UK borrowing costs surge and FTSE tanks after Truss and Kwarteng back mini-budget September 29, 2022 UK borrowing costs fired higher and the country’s largest listed companies tanked today after prime minister Liz Truss and chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng doubled down on their tax cutting and borrowing plans. London’s FTSE 100, home to the UK’s top companies, shed 1.77 two per cent. The mid-cap FTSE 250 index nose dived more than three [...]
Banks and housebuilders bear brunt of market chaos September 29, 2022 Wild swings in UK debt markets and concern over borrowers’ capacity to pay costlier mortgages have whacked London-listed housebuilders and banks this week. Britain’s biggest property developers have been among the hardest hit listed companies during this week’s market sell-off. FTSE 100-listed construction firms Taylor Wimpey and Barratt Developments have shed more than 20 per [...]
Investment firms cannot afford to ignore MiFID II three-way reconciliations September 29, 2022 The EU launched MiFID II three years ago, but penalties for non-compliance continue to rise. The number of sanctions issued by national competent authorities (NCAs) in 2020 quadrupled to 613 totalling €8.4m, up from 371 sanctions totalling €1.8m in 2019. Firms incur penalties simply because their reports contain errors. According to a 2021 ACA report, [...]
Keeping entrepreneurial spirits high despite the economic challenges September 29, 2022 With the holiday season over and as we start the autumn term, many of us will have friends or family members either starting university, advancing their education and training, or entering the workforce for the first time.Emerging from a global pandemic, addressing an increasingly urgent climate crisis and facing an uncertain global economic and political [...]
UK already in recession but market chaos will make it worse, KPMG forecasts September 29, 2022 The UK is already in a recession that is likely to be intensified by turmoil in financial markets, new forecasts published today reveal. Surging inflation – running at a 40-year high of 9.9 per cent – has squeezed households and businesses, forcing them to cut spending and likely steering the economy into reverse in the [...]
Truss and Kwarteng face Tory backlash as they refuse to back down over tax plan September 28, 2022 Kwasi Kwarteng and Liz Truss are facing open rebellion from parts of the Tory backbenches as MPs call for the pair to make a dramatic U-turn on their tax plan. Some Conservative MPs are already anonymously briefing to media outlets that the chancellor should be sacked, while one, Simon Hoare, broke cover to say the [...]
Bank of England launches £65bn emergency care package to tame UK market carnage September 28, 2022 The Bank of England today scrambled to head off a “material risk to UK financial stability” driven by higher UK borrowing costs. In a mid-morning statement to the City, the Bank said it is launching an emergency, time-limited bond buying scheme amid market chaos triggered by investor concerns over the UK’s fiscal and economic credibility. [...]
Analysis: Don’t confuse symptoms with causes, the Bank’s hand was forced September 28, 2022 Today’s emergency Bank of England support package for the City was triggered by turmoil in a very specific segment of the gilt market. Since last Friday’s tax cutting and borrowing bonanza, rates on UK government debt have been going through the roof. That has pushed bond prices down. The two move inversely. That, in turn, [...]
Government has a second chance – it can’t fluff its lines yet again September 28, 2022 The UK Economy: Apocalypse Now? Black Wednesday, Mark 2? Not quite. But if social media’s hot takes on the state of the UK economy are wide of the mark, the pressure on Kwasi Kwarteng and the Bank to restore credibility is now immense. The good news is that will not be as difficult as some [...]
Explainer: Why has the Bank of England intervened in financial markets? September 28, 2022 The Bank of England today has stepped into financial markets to try to tame the surge in UK borrowing costs. This morning, it said it will launch a temporary bond buying programme lasting from today to 14 October. The package will be unlimited in scale and will target long-dated UK debt. It is similar to [...]