Italy World Cup flop kills five per cent of bets on tournament winner April 2, 2026 Italy’s failure to qualify for the 2026 World Cup this week was an early win for bookmakers as it killed five per cent of wagers on the outright winner, betting data shows. Four-time champions Italy lost on penalties in a play-off with Bosnia and Herzegovina on Tuesday, meaning they will miss a third men’s World [...]
Bond traders: Bank of England gilt shake-up would ‘concentrate risks’ in market meltdown April 2, 2026 Bank of England plans to reduce the bond market’s vulnerability to a Liz Truss-style crash would fail to improve financial stability and could make stress points worse, according to gilt traders and hedge funds polled by the Bank. Responses to the central bank’s plans to overhaul its regulation of the gilt repo market showed market [...]
Bank of England: Businesses sharply raise inflation expectations April 2, 2026 Businesses’ inflation expectations shot up in March according to a closely-watched Bank of England survey, as bosses braced for a surge in energy costs as a result of the Iran war. The Banks’ decision makers’ panel, a monthly poll of thousands of execs, found that the average expected inflation rate in the next year was [...]
Reform fundraiser Nick Candy offloads £270m mansion in ‘biggest sale ever’ April 2, 2026 Reform UK’s chief fundraiser Nick Candy has sold his property in Chelsea at a value of around £270m, it has been reported, in what has been dubbed the biggest house sale in history. Candy, the real estate mogul behind One Hyde Park in Knightsbridge, has sold the family home to an unnamed buyer, according to [...]
Revolut slapped with eight-figure fine in Italy over misleading customers April 2, 2026 Revolut has been slapped with a fine by the Italian competition watchdog after being accused of misleading customers over its fees and terms of its investment products. The London-based fintech giant is expected to cough up €11.5m (£10m) after the Italian regulator found advertisements implying customers could trade with 0 per cent commission were inaccurate. [...]
Big Four KPMG cleared as regulator drops Entain audit probe April 2, 2026 The regulator has closed a probe into the Big Four giant, KPMG, over its audit of the Ladbrokes owner, Entain. In January 2025, the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) announced an investigation into Entain regarding its financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2022. At the time, a KPMG UK spokesperson said: “We will cooperate [...]
Tax instability drives ultra-wealthy to pack their bags April 2, 2026 Tax instability has driven huge swathes of the UK’s ultra-wealthy to consider leaving the country over the past twelve months. Two-thirds of the UK’s wealthiest have mulled fleeing the country for tax reasons, according to the latest research from accountancy firm BDO. But while conversations surrounding tax have focused on the rate Britain’s wealthiest pay, [...]
Farage slammed over pledge to keep ‘unsustainable’ triple lock pension April 2, 2026 Nigel Farage’s Reform UK has come under fire after committing to maintaining the triple lock pension, the financial mechanism that ensures pensioners’ earnings are increased by whatever is higher out of inflation or wage growth even in times of economic crisis. In a press conference on Thursday, Treasury spokesman Robert Jenrick said pensioners were worried about [...]
PSG sign deal with Whoop as Qatar links grow April 2, 2026 Paris Saint-Germain have announced a multi-year partnership with Whoop just days after the wearable tech firm was valued at $10bn following investment from a Qatari sovereign wealth fund. PSG’s parent firm, Qatar Sports Investments, is closely aligned with fellow state vehicle the Qatar Investment Authority, which this week joined Whoop’s $575m Series G fund raise [...]
‘Ridiculous’: Torsten Bell under fire over pension schemes bill April 2, 2026 London’s pension industry is in uproar over government proposals to keep what is known as ‘backstop power’ over the precise level of investment from funds in specific UK assets. Torsten Bell, the pensions minister, has become the focus of anger at Whitehall’s attempts to exert a degree of control over where some of the biggest [...]