .nycdot brand: .canon, .hitachi, .unicef, .motorolanon-Roman scripts allowed: Arabic, Chinese etcminimum three charactersno numbers, hyphens or non-letter charactersno country namesno two words that differ slightlyno plurals if singular exists, e.g. bank not bankstrademark holders can block cybersquattersThen, he says, there's the marketing benefit.

"[Companies] think they can have a better connection between offline marketing and online traffic by having names that are shorter, more memorable, easier to pop out in a marketing campaign."

"For example, laptop.hitachi. Very crisp. Very easy to remember, very easy to communicate."

This includes the benefits a loaded url brings in terms of search engine optimisation (SEO) strategy, a process where sites are built to make them more attractive to search engines.

Security is another draw.

"There are a lot of people who won't do internet shopping because of the security, I think dot brand has a lot of potential there," says Field Fisher Waterhouse's Simon Briskman.

"[It] is going to really help as a seal of authenticity."

Perception is a big deal, according to Dr Jonathan Freeman, senior lecturer in psychology at Goldsmiths, University of London and managing director of i2 media research.

"A lot of this is consumer perception. Reassuring consumers is going to enhance the online behaviours and transactions. They'll feel a lot more happy dealing [with] it."

Despite this, he anticipates consumers will not immediately take to the new naming conventions.

Dr Freeman says finding dot brand sites without having to search could be easier on mobile devices

"What people are used to doing is going to be a big determinant in how consumers adopt and use dot brand as it rolls out.

"I'd expect it to take a while to embed in consumer behaviour, especially given the extent to which consumers rely on search engines today."

So where does this leave the brands that cannot afford to be part of the new world order?

"There will inevitably be a new brand ranking system, which in a way I find kind of concerning." says Euro RSCG's Rebecca Moody.

"Do you risk looking like a second rate brand?"

Out of the loop

Understandably, smaller brands are uneasy.

"What the small businesses and not-for-profits have been complaining about is there's a significant barrier to entry," says Field Fisher Waterhouses's Simon Briskman.

"People are selling off slices of the internet real estate, and they feel they're going to get closed out."

He says subsequent rounds may prove a little cheaper.

Continue reading the main story

It's just not possible for everyone to get the names that they want in the new dot com space”

End Quote Simon Briskman Field Fisher Waterhouse "I think people will start to aggregate the running of these day-to-day, which ought to bring down some cost. I still don't think that it will be accessible to Martha with her boutique in Marylebone."

And the ubiquitous dot com? It's probably safe for some time to come.

"I don't believe anyone is going to be shutting their dot coms in the next five years," says Tim Callan of Melbourne IT DBS.

"But does any of us think we're going to be typing dot com in a hundred years? No."

Simon Briskman is somewhat more tempered.

"The reason dot com will survive is [for example] the Times - there's the Financial Times, the New York Times. It's just not possible for everyone to get the names that they want in the new dot com space."

"If you want a good presence, but maybe not the best presence, if you want someone else to run the infrastructure, you'll probably use dot coms.

"They'll happily co-exist I just don't think they'll have the same power that the dot brand does."

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Samsung pays Microsoft royalties

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29 September 2011 Last updated at 14:19 GMT Samsung said it would work with Microsoft on future smart phone technologies Samsung is to start paying Microsoft royalties for every sale of its smartphone and tablet computers that run the rival Google Android platform.

Microsoft has long accused Android of violating its patents.

Google said its US rival Microsoft was "resorting to legal measures to extort profit from others' achievements and hinder the pace of innovation".

Meanwhile, Samsung has received support from T-Mobile in its continuing legal fight with Apple.

IP wars

Google said Microsoft was resorting to "the same tactic we've seen time and again".

It added: "We remain focused on building new technology and supporting Android partners."

Per Roman of technology investment bank GP Bullhound said he was not surprised by the Samsung-Microsoft announcement.

"Many people have long said that Android contains some Microsoft technology," he said.

"Ultimately we are in the area of IP [intellectual property] wars. There is now an intense battle among the technology giants regarding their IP portfolios."

Court side

Samsung has also received help from T-Mobile in its continuing legal battle with Apple.

