Battle lines drawn over London Stock Exchange mega-merger as neither company nor EU budges February 27, 2017 The City is holding its breath to see who will blink first in the battle between the European Commission and the London Stock Exchange (LSE), in the case of the latter's £21bn mega-merger with Deutsche Boerse. LSE published a statement late last night saying it now expects the EU to block the deal. The tie-up was [...]
With the deal looking dead, is the likely failure of the LSE-Deutsche Boerse merger good news for London? February 27, 2017 Daniel Hodson, former chief executive of LIFFE and non-executive director of The London Clearing House, says Yes. At the heart of both the rationale and risk to London for this transaction is clearing. The London Clearing House (LCH), 57 per cent owned by the London Stock Exchange (LSE), is a City icon, a multitrillion highly [...]
Mixed data for the US economy as investors hold their breath for landmark Donald Trump speech February 27, 2017 Important indicators in the US economy showed a mixed picture as investors await a landmark speech by President Donald Trump. Trump will address the US Congress on 9pm GMT on Tuesday evening. He is expected to deliver some long-awaited detail on his economic policies, including campaign promises of up to $1 trillion (£800bn) in infrastructure [...]
Housing minister quizzed by MPs on plans to boost housing supply February 27, 2017 The housing white paper is designed to reduce the amount of money wasted, and time spent, on plan making according to housing and planning minister Gavin Barwell. Barwell, MP for Croydon Central, was questioned at the Communities and Local Government (CLG) Committee during the final public session of its inquiry into capacity in the housebuilding [...]
Former Prime Minister John Major has hit out over “unreal” expectations of Brexit February 27, 2017 Former Prime Minister John Major has blasted “unreal” predictions of the UK's future outside of the European Union. Speaking in central London, Major also accused Brexiteers of “demeaning” their former political rivals in the Remain camp by “shouting down legitimate comment”. Major campaigned for a Remain vote in the referendum, and made a series of [...]
Blockchain for banks is a “long way off” says influential central banker February 27, 2017 Blockchain fintech has a “long way to go” to satisfy financial regulators, according to an influential board member of the European Central Bank (ECB). Benoit Coeure said the underlying distributed ledger technology could pose new risks to the financial system, including legal and operational obstacles. Coeure said: “Distributed technology could become a game-changer for payment, [...]
Defence shares on both sides of the pond edge up as Donald Trump promises to “spend big” February 27, 2017 US share indexes hit record highs this afternoon, with defence and infrastructure companies on both sides of the Atlantic edging up after it emerged Donald Trump is set to hike spending in the sector by $54bn (£43bn). The Associated Press reported Trump was planning to increase the defence budget by 10 per cent, as well as promising to [...]
The Conservatives’ former leader in the European Parliament has launched a stinging attack on Brexit rebels February 27, 2017 The Conservatives' former top man in the European Parliament has issued a warning against peers interfering with the Article 50 Bill just one day after former Conservative minister Lord Heseltine vowed to fight for amendments. Lord Callanan, the former chair of the European Conservatives and Reformists group in Brussels, has issued a stinging rebuke to [...]
Convenience store chain McColl’s scores sixth year of sales growth February 27, 2017 McColl’s Retail Group said yesterday that its full-year revenue increased 1.9 per cent to £950.4m, up from £932.2m in 2015. Total like-for-like sales were down 1.9 per cent, in a trend that was consistent with prior year performance. Read more: Christmas come early: CMA approves McColl's acquisition of 298 Co-op stores Profit before tax came [...]
Businesses place trust in UK economy as consumers brace for inflation February 27, 2017 Businesses remain confident in the UK economy’s prospects despite consumers bracing for the impact of inflation, according to a long-running survey by the European Commission (EC). Confidence in the economy “markedly improved” to a 14-month high across industry and consumers, according to the survey, but expectations of rising inflation reached their highest point since January [...]