Scandal-hit VW in Indian payout
Volkswagen has paid the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh around 2 million euros (£1.4m; $2.4m) in compensation for misdealings linked to the carmaker
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Fury over leaked Aer Lingus memo
/0 Comments/in Aer Lingus /by ceadminIrish airline Aer Lingus looks set for a bumpy ride with unions after a leaked memorandum exposed underhand tactics to speed up a job cuts programme.
The state-owned carrier developed a 12-point plan to make life difficult for its employees in a bid to make them accept voluntary redundancy.
Plans included changing shift patterns and making staff wear tacky uniforms
Bristol-Myers in $300m settlement
/0 Comments/in Bristol-Myers Squibb /by ceadminUS drugs company Bristol-Myers Squibb has agreed to pay $300m (£165m) into a shareholders’ fund, as prosecutors charged two former executives.
The firm and executives were accused of a practice called “channel stuffing” – offering incentives to get wholesalers to buy more of the company’s products.
The scheme boosted earnings at the firm, which has now agreed a “deferred prosecution” with Newark lawmakers
Microsoft helps China to censor bloggers
/0 Comments/in Microsoft Corporation /by ceadminCivil liberties groups have condemned an arrangement between Microsoft and Chinese authorities to censor the internet.
The American company is helping censors remove “freedom” and “democracy” from the net in China with a software package that prevents bloggers from using these and other politically sensitive words on their websites.
The restrictions, which also include an automated denial of “human rights”, are built into MSN Spaces, a blog service launched in China last month by Shanghai MSN Network Communications Technology, a venture in which Microsoft holds a 50% stake
Abbey landed with $1.4 m fine
/0 Comments/in Abbey /by ceadminMortgage lender Abbey has been fined £800,000 ($1.47m) by the City watchdog for mishandling complaints from its customers over endowment policies.
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) also said Abbey gave the regulator inaccurate information while failing to treat its customers fairly
Exxon facing overcharge payouts
/0 Comments/in Exxon Mobil /by ceadminOil giant Exxon Mobil has been ordered to pay damages to more than 10,000 petrol station owners for overcharging on the cost of its fuel.
The ruling by a federal court judge in Miami could set the US company back more than $1.3bn
Bank ‘offered unaffordable loans’
/0 Comments/in Lloyds TSB /by ceadminLloyds TSB has been accused of breaking the banking code of practice by giving loans to people who cannot afford them.
The BBC programme Real Story has found that one south Wales couple on a low income was lent £100,000 by the bank.
The Banking Code Standards Board has said it is investigating the actions of the bank
Tesco ‘spychips’ anger consumers
/0 Comments/in Tesco /by ceadminA US consumer privacy group has called for a global boycott of Tesco stores over the company’s trial of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chips.
The technology allows products to be tracked via radio waves.
Privacy groups have labelled them “spy chips” because they fear the tags attached to products, can be used to track the behaviour of customers
HSBC quadruple charges for UK businesses
/0 Comments/in HSBC /by ceadminUp to 350,000 HSBC small business customers could face a quadrupling of banking costs following significant charge increases.
Those with a turnover of less than half a million must now pay much more for using the branch to do their banking.
Charges include 27 pence for every cheque paid in, and 50 pence out of every £100 cash deposited at any HSBC bank
Coca Cola: Indians protest against soft drink companies
/0 Comments/in Coca Cola /by ceadminActivists in India have held nationwide protests against multinational soft drink companies Coca-Cola and Pepsi.
Reports said thousands of protesters had gathered near manufacturing plants of the two firms and demanded that they stop production.
Activists want the firms to leave India because they say their plants deplete ground water – claims the soft drinks giants both strenuously deny