Citi picks London for latest fintech innovation hub February 11, 2018 Citigroup has selected London’s tech hub as the next site in its innovation lab network, creating new jobs on the fringes of the City. Headquartered in one of WeWork’s shared workspaces in Moorgate, the London innovation lab will employ 75 technologists from different backgrounds. It is the latest in a string of technology hubs set [...]
Bitcoin price (BTC) is yo-yoing February 11, 2018 Bitcoin continues to yo-yo after a particularly rough month for the notoriously volatile cryptocurrency, The price dipped back below $8,000 on Sunday morning after briefly surpassing $9,000 earlier on Saturday, the latter being a week high. Bitcoin has lost more than half its value since hitting an all-time high of more than $19,000 at the [...]
Brexit “already being felt” warn farmers and food industry February 11, 2018 Farmers and food producers have warned that the effects of the Brexit vote are already being felt even before Britain has left the European Union. The £112bn a year food industry warned that it will be “deeply affected by Brexit” and that it has already started to happen. Read more: A rebel Tory MP thinks [...]
Bank of England chief economist Andy Haldane says “no rush” for interest rate rise February 11, 2018 The Bank of England’s chief economist has said there is “no rush” to raise interest rates to levels seen in the past. Andy Haldane, who sits on the central bank’s monetary policy committee (MPC) which is in charge of setting interest rates, said that while there would likely be “some further tightening of policy” it [...]
Labour’s John McDonnell says nationalisation will “cost nothing” after Carillion, while Corbyn adds it is necessary to prevent a “climate catastrophe” February 10, 2018 Shadow chancellor John McDonnell has said the Labour party’s plan to bring services such as water, energy and rail under public ownership would be “cost free”. The collapse of Carillion showed that privatisation had failed, he told the audience at a conference in London on “alternative models of ownership”. McDonnell said taking key infrastructure assets [...]
The Treasury has held secret meetings with the US Department of Justice to speed up a hefty RBS fine February 10, 2018 The UK Treasury has held a secret meeting with US officials to chivvy along a several-billion pound fine for Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), Sky News has reported. The fine, which has been estimated by some analysts to be worth more than £5m, would draw a line under the bank’s pre-bailout misconduct relating to the [...]
Troubled outsourcer Capita drafts in Carillion adviser Lazard to advise on financing options February 10, 2018 Outsourcing giant Capita, collector of TV licence fees and a major government contractor, has drafted in the adviser which served construction company Carillion in the months before its collapse. Capita, which issued a major profit warning last week wiping almost £1bn off its market value, has hired investment bank Lazard to advise on its financing [...]
A new civil partnership law going through parliament could add billions to companies’ pension liabilities, warns Royal London and Lane Clark & Peacock February 10, 2018 A new law currently going through parliament could add billions of pounds to companies’ pension scheme liabilities, the UK’s largest mutual life insurance and pensions company has warned. A private member’s bill prepared by Conservative MP Tim Loughton wants to allow opposite-sex couples to register for a civil partnership for the very first time. Currently, [...]
FTSE 100 loses ground to cap a miserable week February 9, 2018 UK shares shed around one per cent today, capping a disappointing week for investors. The FTSE 100 closed down 1.3 per cent, the mid-cap FTSE 250 was 0.8 per cent lower and the All-Share fell 1.2 per cent. After losing ground on Friday opening, London-listed equities almost recovered during mid-morning activity. Apost-lunchh sell-off prompted another [...]
France and Germany’s finance ministers and head bankers call for bitcoin and cryptocurrency crackdown (Bruno le Maire, Peter Altmaier) February 9, 2018 France and Germany’s finance ministers and head bankers have called on G20 leaders to intervene in the murky world of cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, ethereum and litecoin. A letter to fellow G20 finance ministers, signed by German interim finance minister Peter Altmaier, France’s Bruno le Maire, Banque de France’s Francois Villeroy de Galhau and the [...]