Samsung and Apple are facing each other in courts around the world as they wrangle over patents used in smartphones and tablets.

Apple has applied for an injunction that would stop Samsung selling many of its products in the US. A hearing on the injunction is scheduled for 13 October.

Now T-Mobile has filed papers with the court saying any ban would bring "unnecessarily harm" to it and its customers because it would not be able to find alternative products before the busy holiday season.

T-Mobile's backing for Samsung follows support from Verizon which earlier this week said legal rows over who owns which patent should not hamper the flow of future devices.

'Dramatic growth'

Microsoft and Samsung also said they would cross license their patent portfolios.

South Korea's Samsung has further agreed to co-operate in the development and marketing of Windows Phone, Microsoft's own smart phone operating system.

Andy Lees, president of Microsoft's Windows Phone division, said: "Microsoft and Samsung see the opportunity for dramatic growth in Windows Phone and we're investing to make that a reality."

Samsung's executive vice president of global product strategy, Hong Won-Pyo, added that the two firms would "continue to bring the latest innovations to the mobile industry".

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HP completes buy-out of Autonomy

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3 October 2011 Last updated at 21:51 GMT Continue reading the main story Hewlett-Packard has completed the $12bn (￡7.8bn) buy-out of UK software firm Autonomy, despite the departure of the man who initiated it.

Leo Apotheker was replaced as HP chief executive last month amid falling sales and a share price collapse.

The Autonomy deal was part of a massive overhaul of the troubled US computer giant unveiled by Mr Apotheker.

But plans to spin off its core PC business received a thumbs down from the market.

HP's shares have fallen 47% this year, making it one of the worst performers in the Dow Jones index of leading US companies.

The purchase price for Autonomy was also widely criticised by market analysts as too high, but British takeover rules made it almost impossible to cancel the bid.

Meg Whitman, the former head of eBay who replaced Mr Apotheker, said shortly after her appointment that the deal would still go ahead.

The UK firm's head, Mike Lynch, later got into a colourful spat with HP rival Oracle, who claimed that Mr Lynch had sought a rival bid from them and been declined.

Oracle's chief executive Larry Ellison described the asking price as "absurdly high".

HP's shares closed 1.1% lower on Monday, outperforming the wider market.

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Trade watchdog link to loan firm

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1 October 2011 Last updated at 23:40 GMT By Adrian Goldberg Presenter, 5 live Investigates Trading Standards is taking consultancy payments from a firm which is also the subject of customer complaints.

West Yorkshire Trading Standards (WYTS) received payments from online loans broker SGE Loans in exchange for regulatory advice.

But some customers claim that SGE Loans has debited their bank accounts without consent - a claim SGE Loans denies.

WYTS says such partnerships are necessary because of budget cuts but its integrity remains unaffected.

WYTS says it has received over ￡88,000 ($137,500) since April 2011 from a total of 47 companies with which it has similar partnerships.

It confirmed that it only started charging SGE Loans for its detailed advice in that month, but would not reveal the precise sum it had received from SGE Loans, citing commercial confidentiality.

However, it did reveal that it had investigated a number of complaints made against the company.

Unauthorised payments

One customer who contacted the 5 live Investigates programme, Lianne Gray, says she rang SGE Loans in August of this year.

Customers say SGE took unauthorised payments from their bank accounts. SGE Loans denies this.

She says she was reassured that no money would be taken out of her account if she decided not to take out a loan.

"I then discovered two days later that the company had taken ￡79.99 out of my bank, which I could not afford to lose because I'm on benefits," she said.

"I am absolutely disgusted with how I have been treated."

5 live Investigates contacted SGE Loans on Ms Gray's behalf and her money was subsequently refunded five weeks after it had been debited.

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SGE Loans does not debit money from customers' accounts without authorisation”

End Quote Sally Hill Chief executive, SGE Loans David Dutfield had a similar experience when he called SGE Loans in June.

"I was told on the phone that no money would leave my account if my loan was below ￡200, which is what I was after.

"Yet when I came off the phone I found that ￡69.99 was taken from my account."

Following inquires made by the BBC, Mr Dutfield has also been refunded following more than three months of dispute.

