Spring Statement 2025: City praises potential ISA reforms March 26, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves confirmed in the Spring Statement that reforms to Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs) are on the horizon, a statement that has been welcomed by the investment industry in the City of London. “The government is looking at options for reforms to Individual Savings Accounts that get the balance right between cash and equities [...]
FCA chief vows to support growth agenda ‘with urgency’ March 25, 2025 The chief executive of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has said the watchdog is “going so much further” on its mission to boost growth in the UK, amid pressure from the government for regulators to cut red tape. Writing in City AM this morning, Nikhil Rathi said the FCA had presented the Prime Minister with [...]
Financial watchdog to push savers to take more risk March 24, 2025 The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is set to encourage retail investors to up their level of risk when managing their savings, as part of its mandate to support growth in the UK economy. The watchdog has drawn up the plans as part of a new five-year strategy that is set to launch later this week, [...]
The FCA must continue work on cutting card fees March 21, 2025 The Payment Systems Regulator was doing vital work on reducing unfair card fees that are hammering retail. Now the FCA must pick up where it left off, says Tom Ironside In their recently published report into scheme and processing card fees, the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) recently found that “increasing fees impacts on UK businesses’ [...]
FCA fines London Metal Exchange £9.2m over 2022 nickel volatility March 20, 2025 The Financial Conduct Authority handed a landmark £9.2m fine to the London Metal Exchange after it failed to prevent extreme volatility in the nickel market in March 2022. In its first ever enforcement action against an investment exchange, the FCA criticised the exchange’s systems and controls that did not ensure “orderly trading under conditions of [...]
Motor finance: Lloyds and Close Brothers shareholders await landmark hearing March 19, 2025 The eyes of shareholders at Britain’s biggest lenders will be on April’s landmark motor finance hearing, as the scandal heads to the Supreme Court. The hearing, scheduled for April 1-3, will allow car loan providers to challenge the October 2024 Court of Appeal ruling that it was unlawful for banks to pay a commission to [...]
Crispin Odey banned from financial industry March 17, 2025 Former hedge fund manager Crispin Odey has been fined £1.8m and banned from working in the financial services industry by the Financial Conduct Authority. The financial watchdog cited Odey’s “lack of integrity” in their decision after he attempted to escape the allegations of sexual assault he faced at his firm. Odey “deliberately sought to frustrate” [...]
I’ll cut regulation and unleash the animal spirits of the private sector March 17, 2025 In an exclusive article for City AM, the Prime Minister says “it is an outrage that government does not know how much it costs business to comply with the regulations imposed on them” and declares that his “will be the first government to baseline these costs” – before slashing them. Last week, I set out [...]
City regulator considering scrapping £100 contactless limit March 14, 2025 The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) announced on Friday it was looking for opinions on scrapping the contactless card limit and whether changes could benefit the UK economy. The current cap prohibits customers from making contactless card payments of more than £100 – however, the rule is set for review in a bid to boost growth. [...]
Founder of whisky investment firm Hackstons tied to notorious ‘Wolf of Wall Street’ wine scam March 13, 2025 A high-flying salesman who made millions during his time at a business that was subsequently exposed as a notorious wine scam is now running a West End whisky investment firm having changed his name, City AM can reveal. Alphie Valentine, 41, is the co-founder and director of Hackstons, whose flagship store opened in Knightsbridge in [...]