Provident handed boost in bid to fight off Non-Standard Finance as Schroders rejects hostile takeover bid May 7, 2019 Provident’s third-largest shareholder Schroders has refused to support Non-Standard Finance’s £1.3bn offer in a blow for the subprime lender’s takeover bid. The UK fund manager, which holds a 14.6 per cent stake in Provident, said the offer was not in the best interests of Provident shareholders. Read more: Provident Financial blasts Non-Standard Finance in takeover [...]
BHP Billiton faces record $5bn claim for failure of Brazilian dam in 2015 May 7, 2019 Mining giant BHP Billiton is facing a landmark, $5bn lawsuit for being “woefully negligent” before a 2015 dam collapse that led to Brazil’s worst ever environmental disaster. Read more: BHP profits slump after mining outages The damages claim will be the biggest group action to be heard in Britain, and was served today in Liverpool. [...]
Bank of England boss warns against weakening regulation post Brexit but suggests less rigid regime May 7, 2019 Weakening regulation after Brexit could lead to financial stability risks, the Bank of England’s deputy governor Sir Jon Cunliffe has warned. The Bank’s financial stability boss said the UK could be at risk if regulation was cut or if its financial services sector remained in the same structure as the EU but without a say [...]
London’s commercial courts hear record number of cases despite competition from overseas rivals May 7, 2019 London’s commercial courts heard a record 258 cases in 2018-19, up 63 per cent on the previous year. There was also a 54 per cent increase in the number of litigants using the courts in the year to March, with litigants coming from 78 countries, a report published today by Portland Communications shows. Read more: [...]
Dieselgate: Porsche hit with €535m fine after selling cars with emissions cheating Volkswagen and Audi engines May 7, 2019 Prosecutors in Germany have slapped a €535m (£485m) fine on sports car maker Porsche, as punishment for lapses in supervision which let the company cheat diesel emissions tests. Read more: Former VW boss faces criminal charges for emissions scandal The company’s development department neglected its legal obligations, said prosecutors in Stuttgart, which ultimately led to [...]
European elections will definitely go ahead, government confirms May 7, 2019 European parliament elections in the UK will definitely go ahead the government has confirmed as it announced there is not enough time to deliver Brexit before May 23. David Lidington, the de facto Deputy Prime Minster, made the announcement on Tuesday afternoon, less than an hour before talks between the government and Labour over breaking the [...]
Uber drivers to stage nationwide protest tomorrow before headline IPO May 7, 2019 Uber drivers are gearing up for a national boycott of the app tomorrow ahead of the firm's highly anticipated public listing later this week. Uber drivers in London, Birmingham, Nottingham and Glasgow will not log into the app between 7am and 4pm tomorrow to protest at the IPO, which they claim will result in payouts to venture capitalists [...]
Vectura shares get a shot in the arm after drug maker wins GSK patent infringement case May 7, 2019 British pharma group Vectura shares rose 11 per cent today after it won a patent infringement litigation case against Glaxosmithkline in the US on Saturday. The drug maker has been awarded $89.7m (£68.8m) in damages after a jury trial in Delaware, US, found one of its patents was infringed by three GSK products between August [...]
EU slashes its forecast for German growth as it predicts Eurozone slowdown May 7, 2019 The European Union yesterday halved its growth prediction for the German economy as it forecasted lower growth for the Eurozone as a whole, laying bare the extent of the bloc’s economic challenges before a leaders’ summit in Romania this week. Read more: ‘Wake-up call’: Germany downgrades 2019 growth forecast Official forecasts, released by the European Commission [...]
Severn Trent chairman to step down as water firm implements new business plan May 7, 2019 Water firm Severn Trent said today its chairman Andrew Duff is to step down after nine years at the helm. Read more: Locals' attempts to thwart Severn Trent's Dee Valley Water takeover fails The departure comes amid the company gearing up to implement its new business plan after being awarded fast track status by Britain’s [...]