Grexit: Greek central bank warns of “uncontrollable crisis” if negotiations fail June 17, 2015 The Bank of Greece has warned its government of an "uncontrollable crisis" if it fails to reach an agreement with creditors by the end of the week. Greece's central bank says such a scenario would kick-off a "painful" course of events that could lead to the country's exit from the European Union, and urged the [...]
JPMorgan Chase vice chairman Jimmy Lee dies June 17, 2015 JPMorgan vice chairman Jimmy Lee has unexpectedly died, the company announced in a statement. Lee, a veteran banker involved in the industry for over 40 years, had led the company's investment banking arm and had recently worked on the record-breaking Alibaba IPO. Read more: JP Morgan’s lead over broking rivals increases In a statement chief executive [...]
Fed fuels interest rate hike on “moderate” growth in US economy June 17, 2015 The Federal Reserve has kept interest rates unchanged at a historic low of 0 to 0.25 per cent, but offered hope of an increase in short-term interest rates with positive statements about the US economy. Read more: Why it’s not time to dump US equities – a Fed interest rate hike won’t drag down stocks The [...]
Waitrose PYOO (“pick your own offers”) ups game in supermarket price wars with Aldi, Lidl and big four June 17, 2015 Middle England favourite Waitrose has upped the stakes in the supermarket price wars with what it's calling "game-changing" discounts. The latest salvo in the battle with Aldi, Lidl and the big four – and adding a new acronym to our lingo almost as good as BOGOF – is "Pick Your Own Offers", or PYOO, which is [...]
Former Nokia executive Stephen Elop jumps off his burning platform June 17, 2015 Stephen Elop has finally jumped off his burning platform after going from Microsoft to Nokia and then back again. He is leaving Microsoft, it was announced today, after moving to the tech giant as part of its $7.2bn (£4.58bn) acquisition of Nokia in 2013. He had worked for Microsoft's business division before joining the Finnish [...]
RBS missing payments blasted by Treasury Select Committee chairman Andrew Tyrie June 17, 2015 The Treasury Select Committee chairman has blasted RBS for the “serious” glitch that caused hundreds of thousands of payments to go missing. It emerged this morning that around 600,000 payments, including tax credits and benefits, had not been made overnight, leaving thousands of RBS, Natwest, Coutts and Ulster Bank customers stranded without enough cash [...]
South England employment rate drives boost – while Northern Ireland and the north east lag behind June 17, 2015 South east and south east England have the highest employment rates in the UK, while Northern Ireland and north east England lagged behind. Figures released by the Office of National Statistics reveal that 31m people in the UK were in employment in April 2015, forcing the unemployment rate down to 5.5 per cent nationally. Meanwhile, wage [...]
RBS glitch affecting 600,000 payments for customers of RBS, Natwest, Coutts and Ulster not resolved until Saturday June 17, 2015 RBS has failed to put through around 600,000 payments for customers across the group as a result of a technical issue – and the money could be missing for several more days. RBS, Natwest, Coutts and Ulster Bank are all thought to have been affected by the issue, which was discovered first thing this [...]
Queen bees contribute more to the UK economy than the Queen herself June 17, 2015 Pollinating bees contribute an estimated £651m to the UK's economy each year by helping crops to grow, researchers at the University of Reading have suggested – £150m more than the value of tourism brought to Britain by the Royal Family. The results, published in the journal Nature Communications, show that apples and strawberries are particularly reliant [...]
Greek crisis: UK stepping up contingency plans for Grexit says George Osborne June 17, 2015 The government has started planning for a Greek exit from the Eurozone, George Osborne has confirmed. Read more: European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker says Greece has been misleading its voters A Grexit would pose "serious economic risks" to the UK, the chancellor said today, as David Cameron prepares to discuss the crisis with Italy's Prime Minister [...]