Business and City in Brief

Accountants call for stiff penalties

The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales is calling for a change to the law to allow courts to impose stiffer penalties on anybody who deceives company auditors.

The Institute said current law relating to auditors' rights was 'weak and almost never enforced'.

Countryside sale

Countryside Properties conditionally agreed to sell its investment property portfolio to BriTel Fund Trustees (a custodian trustee property holding company for the BT Pension Scheme) for a cash consideration of pounds 60m.

Tax commission

A Royal Commission should be established to carry out a radical examination of the British taxation system, Ian Luder, the new president of the Institute of Taxation, told the organisation's annual meeting.

Computer game

The UK computer industry, losing more than pounds 300m a year through illegal software, is lobbying MPs to tighten copyright laws in an effort to halt the losses in the face of the emergence of new technologies.

Japanese slide

Car production in Japan fell 12.5 per cent in April year-on-year to 608,208 units, the 13th consecutive monthly decline in output.

Thyssen loss

Thyssen, the German steelmaker, posted a pre-tax loss of DM182m in the six months to March, against DM515m.

Air France inquiry

The European Commission yesterday opened an inquiry to determine whether French government plans to provide Ffr20bn as part of Air France's restructuring plan constituted illegal state aid.

Israeli hope

The governor of Israel's central bank forecast the Israeli economy would grow by about 5 per cent in 1994, after 3.5 per cent growth in 1993.

BP rise

BP said it would increase the wholesale price of its petrol from 4am tomorrow (Friday) by 1p a litre (4.5p a gallon).

Jim Slater

Jim Slater will not be writing his regular Thursday column as from today so that he can concentrate on preparing a new monthly statistical service for investors and on writing a book on PEPs.

EC guidebook

(First Edition)

The European Commission said in its new broad macroeconomic guidelines that budget deficits had to be reduced in the EU, inflation kept down and exchange rates stabilised.

WORLD MARKETS

New York: Early modest falls were eliminated and by the close the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 10.14 points at 3,755.30 in moderate trading.

Tokyo: Rising futures prices carried the market higher, with the Nikkei average closing 41.51 points firmer at 20,663.63.

Hong Kong: Continued moderate bargain-hunting inspired by Wall Street's firmer tone lifted the Hang Seng 31.26 to 9,521.37.

Sydney: With sentiment undermined by bond market volatility, the All Ordinaries index took a 26.5-point tumble to 2,105.9.

Bombay: Closed (holiday).

Johannesburg: Shares drifted lower in reaction to a softer gold price, leaving the overall index 32 points adrift at 5,486.

Frankfurt: Prices moved sharply lower in thin trade, with the DAX index finishing 39.95 points in arrears at 2,158.77.

Paris: A sharp fall in the bond market pulled shares down, leaving the CAC-40 index nursing a 48.91-point loss at 2,084.41.

Zurich: Interest rate worries and the downward trend on other bourses combined to lower the SPI 9.13 points to 1,758.49.

London: Report, page 36.