Global cyber attack hits UK firms as WPP reports hack June 27, 2017 A massive cyber attack which has hit a number of institutions in Ukraine appears to be spreading across Europe. Several firms, banks and government offices in Ukraine began to report attacks earlier today caused by ransomware named “Petya”. London-based advertising giant WPP has reported problems with its IT systems caused by a “suspected cyber attack”, [...]
A fintech cluster greater than the sum of its parts June 26, 2017 One of Europe’s largest financial centres and an international technology hub, Edinburgh will play a leading role in driving the UK’s £20bn fintech industry and shaping a fast-moving global industry. Edinburgh’s financial credentials are beyond question. As the UK's second largest financial services centre, and the fourth largest in Europe, the city claims the lion’s [...]
Here’s how we build P2P firms that actually service the poor March 2, 2017 Is payday lender Wonga the only alternative finance business that actually addressed credit demand among poor people? A regulatory crackdown on the industry has pushed the most disadvantaged in this country towards hire purchase firms, where they “buy” something on credit, sell it on almost immediately to obtain ready cash, then end up paying back [...]
Tandem Bank’s chief executive Ricky Knox talks sarongs, dumb pipes, ornithology and why Facebook is scared of banking February 27, 2017 "Would you have called Amazon? I didn’t! We all thought that was just a fad – it was a bookseller. An online bookseller with that valuation? But the internet creates these giants – and it’s not just one or two of them. "Look at music – EMI is basically dead. Google – a little bulls*** [...]
Fears grow for Toshiba as it delays nuclear writedown and earnings announcement February 14, 2017 Shares in Toshiba fell over eight per cent in overnight trading after the conglomerate unexpectedly pushed back an announcement on its quarterly earnings and details of a mammoth writedown of its nuclear business. Investors were waiting with bated breath for the announcement, due today at 3am GMT (12pm Japan time) with the market expecting a charge of [...]
UK firms could face £2,600 in additional employment costs, warns Federation of Small Businesses February 6, 2017 UK small businesses could face £2,600 in additional employment costs, the Federation of Small Businesses has warned. The business lobby group called on UK chancellor Philip Hammond to use the upcoming budget to help small businesses tackle soaring employment costs. In its submission to Hammond ahead of the 8 March budget, the FSB has urged action [...]
Information Commissioner’s Office delivers damning verdict after RSA personal data loss January 10, 2017 Regulators have fined insurance giant RSA for losing the personal information of almost 60,000 customers. The owners of the More Than brand were handed a £150,000 penalty by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) after the theft of a hard drive device containing thousands of customers' personal data and the credit card details of 20,000 people. The ICO [...]
Lloyds said to be frontrunner in bidding for Bank of America’s £7bn-valued MBNA November 21, 2016 Lloyds Banking Group is thought to be the frontrunner for Bank of America’s £7bn-valued UK credit card business. The UK lender is reported to have edged ahead of US private equity group Cerberus in the bidding for MBNA’s British credit card operation. For Lloyds, it would mark the first acquisition since it was bailed out by [...]
Moneysupermarket announces share buyback after growing profits February 28, 2017 Moneysupermarket Group is launching a £40m share buyback after reporting increased revenue and profit for the year to 31 December 2016. The figures Group revenue rose 12 per cent to £316.4m from £281.7m. Operating profit was up 13 per cent to £91.1m from £80.5m, while profit after tax grew by 16 per cent to hit [...]
More than Just enough: JRP beats market expectations for margins and its own on costs February 2, 2017 Shares in specialist insurer JRP Group jumped over four per cent on the news profit margins had beaten guidance and the group's merger with Partnership Assurance is delivering better than expected results. The figures New business numbers for the full year were down by 11 per cent at £2.4bn. The primary driver of this was [...]