Ex-Barclays director says controversial deal with Qatar helped it win work in the Middle East February 27, 2019 A former Barclays executive told a court today that the bank’s two controversial £322m services agreements with Qatar at the time of its £12bn financial crisis fundraisings subsequently helped it win work in the Middle East. Former Barclays director Glenn Leighton said projects he had worked on in Bahrain and Kuwait were landed with the [...]
Sadiq Khan asks government for £5bn grant to protect housing from no-deal Brexit February 27, 2019 Sadiq Khan has asked the government to provide a £5.2bn emergency grant to to buffer housing in the capital from the negative effects of a no-deal Brexit. In a letter to the housing secretary, James Brokenshire, the mayor said he remained "deeply concerned" about the impact leaving the EU without a deal would have on London. [...]
Accountant pleads guilty to stealing £280,000 from pension scheme he administered February 27, 2019 An accountant who acted as an administrator and a trustee to pension schemes has admitted to embezzling £280,000 from a pension fund he oversaw. Roger William Bessent, 66, took the money from Focusplay Retirement Benefit Scheme by converting the transfers into loans and making official minutes listing other trustees as present at meetings they did not attend. He [...]
Labour suspend Corbyn-ally caught in antisemitism row after pressure from MPs February 27, 2019 A Labour MP who claimed the party had been “too apologetic” about antisemitism has been suspended after a stand-off between leading figures. Chris Williamson. MP for Derby North, made the comments at a meeting of a branch of the pro-Jeremy Corbyn group Momentum in the wake of nine Labour MPs quitting the party last week. After [...]
Metro Bank boss remains defiant as shares continue to plunge following £350m cash call February 27, 2019 Metro Bank chief executive Craig Donaldson has remained defiant despite shares plunging a further 26 per cent following its emergency £350m cash call. Donaldson implored shareholders to focus on the challenger bank’s growth and look beyond the mounting problems it faced, which now includes regulatory probes into an accounting error. Read more: Metro Bank shares continue [...]
Video killed the radio star – is it TV’s turn for the chop? February 27, 2019 I read the news about the proposed merger of BBC and ITV today with interest. The new service – apparently called ‘Britbox’ – will reportedly cost around £5 a month. Just last week, I interviewed outgoing CEO of UKTV, Darren Childs, for my Media Masters podcast, where we discussed the future of television and the [...]
Hackers target UN and IMF using ‘sophisticated’ cyber attacks February 27, 2019 Cyber attackers have ramped up the power and complexity of their efforts, targeting crucial international bodies including the United Nations, US state department and International Monetary Fund, a newly-released report has found. Analysis by Netscout, a network security and business analytics solutions firm, found that so-called distributed denial-of-service (Ddos) attacks against the international affairs sector [...]
Digital banking challenger N26 is expanding to Brazil February 27, 2019 German fintech challenger N26 is expanding to Brazil, making it the first of Europe's biggest retail digital banks to enter the South American market. Announcing the move on stage at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, N26 said Eduardo Prota would head up the new region. Prota has previously worked for Santander and Cielo, as well as having [...]
Brexit uncertainty sparks public to private takeover trend February 27, 2019 Brexit uncertainty has sparked private equity fund interest in UK take-private transactions, new research shows. Of the 42 firm offers for UK public companies last year 31 per cent were made by private equity, analysis by investment bank Jefferies shows. Read more: Why tech startups are snubbing IPOs Public to private deals completed in 2018 [...]
Michael Cohen testimony live: Former lawyer makes explosive claims against ‘racist’ and ‘cheat’ Donald Trump February 27, 2019 Donald Trump’s former lawyer has labelled the President a "racist" and a "cheat" in an explosive testimony in front of Congress this afternoon, adding that the real estate mogul directed plans for a Russian skyscraper even during his White House campaign. At a blockbuster House Oversight and Reform Committee hearing today, erstwhile aide to the [...]