West Yorkshire Trading Standards confirmed, in several instances, recordings of customer calls revealed that some SGE Loans staff had not fully explained the terms of its business and did not warn customers they were liable to pay an upfront fee, which could be refunded after a 14 day cooling-off period.

WYTS says SGE Loans subsequently took disciplinary action and retrained staff who made such mistakes.

SGE Loans chief executive Sally Hill told the BBC that SGE Loans did not debit money from customers' accounts without authorisation.

In a written response, she said that SGE Loans had never refused to refund money to a customer who had cancelled within the 14 day cooling-off period, if the company's service had not been used.

'Error of judgement'

Leeds-based SGE Loans has what is called a Primary Authority Partnership with West Yorkshire Trading Standards, which means that the branch deals with complaints made against the company from across the UK.

The company also has a commercial contract with WYTS, paying for advice about legal and regulatory issues.

During the course of its investigation, 5 live Investigates discovered SGE Loans featured a West Yorkshire Trading Standards logo on its website.

When asked why the logo was being used by the company, WYTS said: "Initially, and possibly naively, this service [WYTS] assumed that this would be taken for what it was - a statement of fact that we and the business had a Primary Authority partnership.

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Trading Standards should distance themselves from all companies and it would be better for all of us if all businesses regarded Trading Standards as a threat and something to be worried about”

End Quote Mark Gander Consumer Action Group "However, we now recognise that people are assuming that this is an endorsement of the business."

As a result, WYTS has asked SGE Loans to remove the logo from its company website.

When asked if it felt compromised by taking payment from firms it was also receiving complaints about, WYTS told the BBC:

"We refute any allegation that being in a Primary Authority Partnership with any business means this service does not undertake its duties, including to deal with complaints impartially, in anything but a professional manner."

WYTS also says that its relationship with SGE and other businesses helps them to understand the legal framework within which they operate, and "get it right", thus saving taxpayers money in the long run.

Marc Gander, from Consumer Action Group, told 5 live Investigates that it was inappropriate for a regulatory body to be funded in this way and said it was "a grave error of judgement".

"Trading Standards should distance themselves from all companies and it would be better for all of us if all businesses regarded Trading Standards as a threat and something to be worried about," he said.

WYTS, in common with Trading Standards offices around the UK, is under severe financial pressures as it faces budget cuts.

Planned local government spending on Trading Standards across England has been reduced overall by 11.4% in 2011/12, and in Wales by 7.4%.

WYTS says it faces budget cuts of 22% and this has has made it a necessity to charge companies such as SGE Loans for its regulatory advice.

Some 443 of 538 Trading Standards departments responded to a survey by 5 live Investigates - 18 said they received income from private companies in exchange for regulation and compliance advice.

You can hear the full report on 5 live Investigates on Sunday, 2 October at 21:00 BST on BBC Radio 5 live.

You can listen again on the BBC iPlayer or by downloading the 5 live Investigates podcast.

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UK economic growth revised down

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5 October 2011 Last updated at 14:44 GMT Industrial output fell less than previously thought The UK economy grew by 0.1% between April and June, less than the 0.2% estimated previously.

Output from the service sector grew by 0.2% in the quarter, compared with the previous estimate of 0.5%, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.

Separate data suggested activity in the UK service sector grew in September.

The Treasury pointed to these figures as evidence the UK economy was still growing and said it would be sticking with its deficit reduction programme.

'Continued expansion'

The ONS also revised down growth in the first three months of the year, from 0.5% to 0.4%.

It added that household consumption fell by 0.8% in the second quarter.

Separately, a survey from Markit/CIPS found the UK's service sector purchasing managers' index (PMI) recorded a figure of 52.9 for September, up from 51.1 in August. A figure above 50 indicates growth.

Figures from the same company published earlier this week showed surprise growth in the manufacturing sector.

A Treasury spokesperson said: "While the UK cannot insulate itself from what is happening to our major trading partners, with financial turbulence in the eurozone and a weaker outlook for global growth, the economy is still growing and this week's survey data for the manufacturing and service sectors are consistent with continued expansion."

The government has been criticised in some quarters for concentrating too much on cutting the budget deficit at the expense of stimulating growth.

