London markets register sobering day as Bank of England rate hike spooks investors February 3, 2022 London markets dropped sharply yesterday after investors were spooked by the Bank of England hiking interest rates at successive meetings for the first time since 2004. The capital’s premier FTSE 100 index closed 0.71 per cent lower at 7,528.84 points, while the domestically-focused FTSE 250, which is more aligned with the health of the UK [...]
Bank of England defends fossil fuel funding to Extinction Rebellion November 14, 2021 The Bank of England (BoE) reportedly tried to appease Extinction Rebellion (XR) protests earlier this year, as the climate activist group targeted City fossil fuel financing. In emails with XR members, the central bank urged that government instead has the “primary levers for driving the economy-wide transition to net-zero emissions”, The Telegraph first reported. In [...]
The Square Mile and Me with HowdenCAP’s Mary O’Connor May 25, 2023 Each week we ask the Square Mile’s great and good to take a trip down memory lane. This week, it’s HowdenCAP’s Mary O’Connor on her time as a regulator, the insurance industry, and a well-hidden bar What was your first job? Filling jam doughnuts at the local bakery. I started at 5am! What was your [...]
Israel continues Gaza and Lebanon offensive as Iran and Hamas convene October 23, 2023 Israel bombarded Gaza with air strikes early on Monday and its aircraft struck southern Lebanon overnight.
UK insurance: shares in Aviva and Admiral shrug off Bank of England’s warnings of a ‘prolonged’ recession in the sector January 10, 2023 The UK’s insurance companies were told to brace themselves for a “prolonged” recession by boosting their risk management processes, the Bank of England (BoE) has said in a letter to sector CEOs. In a letter to insurance chief executives, the BoE’s insurance watchdog warned that various risks might stem from the downturn as it called [...]
Draper Esprit leads $83m funding round in Thought Machine March 2, 2020 Technology company Thought Machine has raised $83m (£64.74m) in series B funding led by Draper Esprit. The venture capital firm, which has invested in a number of fintech businesses, contributed £26.5m to the funding for Thought Machine, a technology company that builds cloud-native technology for banks. Thought Machine’s banking platform, Vault, counts Lloyds Banking Group, [...]
Week ahead: City eyes cladding bill impact on house builders’ bottom lines April 24, 2022 Signs of the negative impact of the government turning to home builders to fix the cladding crisis is likely to draw City traders’ gaze in a week of jam packed corporate and economic announcements. London’s capital FTSE 100 index dipped 0.78 per cent to 7,521.68 over the last week, while the mid-cap domestically-focused FTSE 250 [...]
Met arrests 100 in ‘biggest ever fraud operation’ to take down spoof calling site November 24, 2022 More than 100 people have been arrested in what the Met Police describe as the UK’s biggest ever anti-fraud operation. The force led the bid to take down the ‘one stop spoofing shop’, iSpoof, which had more than 200,000 possible victims in this country alone. Fraudsters contacted people posing as as representatives of banks including [...]
Mipim doubles down on event despite exodus of big names on coronavirus fears February 27, 2020 Property jamboree Mipim today said it would still go ahead in Cannes next month, despite big names such as Lloyds Banking Group, Knight Frank and PGIM dropping out because of the spread of coronavirus. A spokesperson for the real estate event said: “Mipim will open for business on 10 March. “We understand and respect the [...]
British stocks primed to reverse years of underperformance January 31, 2022 UK stocks are primed to turnaround years of underperformance and embark on a “winning streak,” according to analysis by a top City consultancy. London markets are ready to capitalise on the world’s top central banks launching a rate hike spree this year to get on top of inflation, according to Pantheon Macroeconomics. The FTSE 100 [...]