UK stock funds suffer worst year on record as investors pull nearly £10bn January 8, 2025 UK-focused stock funds suffered their worst year on record last year as investors yanked nearly £10bn from the market, new figures have shown. While equity vehicles globally raked in a record £27.2bn through 2024, UK funds haemorrhaged some £9.6bn in their most sluggish year ever relative to the performance of the wider market, according to [...]
Lloyd’s of London insurer snubs the City with New York IPO plans January 6, 2025 A Lloyd’s of London insurer has dealt a fresh blow to the City by snubbing the London Stock Exchange in favour of New York for its planned IPO, piling fresh pressure on the capital’s bourse after it shrank at the fastest pace on record last year. Aspen Insurance, an underwriting firm which operates out of [...]
Motor finance scandal: FCA boss tells unhappy customers to complain December 10, 2024 Treasury Committee chair Dame Meg Hillier on Tuesday described the ongoing saga over the sale of car finance as "one unholy mess."
The rise of the regulators December 10, 2024 Regulators have expanded massively over the last 50 years, in terms of headcount, expenditure and scope. This has created a risk aversion ratchet which is hampering growth and damaging democracy – there is another way, says James Vitali Over the past fifty years, a silent revolution has taken place in the British constitution. While central [...]
Former City minister quits Westminster group over scathing FCA report December 4, 2024 The former City minister John Glen has quit a cross-parliamentary group on fairer finance after it released an incendiary report on the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) accusing it of “incompetence”. In a letter to the Financial Times, Glen, who served as City minister between 2018 and 2022, said he was “dismayed” by the report and [...]
FCA slammed by crowdfunding industry for over-regulation December 2, 2024 The UK economy has lost out on billions of pounds of investment over the past five years due to the City watchdog’s over-regulation of the crowdfunding industry, a leading lobby group has claimed. In a letter to City minister Tulip Siddiq, the UK Crowdfunding Association called on the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for a new [...]
City minister warned FCA ‘several times’ over name and shame plans November 29, 2024 The City minister said she warned the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) “several times” that its controversial ‘name and shame’ rules could harm companies before the regulator moved to water down the plans. Following intense criticism from firms and ministers, the regulator confirmed on Thursday that it would soften plans to publicly name companies facing investigation [...]
Former Wizz Air exec fined for breaching share trading laws November 27, 2024 A former Wizz Air executive has been fined £125,000 by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for trading company shares when City rules barred him from doing so. András Sebők, the budget carrier’s former chief supply officer, fell foul of FCA regulations by illicitly trading London-listed Wizz Air shares during the month-long period leading up to [...]
Critics circle under-fire watchdog November 27, 2024 What unites firebrand socialist MPs and stalwarts of the Tory establishment? The answer – somewhat unbelievably – is the state of our main financial regulator. The Financial Conduct Authority is heading into a cold winter with storms swirling on all sides. It faces fury from parts of both the Square Mile and Westminster for hamstringing [...]
‘More of the same’: City lawyers sceptical of FCA’s five-year plan November 26, 2024 The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has set out a new five-year strategy, including details about its secondary objective to support the growth and competitiveness of the UK economy. In a speech today, FCA chief operating officer Emily Shepperd outlined the four key themes that the City watchdog would be focusing on: Growth and innovation, financial [...]