Carphone Warehouse cyber attack probed by data watchdog ICO August 10, 2015 Dixons Carphone has suffered its first major blow since last year’s £4bn merger after admitting to a huge data breach that has put millions of customers at risk and sparked an investigation by the UK’s data watchdog. The Information Commissioners Office (ICO) said yesterday that it is “making enquiries” into the attack after being [...]
Standard & Poor’s: Brexit could “significantly dent” UK financial services and insurance sectors June 23, 2015 Any departure from the European Union could do significant harm to the UK's insurance and financial services sectors, ratings agency Standard & Poor's has suggested. Read more: Eurosceptic report sets the stage for Brexit In a report published today, the organisation pointed out that between them, the two sectors account for 30 per cent of [...]
S&P downgrades Greece and puts chances of Grexit at 50 per cent June 29, 2015 S&P has downgraded Greece's credit rating from CCC to CCC-, and says there is a 50 per cent chance it will leave the Euro. Read more: Greece will default on its €1.6bn repayment to the IMF tomorrow It made the change because it feels that, unless circumstances change, Athens will probably default on its [...]
July Budget 2015: Every key policy announced today July 8, 2015 George Osborne revealed the first Budget of the government, including policy changes on everything from pensions and inheritance tax to bank levies and the Northern Powerhouse. Here we round up all the essential points from the Red Box. 1. A surplus will be reached by 2019 Osborne pledged to reduce the deficit by [...]
The poorest have most to gain from the Financial Conduct Authority making it easier to innovate August 25, 2015 One of the FCA’s statutory objectives is to promote effective competition in the financial services sector in the interests of consumers. As the economy continues to settle into a new phase, it is fair to ask whether the FCA should adjust the balance of its focus on market enforcement and instead ensure resources are [...]
Old Mutual to sell stake in US asset manager June 9, 2015 OLD MUTUAL is preparing to sell a further stake in OM Asset Management (OMAM), the boutique asset manager it spun off in a float on the New York Stock Exchange last year. The Anglo-South African investment, savings, insurance and banking group, which is listed on the FTSE 100, yesterday said it would use the proceeds [...]
EU referendum: Asda, HSBC, Vodafone and nearly 200 sign letter saying Brexit would threaten jobs – but Tesco, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s are not on the list February 23, 2016 The bosses of HSBC, BT, Vodafone and Asda are among those to have put their name to an open letter backing the remain camp and Prime Minister David Cameron's reforms in Europe. More than a third of the UK's biggest companies were represented in the letter, which was published in The Times this morning, saying they represented [...]
Film review: Accidental Love June 18, 2015 Cert 15 | ★☆☆☆☆ Accidental Love was supposed to be David O Russell’s follow-up to 2004’s I Heart Huckabees, but he bailed on the project in 2010, perhaps after finally getting around to reading his own script. The story is daft: when Alice (an insignificant Jessica Biel) gets shot in the head by an errant [...]
Banks in scramble for Barclays’ coveted broking ticket as Deutsche and Credit Suisse invited to re-pitch May 27, 2015 Barclays, the international London-based bank led by Antony Jenkins, has decided to put its broking mandate up for review after four years. The group is currently served by Deutsche and Credit Suisse as joint brokers. A source close to the bank, which is valued at around £45bn, said yesterday the decision to look for new [...]
Britons aren’t as suspicious of the UK banking sector as they’re made out to be – in fact, customers are happier here than in the rest of the world July 9, 2015 After yesterday's Budget bonanza, here's some more good news for the UK's financial services sector: a new study has shown British customers aren't as suspicious of the financial services sector as they're made out to be. In fact, confidence among consumers in the sector is higher here than in the rest of the world. The [...]