From the world of business: June 2014 highlights

Here’s our guide to all the major business news from June.

Welcome to our business news round-up for June 2014. In this round-up of the most important business news stories from around the world, we point you to some of the biggest news stories that have had people talking during the past month.

Barclays faces charges for alleged “dark pool” fraud

New York’s attorney general has filed a lawsuit against Barclays over alleged fraud related to “dark pool” trading. Clients trade large blocks of shares while keep prices private using dark pools but instead of safeguarding against high-speed traders as it claimed, the attorney general alleges that Barclays actually favoured them in its dealings.

General Electric looks set to win prized Alstom energy deal

General Electric appears to be the victor after a long bidding war for French industrial giant Alstom. Alstom’s board voted unanimously to accept a revised £9.9 billion offer from the US company, after the French government took the unusual step of agreeing to purchase a 20 per cent stake in Alstom.

Study reveals shortage of female professionals in British IT industry

The latest Women in IT Scorecard from BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, and e-skills UK, highlights a serious lack of female representation in the IT sector. Less than a sixth of the country’s 1,129,000 IT specialists are women. The median gross weekly pay for female IT specialists was £120 lower than the figure for men.

England’s World Cup exit: How does it affect businesses?

An early World Cup exit can spell trouble for a country’s businesses. England’s early World Cup exit might have an adverse effect on businesses in the UK. Reuters reported that the Centre for Retail Research found bars, pub and restaurants would have gained an extra £175 million if England had just made it past the group stages.

Tesla gives away its electric car patents

Electric car manufacturer Tesla has made all of its patents freely available to anyone wishing to use the firm’s technology to develop new potential products. Provided they act in “good faith”, the company will not take any legal action against anyone using their patented designs. In a statement on the firm’s blog chief executive Elon Musk said the decision was “in the spirit of the open source movement”.

UK government announces tougher finance rules

British chancellor George Osborne has announced new measures to fight bad behaviour in the finance sector. They include criminal sanctions for manipulating the benchmarks for foreign exchange, fixed income and commodities markets. Changes to the Senior Managers and Certification Regime will see the professional standard rules cover every bank with a UK presence, not just UK-based institutions.

Queen’s Speech aims for business vote

The government used the Queen’s Speech to unveil a host of pro-business measures that it plans to pass in the current parliamentary session. Under the new small business, enterprise and employment bill, it is intended small firms will find it easier to bid for government contracts. Big firms will also be forced to publish data regarding their payment terms to fight late payment.

Employment set to pick up for UK graduates; finance leads

New data published by Income Data Services show UK employers intend to increase graduate recruitment this year. Economic recovery and revitalised demand could mean the number of vacancies rises by as much as 18 per cent this year alone. The financial services sector is leading the way, planning to up its recruitment by as much as 42 per cent.