Top City bosses should face jail over failures to prevent economic crime, cross-party MPs say May 12, 2022 MPs today called for a crack down on “dirty money” as they argued City bosses should face jail if they fail to prevent illicit cash from flowing through the UK’s financial system. In launching an Economic Crime manifesto, the cross-party MPs said the UK and its overseas territories have played a key role in enabling [...]
Lawyers slam government’s plans to replace Human Rights Act with new ‘Bill of Rights’ May 11, 2022 Lawyers have slammed the UK government’s plans to dismantle the Human Rights Act and replace it with a new “Bill of Rights”. The plan, set out in the Queen’s Speech, is set to see the government tear up the UK’s Human Rights Act of 1998, which enshrines the rights guaranteed by the European Convention on [...]
Aviva chief Amanda Blanc speaks out against City sexism following ‘inappropriate’ comments at AGM May 11, 2022 Aviva chief Amanda Blanc has spoken out against sexism in the City, after she was subjected to a barrage of “sexist and derogatory” comments at Aviva’s annual general meeting (AGM). The insurance industry veteran said she had observed an increase in incidents of overt sexism during her 30+ years in the financial services sector, as [...]
Allianz sets aside an extra €1.9bn to cover costs of Structured Alpha funds scandal May 11, 2022 German asset manager Allianz has set aside another €1.9bn (£1.6bn) to cover the costs of lawsuits arising from the multi-billion-dollar collapse of its Structured Alpha funds. The extra sum brings Allianz’ total reserves to €5.6bn, after the Munich firm set aside €3.7bn to settle the lawsuits in February this year. The move comes as Allianz [...]
Outrage as more than 150 British couples separated by Home Office visa backlog are ‘being kept in the dark’ May 11, 2022 It has emerged that more than 150 British couples are caught up in a backlog of visa applications and they have reportedly not been told how long delays might be. BBC News says British couples kept in separate countries by the backlog have contacted the broadcaster to raise the issue of delays, with complaints of [...]
Aviva chair hits back at shareholders following ‘inappropriate’ comments at AGM May 11, 2022 The chair of Aviva has said he was left “flabbergasted” by a barrage of “inappropriate” comments targeted towards female board members at Aviva’s annual general meeting (AGM) this week. The Aviva chair hit out at shareholders, after investors subjected female company executives, including Aviva chief Amanda Blanc, to a barrage of sexist comments on Monday, [...]
Government vows to ‘drive dirty money’ out of the UK economy through new Economic Crime bill May 10, 2022 The UK government has vowed crack down on “kleptocrats, criminals, and terrorists” by driving “dirty money” out of the UK economy through its new Economic Crime Bill. The new bill is set to boost transparency, strengthen powers to seize and recover crypto assets, and bolster the investigative powers held by Companies House. Anti-corruption campaigners [...]
Surveillance tech firm Clearview AI agrees to block businesses from using facial recognition database May 10, 2022 Facial recognition startup Clearview AI has agreed to limit customers from using its database of billions of facial images scraped from social media platforms including Facebook and Linkedin. The New York software developer agreed to block the bulk of all commercial customers from using its database, in order to settle a lawsuit brought forward by [...]
Slater Investments slaps down Miami fund’s £482m Randall & Quilter takeover bid May 10, 2022 A major investor in AIM listed insurer Randall & Quilter has rejected a £482m offer to take the company private, after claiming the offer is too low. Slater Investments, which owns a 10 per cent stake in the Bermuda based firm, rejected Brickell’s offer, after slamming the Miami headquartered fund’s offer to pay 175p-per-share. “In [...]
Tinder owner sues Google in bid to avoid 30 per cent in-app purchase fees May 10, 2022 Dating app conglomerate Match Group has sued Google in a bid to block it from charging hundreds of millions in fees on purchases made through the Google Play Store. The Tinder owner said it had filed its lawsuit as a “last resort” in its bid to block Google from charging a 15 per cent “tax” [...]