ALEX BRUMMER: Heartless Rio Tinto starts a scrap Down Under

Rio Tinto is no stranger to ethical problems. It currently is involved in tussles from the Gobi desert in Mongolia to Guinea in Africa, where it has been embroiled in bribery allegations. Given this torrid recent history one might have expected chairman Simon Thompson to have taken the protests from big Australian and UK investor … Read more

ALEX BRUMMER: British Airways fights the headwinds

BA owner IAG’s new chief executive Luis Gallego, who takes over the pilot’s seat from Willie Walsh, has a weighty journey ahead. The Anglo-Spanish airline group’s pandemic finances should be stabilised by £2.5billion of new equity supported by investors including the group’s biggest shareholder Qatar Airways, which has a 25 per cent stake and took … Read more

ALEX BRUMMER: Division over BT’s future

BT shares briefly rallied at the end of August when it was revealed the telecoms group is bolstering its investment banking advice with the recruitment of Goldman Sachs. Since then the stupor has returned, and with the shares at 103.5p in latest trading, it now values the nation’s telecoms champion at just above £10billion. Chief … Read more

RUTH SUNDERLAND: Aviation needs a huge lift

RUTH SUNDERLAND: Government shows little sign of having grasped the scale of the aerospace crisis – a betrayal of the industry would cost the country dear for generations to come The Government’s abject failure to get the planes flying again will kybosh ambitions to be an open, free-trading economy post-Brexit Politicians seem to have forgotten … Read more

jEFF PRESTRIDGE: Rishi’s next dish is likely to be a little less tasty

JEFF PRESTRIDGE: Rishi’s next dish is likely to be a little less tasty… tax hikes are heading our way By Jeff Prestridge for The Mail on Sunday Published: 22:01 BST, 5 September 2020 | Updated: 22:01 BST, 5 September 2020 It now seems inevitable that Rishi Sunak’s forthcoming Budget will be more painful on our … Read more

‘We need to fight back against bank branch closures’

We need to fight back against bank branch closures, says former bank executive DEREK FRENCH By Derek French For Financial Mail On Sunday Published: 22:02 BST, 5 September 2020 | Updated: 22:02 BST, 5 September 2020 Derek French is a former bank executive and founder of the campaign for community banking services The devastating loss … Read more

HAMISH MCRAE: Post-Brexit Britain must stay a magnet for talent

Hong Kong citizens are coming to the rescue of the London property market – and they are coming here to live, not just to buy properties as an investment. The reasons are obvious. Since the crackdown on dissent by China and the British Government’s response of offering a path to UK citizenship, the case for … Read more

ALEX BRUMMER: Row explodes at miner Rio Tinto

ALEX BRUMMER: Rift between chairman Simon Thompson and two of Rio Tinto’s most powerful independent directors presages a bumpy ride ahead By Alex Brummer for the Daily Mail Published: 21:57 BST, 4 September 2020 | Updated: 21:57 BST, 4 September 2020 When Rio Tinto slashed the financial rewards of key executives last month over the … Read more

ALEX BRUMMER: Hut Group’s float fails fitness test

ALEX BRUMMER: Those involved in Hut Group’s float should have been more focused on making sure the upcoming offer was something investors could fully trust By Alex Brummer for the Daily Mail Published: 22:24 BST, 3 September 2020 | Updated: 22:24 BST, 3 September 2020 No one should expect much in the way of governance … Read more