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So if households do what Mr Cameron wants, and continue to pay back their debts, it is very difficult to see how the economy can grow at much more than 1% or so per year for many years to come”

End Quote Robert Peston Business editor, BBC News On Wednesday, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said that Europe's stronger economies should avoid imposing drastic budget cuts at the expense of growth.

If economic conditions deteriorate in the UK, Germany or France, governments should "consider delaying" cuts, particularly as they can borrow at low interest rates, the IMF said.

However, the Treasury reiterated that it did not intend to hold back on its spending cuts.

"The government will stick to the deficit reduction plan which has won the UK credibility and stability, but the most important thing for the economy now is restoring confidence, which will depend on the eurozone decisively dealing with its problems."

Further stimulus

The latest GDP revision is likely to raise further questions about the strength of the UK's fragile economic recovery.

In an interview with the Reuters news agency, the head of the British Retail Consortium, Stephen Robertson, said: "The next six months are going to be characterised by very low levels of growth. I think we've probably got another 18 months of real challenge."

Underlying costs for businesses will continue to rise, with the retail sector finding life "extremely difficult", he added.

On Wednesday, supermarket giant Tesco reported a fall in like-for-like sales excluding petrol and VAT of 0.5% for the first half of the year, while retailer Mothercare said like-for-like sales between July and September fell by almost 10%, triggering a 36% slump in its share price.

Also on Wednesday, airline Flybe saw a similar fall in its share price after reporting a "significant slowdown in sales" across its UK domestic network in September.

There has been speculation that the Bank of England will restart its quantitative easing (QE) programme, whereby it pumps money into the economy to boost demand.

At its meeting last the month, most members of the Bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) agreed the case for an "immediate" stimulus had strengthened.

Some analysts said the encouraging PMI data could mean a delay in restarting QE, but most agreed further stimulus would be introduced this month or next.

The MPC's next meeting begins on Wednesday, with an announcement on interest rates and QE due at midday on Thursday.

"The bigger picture, including the risks to the economy from the eurozone debt crisis, far outweigh the services PMI survey and our view remains that the MPC will probably sanction further asset purchases tomorrow," said Philip Shaw at Investec.

Brian Hilliard at Societe Generale said the continuing debt crisis "should trigger a move [for QE] this week. I give about a 60% chance to that; if not, it's an absolute racing certainty for November".

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European financial tax 'bad idea'

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30 September 2011 Last updated at 12:40 GMT Mr Borg said Sweden's experience of a financial transaction tax was "very bad" A European financial transaction tax is unlikely to raise the sums of money projected as it would encourage firms to move overseas, Sweden's finance minister has told the BBC.

Anders Borg said Sweden abandoned its own transaction tax after most trading companies left the country.

The tax "had a very detrimental impact on our financial markets", he said.

If the European Union introduces the tax, firms could simply move to New York or Asia, Mr Borg said.

'Very bad tax'

Sweden introduced a transaction tax on financial firms in the 1980s.

"Between 90%-99% of traders in bonds, equities and derivatives moved out of Stockholm to London," Mr Borg said.

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We are basically taxing growth away from Europe, and that is not a very good idea”

End Quote Anders Borg Swedish Finance Minister "The impact was basically that we did not get any tax revenue. It brought in very little tax money while moving most of the businesses outside of Sweden.

"We abandoned [the tax] because it was a very, very bad functioning tax."

The fact that the US has said it has no intention of introducing a similar tax, meant that firms would be free to move to other financial centres, Mr Borg said.

"So we are basically taxing growth away from Europe, and that is not a very good idea.

"I hope [policymakers] realise they might be losing out themselves. This is not a stable tax base."

Mr Borg said he was in favour of making the banking system pay, and making it more robust, but that any measures designed to bring this about should not push firms out of Europe.

Hard hit

The UK has also been vocal in its opposition to the tax proposed by the European Commission earlier this week.

A spokesperson for the UK Treasury said it would "absolutely resist" any tax that was not introduced globally.

London would be hardest hit by the tax as the majority of banking transactions in Europe come through the city.

However, a number of other European countries are in favour of the tax, including France, Austria, Belgium, Norway and Spain.

The commission has said it will look at implementing the tax just in the 17 member states of the eurozone if other EU members oppose it.

