Cancer becomes UK’s deadliest disease as Scotland has highest mortality rate December 11, 2014 Cancer is now the most dangerous disease in the UK, overtaking circulatory diseases as the condition with the highest mortality rate. This is due to a rapid decrease in the mortality rate of people suffering from circulatory diseases, which includes heart disease and strokes. This has fallen by 42 percent over the last 10 years. [...]
Russia raises rates in struggle against crumbling oil prices December 11, 2014 Russia's central bank has raised the country's borrowing costs as part of its struggle against crippling economic sanctions and plummeting oil prices. The Bank of Russia raised its key interest rate by one percentage point to 10.5 per cent, a move which was in line with analysts' expectations. It also said there could be further [...]
Bank of England policy changes: The Bank wants to cut MPC meetings to eight a year December 11, 2014 The Bank of England has announced a raft of changes to the way it operates in an effort to increase transparency – including cutting the number of meetings its monetary policy committe (MPC) has each year from 12 to eight. Does this mean MPC members are as bored of interest rates – which this month [...]
Google News shutdown: Google confirms it will turn off its Spanish news service December 11, 2014 Google has confirmed plans to turn off its Google News service in Spain, in anticipation of draconian new copyright rules charging websites which aggregate content. The rules, due to be introduced next year, means news aggregators will be forced to pay publishers an annual fee to link to their content. If they don't pay up, [...]
Sports Direct brushes off England’s early World Cup exit but results show even Mike Ashley can’t predict the weather December 11, 2014 Sports Direct has brushed off England's disappointing World Cup performance but it seems owner Mike Ashley is not immune to the unseasonal weather. The figures Group revenue rose 6.5 per cent to £1.4bn in the six months to 26 October. Underlying earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation rose 11pc to £203.1m, excluding charges related to the [...]
FCA tells annuity providers to “play their part” in helping consumers find the right retirement product December 11, 2014 The Financial Conduct Authority has told annuity providers to buck their ideas up after its review of the market found that competition was “not working as well as it could for consumers”. People are likely to miss out on better levels of income because they do not shop around enough, the report said, with [...]
City firms dominate Stonewall’s Star Performers list December 11, 2014 City firms including Barclays and Goldman Sachs have dominated the "Star Performers" list published by Stonewall today. The group said the eight companies on the list have been "consistently ranked as top 10 gay-friendly workplaces" in its annual Workplace Equality Index. Other star performers included consultant Accenture, law firm Simmons & Simmons, tech giant IBM, [...]
Tui confirms German parent company merger December 11, 2014 Holiday company Tui Travel confirmed this morning that it will go ahead with a merger with its €6.5bn (£5bn) German parent, Tui AG, as planned. This morning the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said it had suspended trading at the behest of the company. It will then re-list as Tui AG on 17 December. Between them, [...]
London FinTech stars join Tech City UK’s Future Fifty scheme as booming digital finance sector steals the spotlight December 10, 2014 The capital's crown as the financial technology epicentre of the world will be reaffirmed today as seven of London’s rising FinTech stars will join the government-backed Future Fifty scheme. TransferWise, Go Cardless and Algomi are among the group of 12 companies joining Future Fifty – run by Tech City UK, part of UK Trade & [...]
Investec issues apology to Benjamin Lawsky after analyst Ian Gordon’s Eric Garner gaffe December 10, 2014 South African bank Investec gave US regulator Benjamin Lawsky a grovelling apology last night, after one of its analysts compared Lawsky’s actions against Standard Chartered to the treatment of Eric Garner – an unarmed black man who died at the hands of police officers in America. At a time of inflamed tensions over police behaviour in the [...]