No deal: Belgium shuts down EU-Canada trade agreement over Wallonia concerns October 24, 2016 A landmark EU-Canada trade pact was thrown into chaos last night after Belgium failed to strike a deal with its rogue Wallonia region, prompting one of the country’s leading politicians to brand it a “laughing stock”. The impasse left the EU scrambling to save the ambitious trade agreement which had been seven years in the making. Last [...]
Manufacturing exports surge on weak sterling but higher costs are on the horizon October 24, 2016 Manufacturing exports have jumped to their highest level in two and a half years in a Brexit boost for the sector following the dramatic slide in the value of sterling. The CBI's Industrial Trends survey also found UK firms were the most competitive they have ever been up against their European counterparts since the introduction [...]
Banks, law firms and accountants to be ranked on social mobility success October 24, 2016 Top City employers will be ranked on their progress in boosting social mobility and recruiting candidates from disadvantaged backgrounds, in a new government-backed scheme. The Social Mobility Commission, a government body, and the Social Mobility Foundation, a charity, have teamed up to produce a new index of the country's biggest employers to assess their efforts [...]
Spanish stock market surges as political deadlock set to end October 24, 2016 Financial markets in Spain have rallied this morning on news that the country is set to exit more than 300 days of political gridlock. After yesterday's landmark concession by the socialist PSOE party, which paved the way for centre-right Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy to form a new minority government, the Ibex 35, Spain's bluechip shares index, leapt [...]
Treasury names Katharine Braddick as replacement for Charles Roxburgh as financial services head October 24, 2016 Katharine Braddick has been appointed as the new director general for financial services, the Treasury has announced. She replaces Charles Roxburgh, who was appointed as the second permanent secretary to the Treasury in June. Braddick, who was formerly the director for international and EU financial services, joined the department from the Bank of England in 2014. Read [...]
Eurozone PMI reaches 10-month high in October, driven by German growth October 24, 2016 Eurozone business activity expanded at its fastest rate of 2016 in October, new data out today shows. The growth was driven by orders books and an acceleration in the pace of hiring, according to IHS Markit’s Eurozone flash composite Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI). Read more: UK manufacturing PMI just hit its highest since June 2014 [...]
Brexit doesn’t mean the end of the City October 24, 2016 Thirty years ago this week, the City of London underwent a transformation that would set it on a path to global dominance in financial services. The Big Bang, as it became known, was enabled by new technology, regulatory reform, political will and entrepreneurial endeavour. Over the ensuing three decades, the City came to represent the [...]
Sterling malaise leads to Microsoft increasing enterprise prices October 24, 2016 The pound’s plunge means that software giant Microsoft will increase prices of enterprise software and cloud services from next year. Although consumers pricing will not be adjusted by Microsoft, the company revealed on one its own blog posts that from 1 January it will raise prices by 13 per cent to enterprises. Read more: Microsoft [...]
What should chancellor Philip Hammond prioritise in his Autumn Statement? October 24, 2016 Adam Marshall, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, says infrastructure. Whether small or large, infrastructure schemes boost local business confidence, regenerate areas, create business opportunities for a vast array of UK firms, and “crowd in” related private sector investment. Given decades of underinvestment, chronic delays, deficient digital networks and lagging productivity, an infrastructure-focused stimulus [...]
JP Morgan Cazenove to oversee the sale of London Stock Exchange’s Paris-based clearing business LCH SA for €500m October 23, 2016 JP Morgan Cazenove has been appointed to oversee the sale of London Stock Exchange’s Paris-based clearing business LCH SA for up to €500m, a deal crucial to the success of the company’s merger with Deutsche Boerse. City A.M. understands that the bank will be seeking to drum-up competition for LCH SA, with pan-European exchange Euronext thought to [...]