US government is partially shutdown in border wall standoff December 22, 2018 The US government was partially shutdown at midnight on Friday with President Donald Trump's demands for billions of dollars in funding for a border wall not met. Trump insisted on Friday that if the Senate could not reach a deal with the House regarding the wall then a "very long shutdown" would commence. It began going into [...]
Barclays snubs Bramson after activist investor moves for seat on the bank’s board December 22, 2018 Barclays has snubbed Ed Bramson after the activist investor moved for a seat on the bank’s board. Bramson floated the idea of his investment vehicle Sherborne Investors being given a seat on the board at a meeting a few weeks ago, according to Sky News. But the lender told Bramson, who has called for the [...]
PwC sued £14m for “negligent” audit of Providence Investment Fund December 22, 2018 PwC are set to be sued for £14m by the Administrators for Providence Investment Fund for "negligence, breach of duty and breach of contract as its auditors". The investors who lost £37m in a Guernsey "Ponzi Scheme" have commenced legal action against the big four accountancy firm in a bid to recover some of their losses. Investors were promised an up [...]
Police arrest two people in connection with “criminal use” of drones at Gatwick Airport December 22, 2018 Sussex Police have arrested two people in connection with the "criminal use of drones" that resulted in major disruption at Gatwick Airport this week. More than 100,000 people were affected by grounded flights between Wednesday and Friday, just days before Christmas. Flights were temporarily suspended again on Friday evening after reports of a drone near the airfield and [...]
Spotify settles $1.6bn lawsuit with independent publisher over songwriters’ rights December 21, 2018 Music streaming service Spotify has settled a lawsuit with Wixen Music Publishing, which had sought damages of $1.6bn (£1.3bn) regarding the hosting of thousands of songs without a sufficient copyright licence. Wixen accused Spotify of infringing the rights of songwriters and publishers on over 10,000 of its songs and underpaying them, while handing “outrageous annual salaries to its executives”. Some of [...]
Sadiq Khan tells assembly ‘no smoking gun’ over Crossrail delays accusing former chairman of ‘misremembering’ events December 21, 2018 Sadiq Khan has accused the former Crossrail chairman of “misremembering” events and further denied being told of the project’s delays earlier than August. Earlier this month former Crossrail chairman Terry Morgan said he was in “absolutely no doubt” that the mayor of London was told on 26 July that it was no longer feasible to [...]
French court fines oil group Total for bribing foreign officials in Iran corruption scandal December 21, 2018 A Paris court has slapped oil giant Total with a €500,000 (£450,200) fine today, in a case relating to bribing foreign officials in dealings with Iran in 1997. Total was charged with paying $30m (£23.7m) in bribes disguised under a consultancy contract to forge a deal for the South Pars gas field more than twenty years ago. Today, [...]
China rebuffs accusations of major cyber hacks on UK and US December 21, 2018 China has said it strongly opposes "slanderous" accusations made by foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt, the US and other nations, which criticised the country for utilising cyber hacks for "economic espionage". The UK government yesterday said a group known as APT 10 acted on behalf of the Chinese Ministry of State Security to carry out a "malicious" cyber [...]
Hedge fund manager CQS hire former LSE chief Xavier Rolet as new CEO December 21, 2018 Hedge fund management firm CQS has appointed former London Stock Exchange chief Xavier Rolet as its new CEO. Rolet, 59, will begin his new role at CQS in the new year, allowing the company's founder Sir Michael Hintze, 65, to focus on running money as a senior investment officer. The London-based manager has grown by almost $4bn to $18.1bn [...]
Beefeaters strike at London landmarks over pension dispute December 21, 2018 Staff from Hampton Court palace, Kensington Palace and the Tower of London today staged a walk-out over changes to their pension scheme. Workers formed picket lines at the famous tourist sites in the first of a series of strikes organised by the GMB Union and Public and Commercial Services union (PCS). The strikes follow an [...]