Santander UK arm sees impairments triple after Carillion collapse but group profits rise over 2017 January 31, 2018 Losses from the collapse of Carillion dented profits at Santander’s UK arm, as profits rose across its global operations. Impairments at Santander UK tripled year-on-year to £203m, mainly reflecting loans to the outsourcer and construction firm. Carillion entered liquidation on 15 January after rescue talks with the government and lenders failed. Nathan Bostock, Santander UK [...]
Facebook and Instagram bans adverts for bitcoin, cryptocurrencies, initial coin offerings and binary options January 31, 2018 Facebook is banning adverts for bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies just days after the UK’s finance watchdog warned of scams online involving the digital currencies. The social media giant, which has more than 2bn users around the world, will also ban the promotion of financial products “frequently associated with misleading or deceptive promotional practices”, including binary [...]
Capita share price drops 35 per cent as it reveals transformation plan January 31, 2018 Shares in Capita dropped 35 per cent in early trading today, after the outsourcing firm said it would suspend its dividend and seek equity, based on the findings of an extensive review into the company. At the end of last year, Capita’s shares were hit after the group said the market for outsourcing contracts had [...]
London startup Ahauz is helping millennials buy a home with an innovative new Help to Buy-style scheme January 31, 2018 Forget ditching coffee and avocados, a new startup which describes itself as the “bank of mum and dad for everyone” is aiming to help more young people get on the property ladder with an innovative take on the Help to Buy scheme. Ahauz is set to start offering first-time buyers help by offering a loan [...]
Spotify is a sure hit as it pursues New York initial public offering January 31, 2018 With Spotify reportedly planning on floating on the New York Stock Exchange this spring, it’s a good time to look at how consumers view the brand in the UK. The music streaming service’s impact and growth over the past decade is impressive, all the more so as there haven’t been many global internet successes out [...]
DEBATE: Should we take the leaked Brexit impact assessments seriously? January 31, 2018 Should we take the leaked Brexit impact assessments seriously? Sir Vince Cable, leader of the Liberal Democrats and former secretary of state for business, innovation and skills, says YES. Any official document produced by the government to brief ministers has to be taken seriously, all the more so given that the impact assessment – which [...]
Democracy’s new dividing lines: Populist anger and polarisation January 31, 2018 The latest edition of The Economist Intelligence Unit’s annual Democracy Index reveals how new divisions are becoming entrenched in many of the world’s democracies. Democracy is facing a crisis today, at the root of which is an increasingly stark divide variously characterised as being between elites and electorates, experts and the people, insiders and outsiders, [...]
Confidence bounces back at the start of the year among UK citizens and businesses January 31, 2018 British consumers and businesses looked past inflation pressures on their pockets to start the year with a surprise increase in confidence, according to surveys to be published today. The long-running GfK measure of consumer confidence rose markedly from a negative reading of 13 – its lowest point in four years – in December to hit [...]
National Assembly for Wales tops Stonewall list of 100 LGBT-inclusive employers with Lloyds Banking Group and Citi on the list January 31, 2018 A number of City firms have made the cut in equality charity Stonewall’s latest ranking of the top 100 LGBT-inclusive employers out today. Citi, Pinsent Masons, Clifford Chance, Lloyds Banking Group and Baker McKenzie were all in the top 10, with legal firms again dominating the overall list. Read more: Lloyds Banking Group named most [...]
Mifid II was a compromise, but the UK will lead the way with Mifid III says politician Kay Swinburne January 30, 2018 The UK’s voice of the City in the European parliament, Conservative politician Kay Swinburne, has said that legislators are already planning to overhaul a massive new piece of regulation which came into force earlier this month. The second Markets in Financial Instruments Directive, or Mifid II, aims to increase transparency across all areas of financial [...]