Regulator makes CFD restrictions permanent July 1, 2019 The City watchdog has confirmed that it will make a crackdown on selling contracts for difference (CFDs) to retail clients permanent. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said it will make the European Securities and Market Authority’s (ESMA) temporary restrictions on CFDs permanent following evidence that the high-risk products had been “aggressively marketed” to the public. [...]
Woodford offloads stake in Raven property investment firm July 1, 2019 Embattled stockpicker Neil Woodford has jettisoned his 12 per cent stake in Raven Property Group, bringing the total he has raised since the suspension of his flagship fund to £459m. Raven announced today that it has bought back 72.1m shares from Woodford at 36p per share. Read more: Neil Woodford cuts stake in AI firm [...]
Senior women in finance call for female-led IPOs to triple July 1, 2019 Senior women from top financial institutions have called for the number of female-led businesses going public to triple by 2025. Leading women from major banks, law firms and insurance companies gathered at the opening of the London Stock Exchange this morning to call for change as part of a campaign by the WealthiHer Network. Read [...]
Long story short: What investors can learn from Carl Icahn and Netflix July 1, 2019 Seven years ago, shareholders in Netflix – the S&P 500 listed provider of online movies and shows – suffered a crushing loss as it disastrously attempted to raise prices and restructure. Roughly one million customers cancelled their subscriptions. Netflix’s share price plummeted to less than $53 from $300 in a matter of weeks, a loss [...]
Carpetright shares: Undervalued or overexcited? July 1, 2019 | City Talk By Graeme Evans from interactive investor. Carpetright’s peak trading period straddles the next Brexit deadline, but speculators are not put off. Carpetright (LSE:CPR) and its threadbare share price drew interest from speculative investors last week amid signs that the drastic measures needed for its survival are starting to pay off. While early days in the turnaround, the floor covering [...]
Revolut launches partnerships with three charities in Pride Month push July 1, 2019 The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), Save the Children and ILGA Europe have partnered with digital bank Revolut to automate charitable donations. In an industry-first, Revolut’s 5m users will be able to round up their card payments to the nearest pound and automatically donate the difference to one of the three charities. Customers will [...]
Mobile banking to overtake branch use by 2021 July 1, 2019 Mobile banking is set to overtake branch use in the next two years, as a boom in the fintech sector drives an increasing number of customers to digital formats. Research by data consultancy CACI revealed 25m customers, or almost half the UK’s adult population, are currently banking on mobile formats. Read more: Transferwise expands to [...]
FTSE 100 on track to hit gender target July 1, 2019 FTSE 100 firms are on track to achieve the target of 33 per cent of board positions going to women by 2020, however, 14 companies in the FTSE 350 still only have one or no women on the board. Figures published today show that 32.1 per cent of FTSE 100 board positions are held by [...]
H2O fund downgraded over risk control concerns June 27, 2019 H2O, the London-based asset management arm of French investment bank Natixis, has seen its global macro fund downgraded due to concerns over risk controls. Ratings agency Morningstar downgraded the Allegro fund from “bronze” to “neutral” following concerns about its exposure to illiquid, high-risk bonds linked to controversial German entrepreneur Lars Windhorst. Read more: Asset manager [...]
Bitcoin crashes from libra high after Coinbase outage June 27, 2019 Bitcoin sank almost $2,000 to give up gains last night as volatility returned after the cryptocurrency approached $14,000. Read more: Bitcoin surges towards $13,000 thanks to Facebook libra Facebook libra’s launch had buoyed bitcoin, pushing the price up until it was just shy of $14,000 last night, its highest level since January 2018. But over [...]