Financial Conduct Authority’s Martin Wheatley plays down fears of the UK leaving the EU September 24, 2015 The Financial Conduct Authority's chief executive Martin Wheatley has said that the short-term impact on the City of a dreaded "Brexit" would be minimal. Read more: There will be no 5 May EU referendum vote as Cameron offers concession to Eurosceptics Even if the UK leaves the EU, it's still likely to abide by the financial [...]
Competition and Markets Authority rejects calls to break up big banks in retail banking review October 22, 2015 The competition watchdog has ruled out breaking up Britain’s biggest banks and defended so-called free banking practices. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) published the preliminary results of its 18-month investigation into the retail banking sector this morning. The watchdog launched the investigation over concerns the “Big Four” banks – Lloyds, RBS, HSBC and Barclays [...]
The nightmare before Christmas: Aldi and Lidl hammer Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s and Tesco October 21, 2015 Britain's biggest supermarkets are facing a crunch Christmas as the pressure from German discounters Aldi and Lidl is ramped up, with experts warning of a bloody battle for this year’s festive season. The German duo have both seen growth rates return to over 17 per cent in the past three months, according to data from [...]
The nightmare before Christmas October 20, 2015 Aldi and Lidl hammer British supermarkets BRITAIN’S biggest supermarkets are facing a crunch Christmas as the pressure from German discounters Aldi and Lidl is ramped up, with experts warning of a bloody battle for this year’s festive season. The German duo have both seen growth rates return to over 17 per cent in the past [...]
Vickers defends his ring-fencing bank reforms June 30, 2015 THE ARCHITECT of the UK’s post-financial crisis banking reforms staunchly defended his recommendation for retail banks to be ring-fenced yesterday, saying the case is stronger than ever. Sir John Vickers, who headed up the Independent Commission on Banking (ICB) that recommended the reforms in 2011, told the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee: “In my [...]
Emerging market slowdown wipes £79bn off the value of Britain’s biggest firms November 4, 2015 One day after Standard Chartered’s “disappointing” third-quarter results sent the Asia-focused bank’s share price down nearly 10 per cent during trading, City A.M. analysis reveals that the slowdown in China and other emerging markets has wiped off around £79bn from some of Britain’s biggest businesses. Eight blue-chip companies have seen their combined market cap plummet by £78.7bn [...]
Bank of England braced for historic Super Thursday – London Report August 2, 2015 THIS WEEK includes s-called Super Thursday when the Bank of England’s policy announcement, meeting minutes from the monetary policy committee and the latest Inflation Report will – for the first time – all be released simultaneously. HSBC gets the week off with a bang today with interim results, Standard Life tomorrow and Legal & General [...]
Autumn Statement 2014: Shares in RBS, Lloyds, HSBC and Barclays fall as chancellor outlines profit measures December 3, 2014 Shares in UK banks dropped in early afternoon trading as George Osborne outlined measures to limit the amount of profit lenders can offset by losses. In his Autumn Statement speech, Osborne said he would limit offests to 50 per cent, and delay relief on bad debts, which he added will raise £4bn for the Treasury [...]
FTSE slumps as miners plumb China depths – London Report September 29, 2015 BRITAIN’S leading share index fell yesterday as fears grew over mining group Glencore’s ability to withstand a metals price slump and as Vodafone’s European tie-up talks with Liberty Global ended. The FTSE 100 index was down 2.5 per cent, at 5,958.86 points at its close, a touch lower than European indexes. The UK market is [...]
Tom Hayes Libor trial timeline key dates: Former trader accused on attempting to manipulate Libor rate August 3, 2015 Well, that's it: former UBS and Citibank trader Tom Hayes has been sentenced to 14 years in jail, after being found guilty on eight counts of conspiring to rig the Libor rate. During a nine-week trial, the prosecution painted Hayes as someone who acted in a "thoroughly dishonest and manipulative manner" to mastermind a web [...]