Regulatory fines rocket to £2.45bn as watchdogs use new powers to ramp up punishment November 30, 2015 Regulators are flexing their muscles and ramping up punishments for financial misconduct, with fines handed out to companies guilty of wrongdoing rising 271 per cent over the past two years to hit £2.45bn. The size of the average penalty has also increased by 291 per cent, from £10.8m to £42.3m, according to new data from [...]
UK care homes at risk of financial ruin as Living Wage costs bite November 30, 2015 Hundreds of British care homes are facing financial ruin as a result of the Living Wage, with the sector expected to come up against a £500m funding gap next year. According to data from corporate health specialists Company Watch, costs across the sector could rise by as much as £900m with the introduction of the [...]
How German discounter Lidl became the UK’s fastest growing supermarket November 30, 2015 At Lidl on Clapham Road, south London, friends Raquel Zantedeschi and Beatriz Castro are doing their weekend shop together, their baskets filled with fresh produce, meat and Lidl’s own brand cheeses. Being Italian, Zantedeschi, 35, jokes that she knows her produce: “I personally come here to buy fruit and vegetables that come from Italy and [...]
Number of accountancy firms falls as merger activity in the sector heats back up after it tapered off in 2010 November 30, 2015 The number of accountancy practices in the UK fell last year as merger activity across the sector rose once again. According to figures released today by commercial finance company LDF, the number of accountancy firms in the country dropped from 6,962 to 6,622 in the year to December 2014, as more businesses combine their activities in [...]
Barclays: Robotics is the future for Britain’s struggling manufacturers November 30, 2015 The UK's struggling manufacturing sector has bags of potential, according to a new report from a major British lender. Barclays has said today it believes that further automation and utilisation of robotics could add as much as £60.5bn to the sector, and the economy as a whole, over the next 10 years. It would take [...]
Lloyds Bank: More Brits have got spare cash in their pocket November 30, 2015 Brits are feeling more confident about the amount they can save, according to new survey figures published this morning. A survey of 6,210 people from Lloyds Bank showed 20 per cent of them were confident about saving more money over the next 12 months. The figures, which were collected over the three months to September, show [...]
Chinese yuan to be included in elite currency basket today November 30, 2015 China is today fully expected to have its currency, the yuan, added to the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) basket of reserve currencies, or special drawing rights (SDR). With IMF director Christine Lagarde giving her blessing earlier this month, it looks to many like a done deal. The SDR basket currently includes the pound, US dollar, [...]
Mario Draghi to boost Eurozone asset purchases November 30, 2015 The Eurozone is geared up to receive a policy boost this week, with the majority of analysts expecting the European Central Bank (ECB) to ramp up its €1.1 trillion (£780bn) asset purchase programme this Thursday. “President Draghi and board members have been unequivocally dovish, indicating that the ECB was working on different options to ease policy further, [...]
New initiative rakes in £300m from stamp duty avoidance clampdown November 30, 2015 HMRC has raked in over £300m in one year through clamping down on stamp duty land tax (SDLT), according to new research released this morning. The government’s new Counter Avoidance Directorate (CAD) collected £301.8m from the tax applied to property and land transactions in the 12 months to March, data from law firm Collyer Bristow [...]
Battle of the Banks: UBS is financial advisor to the most FTSE 100 companies, followed by JP Morgan and Bank of America Merrill Lynch November 30, 2015 UBS has managed to win the battle of the banks and remain at the top of the table of FTSE 100 financial advisors for another year, with 14 clients in the UK's blue-chip index, according to Adviser Rankings' data. JP Morgan and Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BoAML) were just behind with 13 and 11 [...]