Administrators hunt Bell Pottinger partners in bid to claw back ‘excess’ pay October 23, 2019 Former partners at the disgraced PR firm Bell Pottinger have been forced to repay hundreds of thousands of pounds in salaries they earned before the business collapsed. The London-based PR company went into administration in 2017 following a scandal over its work for the billionaire Gupta family in South Africa, where it was accused of [...]
Uncertainty to weigh on economy even after Brexit deal, warns Moody’s October 23, 2019 Uncertainty will continue to hold back the UK economy even if Britain passes Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal, credit rating agency Moody’s has warned. Read more: Brexit latest: Brussels edges towards 31 January extension Yesterday’s vote by MPs to in principle approve the deal means “the likelihood of the UK leaving the EU with [...]
What can AI and big data do for finance? October 23, 2019 | City Talk Larry Cao, CFA, is the author of AI Pioneers in Investment Management from CFA Institute. AlphaGo brought artificial intelligence (AI) out of computer labs and into the living room. From October 2015, when the AlphaGo AI first beat a professional human competitor, to January 2018, several months after it defeated Ke Jie, the top-ranked player in the [...]
Peer-to-peer lender Fundingsecure enters administration October 23, 2019 Peer-to-peer investment and lending platform Fundingsecure has gone into administration, the financial regulator announced. Fundingsecure operated a peer-to-peer lending platform that facilitated crowdfunded loans and pawn-broking style loans secured against valuable items. In a statement on the company’s website, Fundingsecure said its board of directors had resolved to place the firm into administration today. CG [...]
Hays Travel paid just £6m for 555 Thomas Cook stores October 23, 2019 Hays Travel paid just £6m for Thomas Cook’s 555 high street stores after the firm’s collapse. Hays bought the stores from the government’s Insolvency Service earlier this month, while also offering jobs to 2,000 former Thomas Cook employees. Read more Hays Travel buys 555 Thomas Cook stores Dean Beale, from the Insolvency Service, told MPs [...]
Four things to watch out for in Metro Bank’s results October 23, 2019 Metro Bank’s quarterly results this evening come after a torrid spell for the high street lender. In the last eight months the bank has suffered crashing profits, a failed bond issue and a senior shake-up of management, following the discovery of a major accounting issue in January. Today’s quarter three statement will be the latest [...]
UK happiness index: Brits grew happier before March Brexit deadline October 23, 2019 Britons became happier over the course of the year to March, new figures have shown today, but those in Northern Ireland grew sadder and more anxious as the original Brexit deadline approached. Read more: UK unemployment fall pushes earnings growth to 11-year high On mainland Britain, people’s happiness increased – according to the Office for [...]
ITV Hub hits 30m registered users as Love Island charms viewers October 23, 2019 ITV today announced that its on-demand streaming service ITV Hub has more than 30m registered users as Love Island and the Rugby World Cup helped to attract new viewers. The figure, which is up from 26m at this time last year, means the broadcaster has beaten its previous target of hitting 30m users by 2021. [...]
Brexit latest: Brussels figures edge towards backing 31 January extension October 23, 2019 Two key Brussels figures have indicated they would back a full extension to the Brexit process, until 31 January. The move comes as Labour confirms that a three month delay would be long enough for the party to back an General Election. Leo Varadkar, Irish Taoiseach, spoke with Donald Tusk this morning, where he backed [...]
China ‘planning to replace Carrie Lam’ as Hong Kong withdraws extradition bill October 23, 2019 Beijing has reportedly drawn up plans to replace Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam with an interim chief executive, as the territory’s legislature formally withdrew the controversial extradition bill that sparked months of protests. There have been months of often-violent protests against Lam’s leadership in Hong Kong over concerns Beijing is tightening its grip on the [...]