Mastercard slapped with €570m fine by EU antitrust watchdog over fee limits January 22, 2019 The European Commission has hit Mastercard with a €570.6m (£501.2m) fine for limiting the ability of banks to shop around for lower fee structures among member states. "By preventing merchants from shopping around for better conditions offered by banks in other member states, Mastercard's rules artificially raised the costs of card payments, harming consumers and [...]
Davos: Investec banking chief warns stopping Brexit would ‘corrupt democracy’ January 22, 2019 Stopping Brexit would “corrupt democracy”, the chief of banking giant Investec has warned. Hendrik du Toit, joint chief executive of the UK-listed bank, insisted Britain must leave the EU regardless of what people in the financial sector think about the decision. Read more: At Davos, Huawei calls for speedy resolution to case of detained CFO [...]
Three-quarters of trade could collapse in no-deal Brexit, report warns January 22, 2019 Around three quarters of trade between Dover and Calais could grind to a halt if the UK leaves the EU without a deal, a leaked report has warned. A UK Border Force report leaked to Sky News estimates that between 75 per cent and 87 per cent of cross-Channel freight trade could collapse for up to [...]
Theresa May feels the heat as MPs table plans to alter Brexit process January 22, 2019 Former attorney general and Tory rebel Dominic Grieve has tabled his motion to allow MPs time to debate various Brexit options in the run-up to the UK's exit from the EU. Grieve was originally planning to table a motion that would have allowed 300 MPs from the five parties to be debated and voted on by [...]
DEBATE: Is there any point to the annual WEF summit in Davos? January 22, 2019 Is there any point to the annual WEF summit in Davos? Bill Michael, chairman and senior partner of KPMG in the UK, says YES. Elements of the World Economic Forum (WEF) do raise an eyebrow. From the setting in the Swiss Alps to the A-listers in attendance, it can seem like the last bastion of global [...]
Think you know how Britain feels about Brexit? Think again January 22, 2019 Having seen her Brexit proposals rejected in the largest defeat for a sitting government in British parliamentary history, the Prime Minister returned to the House of Commons on Monday with a plan B that looks startling like plan A. Yes, there have been some tweaks around the edges, such as scrapping the fee for EU [...]
EU imposes sanctions on Russian military intelligence agents in wake of Salisbury chemical weapons attack January 21, 2019 The European Union has imposed sanctions on four Russian intelligence agents in connection with the chemical weapons attack in Salisbury on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia. The 4 March attack put both the Skripal’s in a coma and led to the death of British woman Dawn Sturgess who was exposed to [...]
Theresa May waives £65 registration fee for EU citizens living in the UK January 21, 2019 EU citizens will no longer be hit by a £65 charge to register to stay in the UK after Brexit, Theresa May has announced in a bid to win support from MPs. Speaking in the Commons, the Prime Minister announced the fee will be waived after lobbying by parliamentarians from across the Commons during talks [...]
Poland breaks ranks with EU to propose five-year time limit on Brexit backstop January 21, 2019 The EU’s chief negotiator today insisted the Brexit deal negotiated with Theresa May is set in stone, as Poland broke ranks to suggest a key change to the agreement. Michel Barnier told Irish broadcaster RTE that “the withdrawal agreement with all its dimensions, including the backstop, is the best deal possible” this afternoon. Read more: [...]
Leavers begin to sense it could be May’s Brexit or no Brexit at all January 21, 2019 The pre-decimal penny seems to have finally dropped for arch-Brexiteer and 'member for the 19th century' Jacob Rees-Mogg, who declared over the weekend that “Mrs May's deal would be better than not leaving at all.” While he insisted that he would still prefer a no-deal exit to the withdrawal deal negotiated by the Prime Minister, [...]