Government sets up new watchdog – Office for Professional Body Anti-Money Laundering Supervision – to get tough on money laundering March 15, 2017 The UK government is toughening up on money laundering by launching a watchdog to deal specifically with the crime. The Office for Professional Body Anti-Money Laundering Supervision, or OPBAS as it will be known for short, will sit within the Financial Conduct Authority and should be up and running by the start of next year. The [...]
Was Philip Hammond right to U-turn on his national insurance hike for the self-employed? March 15, 2017 Julian Jessop, chief economist at the Institute of Economic Affairs, says Yes. It is increasingly hard to justify why the self-employed should pay much lower national insurance contributions (NICs) than those who work for others. Nonetheless, this distortion should have been tackled as part of a fundamental rethink of the tax and benefit system, rather [...]
Southern Rail and Aslef have agreed to a fresh deal to end strikes, but union members could still reject it March 15, 2017 Southern Rail and train drivers' union Aslef have agreed to a fresh deal, finally resolving their row over driver-only trains. However, it's not quite over yet. Aslef members still need to vote on the new terms, and the result will be announced 3 April. The union's boss is recommending members accept the deal. Mick Whelan, general secretary of [...]
Ranked: The world’s 20 best airports (spoiler – Heathrow has swooped lower) March 15, 2017 Heathrow airport has been named the world's top airport for shopping by Skytrax’s World Airport Awards for the fifth year in a row – but has fallen in the overall ranking. Heathrow fell from eighth place in 2016 to ninth in this year's overall ranking, although it was also voted the best airport in Western Europe [...]
London has attracted a tech fund led by Saudi Aramco, BP and other oil majors looking to collaborate and innovate March 15, 2017 A $1bn (£818.8m) energy fund backed by Saudi Aramco, BP and eight other global oil majors will make London its home in a new vote of confidence for the City post-Brexit. Oil and Gas Climate Initiative's (OGCI) Climate Investments fund aims to invest in and accelerate the commercial development of new emissions-reducing technology. It first announced its plan to push £1bn over [...]
Bond Street dumps its rubbish trucks March 15, 2017 Bond Street has dumped its bin men in a bid to attract overseas investment. The number of rubbish trucks going along the iconic shopping street has been slashed by 75 per cent over the past year, with the number of service providers falling from 40 to just two. Read more: Retailers in Mayfair and Bond [...]
Suspicious package sent to German finance ministry found to contain explosives equipment March 15, 2017 Police have discovered explosive items, which could have caused somebody serious harm, in a suspicious package delivered to Germany's Federal Ministry of Finance. Ersten Untersuchungen zufolge enthielt das Paket ein so genanntes "Blitzknall-Gemisch" (gefährliche Pyrotechnik).^tsm pic.twitter.com/zOmWMax4mA — Polizei Berlin (@polizeiberlin) March 15, 2017 The police described the contents of the parcel, which was delivered to the [...]
Shareholder group Pirc hits back at Sports Direct’s “fake news” allegations March 15, 2017 A shareholder advisory group has hit back at Sports Direct after the retailer accused it of pushing out “fake news” figures on high pay ratios. Pensions and Investment Research Consultants (Pirc) also claimed Sports Direct had sight of the contested figures in 2015 and made “no response on the detail”. Read more: Revealed: The highest and [...]
International trade secretary Liam Fox: The cabinet is still divided over migration figures March 15, 2017 International trade secretary Liam Fox has revealed the continuing divides at the heart of Prime Minister Theresa May's cabinet over migration numbers. Foreign secretary Boris Johnson has previously rejected government policy on migration statistics, arguing student numbers should be excluded. But Downing Street has rejected any change to the way the numbers are compiled. Today, Fox [...]
Retail giant H&M lagging behind competitors as shares drop March 15, 2017 H&M’s shares dropped by nearly 5 per cent, the first downturn of its kind in four years. The figures H&M’s sales decreased 1 per cent year-on-year last month, bringing its shares down 4.5 per cent. This drop is the first of its kind in four years. Fiscal first-quarter sales were up 5.5 per cent from [...]