Under the proposals, the financial tax would be levied at a rate of 0.1% on all transactions between institutions when at least one party is based in the EU. Derivative contracts would be taxed at a rate of 0.01%.

The tax would raise about 57bn euros ($78bn; ￡50bn) a year and would come into effect at the start of 2014, the commission said.

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Arsenal financial future 'secure'

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Arsenal moved from Highbury to Emirates Stadium in 2006 Chief executive Ivan Gazidis has said Arsenal's financial future is bright despite a fall in turnover and profit.

The Gunners reported group turnover for the year ending 31 May as ￡255.7m, down from ￡379.9m in 2010, while profit was also reduced from ￡56m to ￡14.8m.

Gazidis told the club website: "We are very secure - it's a good set of results again.

"This is a very solid, very healthy set of results and it gives us a good platform to move forward from."

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Arsenal's accounts do not include the ￡30m gained from the sale of Cesc Fabregas, the ￡24m received for Samir Nasri or the ￡7m paid by Manchester City for Gael Clichy

A reduced income from property sales at the Highbury redevelopment and increase in player wages have played their part in the drops, but the figures do not include the sales of midfielders Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri to Barcelona and Manchester City respectively.

"We didn't have the same kind of profit from player sales that we had in the previous season and that explains the slight reduction in profit," added Gazidis.

"We haven't seen the same kind of profits from the property side that we have seen in the past but that was entirely to be expected. Our property business is debt-free so any new sales of property do accumulate cash, which is very positive for the future."

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Greek default now 'unavoidable'

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29 September 2011 Last updated at 07:04 GMT Ernst & Young says the eurozone debt crisis shows no sign of abating A Greek default "now seems unavoidable", according to analysts at business services group Ernst & Young.

The firm's quarterly Eurozone Forecast also says that the chance of recession in the euro bloc has increased sharply.

Rising financial tensions and a near stalling of economic growth means "there is a real danger that events will overtake policymakers", it said.

The key question on Greece is when a "default will occur and how it will be managed".

The Ernst & Young (E&Y) report says: "Authorities have been slow in trying to tackle the problems facing Greece, Ireland and Portugal.

"It was hoped that the rescue package for Greece announced in July would bring to an end the long period of indecision and uncertainty."

But the report adds: "The eurozone sovereign-debt crisis shows no sign of abating."

As well as a Greek default, E&Y predicts there is a 35% chance of the eurozone economy slipping back into recession.

The report predicts that gross domestic product in the euro area may rise by 1.6% this year, instead of 2% forecast previously, before slowing to an "anaemic" 1.1% growth rate in 2012.

"The [European Central Bank] ECB should lower interest rates to below 1% should the eurozone fall back into recession," it said.

The ECB is "the only institution with some room for manoeuvre since governments cannot or do not want to relax fiscal policy".

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Spain halts lottery privatisation

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29 September 2011 Last updated at 12:18 GMT The national lottery is famous for its El Gordo, or fat one, draw Spain has stopped the part-privatisation of the national lottery which had been expected to raise billions of euros.

The sale of up to 30% of the national lottery was postponed because the market valuation had been too low, the finance ministry said.

It intends to start the sale process again when conditions improve.

Spain had hoped to sell off a number of its assets, including 49% of the airports operator, to cut its deficit.

The lottery sale had been expected to raise several billion euros and would have been the country's biggest privatisation. It would also have created one of the biggest firms on the Spanish stock exchange's Ibex index.

It had been approved by the Spanish government just last week and presentations for potential investors had been expected to start at the beginning of October.

"Rather than have it valued for less than we had expected and for less than we believe to be the fair value, we decided to delay this listing," Finance Minister Elena Salgado told Spanish radio.

"Among individual investors there was and still is an extraordinary interest and among institutional investors too, but at prices that we did not want to accept."

But analysts suggested that opposition to the sale from the Popular Party, who are considered likely winners of the general election in November, may have played a part in the decision to pull it.

Elena Salgado added that the sale of almost half of Aena, the airports operator, would still go ahead.

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VIDEO: Cargill chief executive on its success

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29 September 2011 Last updated at 08:43 GMT Help

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