DEBATE: With escalating tensions between the US and North Korea, is there a real risk of nuclear action? September 1, 2017 DEBATE: With escalating tensions between the US and North Korea, is there a real risk of nuclear action? YES – Sarah Kendzior, journalist and scholar of authoritarian states. Unfortunately, there is a real risk – and Donald Trump is more likely to use nuclear weapons than Kim Jong-un. Trump has been obsessed with nuclear weapons [...]
Frosty exchange between Michel Barnier and David Davis over Brexit divorce bill triggers alarm in City of London August 31, 2017 Deadlock over the size of the UK’s so-called Brexit bill has triggered fresh alarm in the City as fears grow that crucial talks on a new UK-EU trade and transition agreement will be shunted into next year. Bosses are warning that financial services firms will need to begin moving jobs and operations if they do [...]
Sir Philip Green sets his lawyers against Frank Field over claims about his £363m BHS settlement August 31, 2017 Sir Philip Green has set his lawyers against Frank Field over claims the Labour MP made his £363m BHS settlement. Field spearheaded the parliamentary inquiry into the collapse of BHS, and, in a radio interview last week, said he had received a “major leak” of information relating to Green’s contribution to the BHS pension scheme. [...]
Fintech could be risky if banks don’t cooperate, says the Bank for International Settlements August 31, 2017 Banks will need to take measures over the coming years to mitigate the risks of financial technology (fintech), according to a new report from the Bank for International Settlements (BIS). The central bankers’ bank has set up a task force to “provide insight” into the new technology and “explore the implications” for current business models. [...]
Debt collector Arrow Global partners with US investment giant to take on UK mortgages | City A.M. August 31, 2017 Debt purchaser Arrow Global has announced a partnership with Oaktree Capital Management, a US investment firm with more than $99bn in assets under management, to buy portfolios of UK residential mortgages. Bringing Oaktree on board would “provide significant portfolio investment”, Arrow said. The news coincided with a second announcement that Arrow will acquire the UK [...]
Barclays, HSBC, Credit Suisse and more banks join UBS’s digital currency project Utility Settlement Coin (USC) August 31, 2017 Barclays, HSBC and Credit Suisse are among six major banks joining an ambitious project led by UBS to create a digital currency for financial services. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, MUFG and State Street will also join in with efforts to launch the Utility Settlement Coin (USC), alongside Santander, Deutsche Bank, BNY Mellon and Icap. [...]
London house prices: A £90m Knightsbridge flat is the most expensive home on record August 31, 2017 The £90m purchase of an apartment in Knightsbridge is the most expensive residential property transaction ever recorded by the Land Registry, it turns out. Capital FM owner Ashley Tabor bought the massive four-bedroom penthouse flat at 199 Knightsbridge in April this year, with plans to knock it through into the apartment he owns next door [...]
Lloyd’s of London points out booze and drugs exemptions as it hits back at Kanye West’s $10m lawsuit with a counter-claim August 31, 2017 Members of the Lloyd’s of London insurance market have filed a legal challenge to Kanye West’s claims he was owed $10m for the cancellation of last year’s Saint Pablo tour, according to reports. In a counterclaim filed with a Los Angeles federal court yesterday, Lloyd’s syndicates said West’s Very Good Touring Inc had failed to [...]
SSE issues the largest ever green bond from a UK company August 30, 2017 SSE has issued the largest ever green bond from a UK company, the firm announced today. The €600m (£552m) bond will support the development of a UK market in capital market products that are good for the environment, SSE said. Read more: Investors look for a deal on New Look’s public debt SSE will use [...]
FTSE reshuffle: Royal Mail and troubled Provident Financial relegated from blue-chip index, with Berkeley Group and NMC Health moving up August 30, 2017 Troubled sub-prime lender Provident Financial has crashed out of the FTSE 100, the London Stock Exchange today confirmed. Royal Mail will also drop out of the blue-chip index in September, with housebuilder Berkeley Group and United Arab Emirates-based healthcare provider NMC Health taking their place. Meanwhile, crisis-hit construction firm Carillion is to drop out of [...]