EU banking watchdog calls for fresh cryptoassets regulation January 10, 2019 New rules may be needed to stop existing regulation on cryptocurrencies and digital assets from getting too diverse across the European Union, the bloc's banking watchdog said yesterday. Cryptoassets such as bitcoin, ether and tokens created in initial coin offerings (ICOs) typically fall outside of the scope of EU financial legislation, which makes it hard to [...]
Elon Musk says the next Tesla Roadster will be a flying car January 10, 2019 Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk is about to combine the efforts from his two biggest companies to tackle one of technology's greatest challenges: building a flying car. The Tesla chief executive said on Twitter late last night that the firm's next Roadster vehicle will be able to hold itself in mid-air, as well as travel both vertically and [...]
Stop being defeatist, Britain is still a geopolitical powerhouse January 10, 2019 Over the past few years, the drumbeat of British declinism has grown steadily louder. Last year, former Prime Minister Sir John Major claimed that the UK was going to become a “middle-sized, middle-ranking nation”, while Sir Simon McDonald, the head of the diplomatic service, described the country as “medium-sized”. True, the declinist rumble has haunted the [...]
Digital advertising firm behind Piccadilly Lights floats on London Stock Exchange January 10, 2019 Shares in the company behind major outdoor advertising spaces such as the iconic screen at Piccadilly Circus started trading on the London Stock Exchange today. Ocean Outdoor, one of the UK’s largest out-of-home advertising firms, relisted this morning after a lengthy takeover process. Read more: TfL orders £1.5bn Piccadilly Line upgrade The company, which manages major [...]
Govia Thameslink Railway received 1m of the 3m May timetable chaos compensation claims January 10, 2019 Embattled train operator Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) received 1m out of 3m compensation claims lodged by passengers at the height of the May timetable chaos. Official statistics by the rail regulator the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) show there were 3m delay compensation claims between April and mid-October 2018 that were closed by train operators, of [...]
People’s Vote campaigners are playing dirty with the facts January 10, 2019 As Monday's Channel 4 drama Brexit: The Uncivil War reminded us, the Remain campaign likes to take comfort in the fact that it tried to win us over with facts and figures, never stooping to the kind of outright lies about the economic benefits of leaving the EU or the threats of immigration indulged in by members [...]
Volkswagen sales increase to 6.24m cars despite economic uncertainty and new emissions tests January 10, 2019 Car maker Volkswagen (VW) sold 6.24m passenger cars in 2018, in what was a record-breaking year for the brand, despite slow growth caused by uncertainty in China and a clampdown on emissions standards. Sales were up 0.2 per cent on last year, but down 9 per cent overall. VW said it saw an uptake of [...]
Ford cost-cutting drive expected to hit thousands of jobs in UK and Europe January 10, 2019 Ford has announced cost-reduction plans which are expected to lead to thousands of job losses in the UK and Europe. The car maker, which has 54,000 employees in Europe and 13,000 in the UK, is reviewing its operations across the continent in a major shake-up of its business. The company hopes to save around $14bn [...]
Digital finance technology is wonderful, but we must design it with consumers’ best interests at heart January 10, 2019 Every morning, I browse my phone as I commute to work. I check my emails, the news, Twitter, and increasingly I open my various finance apps. I recently logged into my investment platform app and made a new investment – £1,000 in a startup Swedish retailer. Once the money was invested, I was applauded with [...]
Mifid II launched one year ago and financial brokers are embracing the opportunity January 10, 2019 A year ago, the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II, commonly referred to as Mifid II, came into force. Arguably the most ambitious and wide-sweeping regulatory reform of the financial services industry in the last decade, it was touted as the death knell of sell-side equity research. Mifid II’s aim was to enhance transparency and [...]