The war on cash is raging – should we welcome or fear the death of hard money? June 7, 2016 Cash is no longer king. Although the Bank of England unveiled a new, polymer-coated £5 note last week, the seemingly unstoppable march towards paper-free transactions continues. Electronic payments overtook notes and coins last year in the UK, according to the Payments Council, an industry body representing the banks and card machine industry. They now account for [...]
Carneiro v Mourinho: How damaging can a tribunal get? June 6, 2016 Today marks the beginning of the eagerly-awaited employment tribunal between Eva Carneiro, former first team doctor at Chelsea F.C., and the club’s then manager Jose Mourinho. Speculation is mounting as to how it might affect the career prospects of the parties involved; in particular Mourinho’s recent appointment as manager of rival club Manchester United. Although [...]
Are Sadiq Khan’s planning reforms viable? June 6, 2016 After just two weeks in office as the new mayor of London, Sadiq Khan revealed his plans to deal with the capital’s housing crisis and said the previous mayor had “left the cupboard bare” when it comes to delivering affordable housing. Khan says he will be working with the government to actively identify surplus public [...]
Politics, like business, needs long-term ideas June 6, 2016 As Prime Minister of Luxembourg, Jean-Claude Junker remarked: “We all know what to do, we just don't know how to get re-elected after we've done it.” Today, Junker no longer has to worry about relying on an electorate for his position, having acquired the role of top dog at the European Commission. However, his past observation remains [...]
The Brexit debate misses the point: The EU is completely irrelevant to the UK’s success in a multipolar world June 6, 2016 I have watched the current Brexit debate with growing frustration, as both sides entirely miss the point. While David Cameron – a chicken little if ever there was one – keeps ridiculously intoning that the sky will fall down if Britain dares to leave the smothering embrace of Brussels, the Out campaign talks obsessively of immigration. [...]
The City’s philanthropic heritage is a powerful draw for values-led millennials June 6, 2016 The City of London has a proud tradition of philanthropy dating back to the Middle Ages, and philanthropy is the reason that our Square Mile – the world’s pre-eminent global financial centre – exists as we know it. From schools to sanitation, and from hospitals to housing for vulnerable people, many of my forebears as [...]
The post-crash entrepreneurial revolution has changed Britain: I want MPs to spur it on further June 6, 2016 Today we are launching the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Entrepreneurship in the House of Commons. This cross-party group of MPs will act as a bridge between entrepreneurs and policy-makers, “making sure the voice of entrepreneurs is heard loud and clear in Parliament,” as business secretary Sajid Javid MP will say at the launch event [...]
As JP Morgan boss Jamie Dimon warns of job cuts, should the City fear major job losses if we leave the EU? June 6, 2016 Ed Bowsher, deputy editor and senior analyst at Share Radio, says Yes. I am in no doubt that there will be job losses across the City if we leave the EU. That’s partly because the UK economy will slow down immediately after the referendum, and that will hit confidence and deal flow. But there are bigger [...]
Why “failure to prevent” will fail to prevent fraud and money laundering June 4, 2016 Predictably, reaction to the Prime Minister’s proposal of a new failure to prevent economic crime offence has been mixed. The timing of recent announcement – in the wake of the Panama Papers scandal and just as Mr Cameron's anti-corruption summit kicked into gear – was not lost on some commentators. Others have welcomed the announcement, pointing to [...]
Archaic laws surrounding UK defined benefit pension promises are not fit for purpose June 4, 2016 The proposed and unprecedented plan to change the basis for Tata steel members’ future pension increases from Retail Price Index to Consumer Price Index is another reality check of the real pressure faced by companies which are trying to remain competitive and, at the same time, honour generous legacy defined benefit (DB) pensions, which in many [...]