Bank bombshell: Competition watchdog finds traders at five banks shared intel on UK bond sales May 24, 2023 Traders at five of the world’s biggest banks shared “commercially sensitive” data related to the purchase and sale of UK government bonds in Bloomberg terminal chats, the UK’s competition watchdog has provisionally found. A “small number” of staff at Citi, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, Morgan Stanley and Royal Bank of Canada shared information which, the competition [...]
Meta slapped with whopping £1bn fine over Facebook data breach May 22, 2023 Meta, the owner of Instagram, Facebook and Whatsapp, has been slapped with a record €1.2bn (£1bn) fine by the Ireland's data protection agency over its transfer of European users’ Facebook data to its US server.
Regulator’s new enforcement proposals meet with mixed reviews from experts May 9, 2023 Plans to encourage self-reporting from financial firms under investigation have received mixed reviews from regulation experts. Under proposals set out last week, the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) said subjects under investigation could halve their fines by cooperating early in the investigation. The PRA said the so-called ‘early account scheme’ is designed to provide “greater clarity [...]
Concerns raised with EU’s new clearing regulations as it aims to lure market to bloc February 20, 2023 Experts have warned that financial institutions operating in the clearing market are likely to face increasing costs as the EU brings in new regulations to grow its domestic clearing market. Under proposals announced in December, central counterparty clearing houses (CCPs) – an institution that helps manage the risks that might arise if one counterparty defaults [...]
Restart game? EU approves Microsoft’s $69bn Activision bid weeks after UK rejected deal May 15, 2023 Microsoft’s $68.7bn bid for Activision Blizzard has been approved by EU regulators today, just weeks after the UK’s competition agency blocked the deal. The EU decided to approve the deal after remedies were put in place to address competition concerns, with the European Commission saying Microsoft offered 10-year free licensing deals to customers. “These licenses [...]
‘Death by a thousand cuts’: UK insolvencies soar 17 per cent and exceed pandemic levels March 15, 2024 The government agency said this was higher than levels seen during the pandemic "while the government support measures were in place", with things like the furlough scheme. It is also higher than pre-pandemic figures.
Ministers meddling in regulation is ‘recipe for disaster’, says former FCA official September 12, 2022 Government plans to exert greater control over financial rule-making are a “recipe for disaster”, a former senior regulatory official warned today, as the government looks to grant itself powers to overturn decisions made by independent City watchdogs.
Who are the billionaires battling for the Telegraph and Spectator? November 1, 2023 The auction for both the Telegraph Media Group (TMG) and Spectator is underway, drawing the attention of a host of eager bidders. But regulatory hurdles could thwart some potential suiters.
Why it’s time to invest in port, and drink plenty too October 6, 2022 There has always been a special relationship between Portugal and Great Britain. Indeed, the Portuguese government declared three days of national mourning to honour the passing of her Majesty, the Queen. Equally, there’s something quintessentially British about serving a decanter of port at the end of a dinner party, passed around to one’s left of [...]
70 per cent drop in cartel whistleblowing to CMA since 2018 should cause ‘concern’ September 17, 2023 The UK’s competition watchdog should be concerned by a 70 per cent drop in whistleblowing on illegal cartels in the last five years, top lawyers have said. A freedom of information (FOI) request from law firm RPC showed the staggering drop in reporting, down from 1,442 calls in 2017 to just 427 in 2022, City [...]