Red tape officers must allow banks to take risks: There’s no business without it July 21, 2015 It's clear there is still a major gap in understanding how growth can be maintained and stimulated by effective risk management, rather than restricted by focusing purely on compliance control as this recent report on soaring pay for so-called red tape officers shows. Some still blame excessive regulation for a stalling in financial firms’ [...]
Chancellor George Osborne told to “sit down man” by speaker John Bercow July 21, 2015 Chancellor George Osborne was already looking at a fairly stressful day, given he's being grilled by the Treasury Select Committee about the Budget and the spending review he announced earlier in the day. Read more: Chancellor George Osborne defends bank surcharge as he faces Treasury Select Committee What he probably didn't expect was to be [...]
Government spending review: More public land to be sold off for homes as George Osborne seeks £20bn in savings July 21, 2015 Remember, remember 25 November: that's when the government will publish its spending review, setting out exactly how it will cut £20bn to eradicate the country's deficit over the next five years. And it looks like that a pretty major literal land-grab will be taking place. The chief secretary to the Treasury Greg Hands [...]
Treasury to cut Bank of England monetary policy committee meetings from 12 to eight July 21, 2015 If you've been getting fed up with months of MPC updates with no change – and let's face it, after six years of the same update, who isn't – then there's some good news. The number of monetary policy committee meetings is about to be reduced to just eight per year, down from 12. This [...]
George Osborne set for a grilling over new bank tax July 20, 2015 George Osborne is expected to face a grilling from MPs today over the new bank surcharge – set to be introduced next year – when he appears before a Treasury select committee for the first time since the Budget. Mark Garnier, a Conservative minister on the Treasury select committee, told City A.M. that while [...]
George Osborne aims to curry favour in the Square Mile with Martin Wheatley dismissal July 19, 2015 As the chancellor who introduced the banking levy back in 2011, George Osborne is not as popular in the City as he could be. But last week it looked like he may be trying to work his way back into bankers’ good books. On Friday, Martin Wheatley, chief executive of the Financial Conduct Authority [...]
George Osborne ousts Martin Wheatley from FCA July 17, 2015 Martin Wheatley, the man who famously said he would "shoot first and ask questions later" as he launched the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), has been ousted by chancellor George Osborne. Wheatley, who will leave on 12 September, jumped before he was pushed: City A.M understands he resigned after learning Osborne had decided not to [...]
Greek crisis: George Osborne wins guarantee that UK cash used in Greek loan will be paid back July 16, 2015 Chancellor George Osborne has managed to secure a guarantee on £700m of British funds that will be loaned to Greece while it continues to negotiate its bailout. Earlier this week Eurozone officials decided that tapping into a €7bn pan-EU fund called the European Financial Stability Mechanism (EFSM) would be the most viable option. However, [...]
Greek debt crisis: George Osborne backtracks on Athens loan pledge as EU readies aid July 15, 2015 The Treasury is preparing to co-operate with Europe over a short-term loan to Greece – but only if the cash is guaranteed – in an embarrassing about-face for chancellor George Osborne who on Tuesday promised not to offer bailout funds to aid Athens. A Treasury source said the European Commission was now proposing ways [...]
Challenger banks face an uphill battle as George Osborne widens levy net July 15, 2015 The heads of the UK’s fast-growing crop of challenger banks were entitled to reach for a stiff lunchtime drink as they absorbed the first Conservative Budget for two decades last week. At a stroke, George Osborne’s decision to impose a super-tax on industry profits above £25m undermined everything he has said about broadening competition [...]