City watchdog targets London crypto traders in latest clampdown September 18, 2026 The City watchdog has targeted three London premises suspected of illegal peer-to-peer crypto trading as it increases its scrutiny of digital assets. In a joint operation with HMRC and the Metropolitan Police, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said on Thursday it had issued three cease-and-desist letters to individuals trading through UK businesses, ordering them to [...]
As it happened: Stocks slip as London’s rally loses momentum September 18, 2026 Welcome back to City AM‘s FTSE 100 liveblog. Stocks in London fell this morning as a three-day rally faded and erased much of the gains made following the Bank of England’s decision to hold interest rates yesterday. The FTSE 100 was trading down nearly one per cent at 12:50pm, dragged lower by falls for Shell [...]
As it happened: FTSE 100 soars after Bank of England holds interest rates September 17, 2026 Welcome back to City AM‘s FTSE 100 liveblog. Investors responded positively to the Bank of England’s widely tipped decision to leave interest rates unchanged at 3.75 per cent on Thursday. Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey said that volatile energy prices caused by the Iran war will push inflation up further than its current 3.1 [...]
European financial centres lose global standing amid ‘relentless pivot to Asia’ September 16, 2026 European financial centres suffered a decline in global rankings as the continent continued to lose ground to fast-growing Asian cities. Centres across Europe saw their prominence erode, with several key cities tumbling in the latest rankings from Z/Yen’s 40th Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI 40). European cities fell out of top 20, after only four [...]
Mike Ashley’s Frasers faces shareholder revolt over exec bonus September 15, 2026 Frasers Group, the retail empire owned by Mike Ashley, is facing an investor revolt over a bonus handed to its finance chief for “doing his job”. Two influential shareholder proxies have urged the firm’s investors to slap down its executives’ pay package at its annual general meeting (AGM) on Thursday. The dispute centres around a [...]
As it happened: FTSE 100 rallies as economy beats forecasts; oil falls back September 11, 2026 Welcome back to City AM’s FTSE 100 liveblog. The UK’s blue-chip index rallied on Friday after the economy beat forecasts in July, surprising those in the City who had expected to see growth peter out. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has revealed that the UK economy’s (GDP) grew by 0.4 per cent in July, [...]
Investors dump UK stocks as Budget rumours compound caution September 8, 2026 UK equity funds have been hit with another month of outflows after investors dumped stocks in favour of cash and bonds. Investors withdrew a net £601m from UK stock funds during August, driving a broader £315m net outflow across global equity strategies. The retreat marks the fourth consecutive month of net selling globally and the [...]
As it happened: FTSE 100 waivers; oil nears $100 on new Hormuz sanctions September 8, 2026 Welcome back to City AM’s FTSE 100 liveblog. The UK’s blue-chip index slipped on Tuesday morning, as investors weighed fresh tensions in the Middle East which boosted London’s oil majors but dragged on other members. Oil prices continued to march upwards. Brent crude – the international benchmark for oil prices – gained another 1.5 per [...]
How the NHS backlog fuelled a private equity gold rush in UK health market September 8, 2026 Private equity firms are circling the UK’s healthcare market as NHS backlogs push a wave of patients towards private providers, experts have said. Britain’s biggest private hospital operator, Spire Healthcare, which operates 38 private hospitals, on Sunday agreed to a £1bn takeover by Toscafund Asset Management. Earlier this year, private healthcare property firm Assura agreed [...]
Standard Life takes £473m hit after stock market rally dents hedges September 7, 2026 Standard Life swung to a loss in the first half of the year after the market moved against positions the firm had taken to shield itself against volatility. The FTSE 100 pensions giant posted an overall loss of £179m for the first six months of the year, driven by £473m in paper losses on financial [...]