FTSE 100 rises but Wall Street falls again on job data September 4, 2020 The FTSE 100 reversed yesterday’s losses, closing in on the 5,900 point level this morning despite last night’s ferocious sell-off of US tech stocks dragging markets down overnight. By the early afternoon London’s premier index was 0.7 per cent up at 5,888.96. The FTSE 250 index of mid caps also rose 0.2 per cent. However, [...]
CMA launches probe into Future’s TI Media merger January 20, 2020 The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced today that it is investigating whether Future’s proposed acquisition of TI Media could harm competition. In October 2019, the publisher said it planned to acquire magazine printer TI Media, which owns popular titles Country Life and Marie Claire, for £140m in cash. The CMA said it was considering [...]
Former competition chief urges government to speed up CMA overhaul July 2, 2021 The former chairman of the UK’s competition watchdog has called on the government to speed up an overhaul of the organisation. Lord Andrew Tyrie, who chaired the Competition and Markets Authority from 2018 to 2020, warned that the organisation’s effectiveness will be eroded unless it is urgently reformed, in a report published today. Speaking to [...]
Digital banks pull ahead of high street rivals in battle for consumers’ wallets August 17, 2021 Digital banks are pulling ahead of their traditional high street rivals in the battle to deliver strong customer services, according to findings from the competition watchdog. The Competition and Markets Authority found that Monzo, Starling Bank and First Direct are the top banks for customer service in Britain. The CMA conducted a survey of 1,000 [...]
Social media influencers attract a quarter of online ad complaints June 3, 2020 Influencers were responsible for a quarter of all complaints about online adverts last year amid a crackdown on brand promotions on social media. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) received more than 4,400 complaints last year about 3,670 ads that used social media influencers. The figure represents more than a quarter of all complaints for online [...]
CMA Chief exec: Crack downs on tech monopolies will safeguard London’s competitive edge October 21, 2021 Effective competition is the lifeblood of a thriving economy. The chance to succeed with hard work and a good idea is a source of hope, and opportunity to entrepreneurs everywhere. While monopolies stifle innovation and focus on protecting their existing profits, competition leads to vibrancy and new ideas. Ensuring digital markets are competitive is a [...]
Competition watchdog secures £47m in overdraft refunds from major banks May 28, 2020 The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has secured £47m in refunds for consumers from banks which failed to properly warn them about overdraft charges in the last two years. Customers with personal current accounts must receive a text alert warning of fees before banks charge them for an unarranged overdraft. Today, the CMA announced that [...]
Zuckerberg defends Facebook: ‘Companies aren’t bad just because they’re big’ July 29, 2020 Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg is set to tell Congress that “companies aren’t bad just because they are big,” as the world’s biggest social media company today faces a historic investigation into its size and power. Zuckerberg is expected to tell the US Congress that Facebook became successful “the American way, by starting out with nothing [...]
Coronavirus: Calls for price controls dismissed as ‘economically illiterate’ April 10, 2020 Economists have hit back at Which? after the consumer watchdog said that the government should enforce price controls on certain items to prevent so-called “price gouging” during the coronavirus pandemic. The calls came after the consumer group said it had found that items such as handwash, cleaning products, and baby formula were selling at vastly [...]
Ranked: Monzo and Starling top list of best UK banks August 17, 2020 Digital fintechs Monzo and Starling are better than traditional banks at providing the best service to personal banking customers, according to a recent survey. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) conducted a survey of around 1,000 customers of each of the 19 largest personal current account providers in Britain to rank the best and worst [...]