Sparks fly as Provident accused of ‘scaremongering’ over hostile Non-Standard Finance bid May 10, 2019 Non-Standard Finance (NSF) has hit out at the management of Provident Financial, accusing it of “scaremongering” in a bid to fend off a hostile takeover. NSF, which launched the £1.3bn bid in February, today accused Provident of going “to great lengths to deflect attention from its flawed strategy, regulatory breaches, broken promises and underwhelming financial [...]
The best and worst ads of 2019 December 16, 2019 It has been a year of highs and lows for adland. PRs, creative agencies, and brands will be examining their advertising efforts this month, and while some will be pleased with their work, others will be looking to improve next year. To help with this process, I asked members of the marketing industry and other [...]
Experian to acquire London fintech startup Clearscore in £275m deal March 15, 2018 Experian, the world’s biggest credit data company, has bought London-based fintech company Clearscore in a £275m deal. The credit checking firm’s CEO Brian Cassin said the deal was “another important step in our strategy to extend the services we provide to UK consumers”. Clearscore launched in July 2015 and now offers over 6m UK customers [...]
FCA to overhaul banks’ ‘dysfunctional’ overdraft fees June 7, 2019 The financial regulator will set out to stop banks from charging higher fees for unarranged overdrafts, it confirmed today. Read more: Consumers could save ‘£100m a year’ from overdraft shake-up The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) laid out planned reforms to the “dysfunctional” overdraft market in a bid to make such arrangements simpler, fairer and easier [...]
Siemens and Alstom merger plans blocked by EU antitrust regulators February 6, 2019 A planned merger between Siemens and Alstom has been stopped in its tracks after EU regulators rejected the deal due to competition concerns. The transportation giants had put forward plans to create a combined company with revenues of roughly €15bn (£13.2bn). Read more: Alstom and Siemens offer merger concessions to get EU on side But [...]
River and Mercantile ‘focused on conduct’ following City watchdog investigation March 11, 2019 River and Mercantile has said it will focus on conduct as it moves to reassure investors in the wake of an investigation by the City watchdog. The Financial Conduct Authority fined the asset management firm £109,000 last month after it was found to have broken competition law, and former portfolio manager Philip Rodrigs was sacked [...]
Why M&S’ relegation from the FTSE 100 doesn’t mean the death of the High Street September 20, 2019 Marks and Spencer (M&S) is set to be relegated from the FTSE 100 after the close of business today. This will be the first time that the company has lost its blue chip status. The UK retailer was a founder member of the FTSE 100 and a stalwart of the UK High Street. But its [...]
Does Hargreaves Lansdown’s strategy cause too much money to pour into too few funds? August 28, 2019 Given that diversification is one of the most important principles of investing, we should question why the UK’s largest investment platform Hargreaves Lansdown doesn’t seem to be following this basic idea. This became apparent in the wake of the scandal around Britain’s most famous fund manager, as £1.6bn was funnelled into Neil Woodford’s still-suspended fund [...]
Chinese telecoms giant Huawei sues US government after federal equipment ban in wake of spying claims March 7, 2019 Chinese mobile phone giant Huawei has sued the US government, saying a law introduced in August which limits its US business is unconstitutional. The embattled telecoms maker filed a complaint in a federal court in Texas on Thursday against the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), part of which prevents federal agencies and their contractors from [...]
US Election: Biden’s (almost certain) win: How it happened November 6, 2020 Live updates on the US Presidential Election 2020 as Donald Trump and Joe Biden go head to head. Rolling coverage as Americans vote.