Ireland will not negotiate with UK over Brexit backstop, says minister January 21, 2019 Sterling dipped this morning as Ireland said it would not negotiate separately with the UK over Theresa May’s Brexit deal. The Prime Minister was hoping to sign a treaty with Ireland to remove the so-called Irish backstop from her unpopular withdrawal agreement, according to The Sunday Times. Read more: May must battle MPs trying to delay [...]
Hacking Wall Street: Are tech unicorns about to disrupt stock market flotations? January 21, 2019 Tech companies have changed the way we chat, bank, travel and date. Are they about to disrupt capital markets too? “In [Silicon] Valley there’s always been that mentality: how do we hack Wall Street?” says Rob Kniaz, a founder of tech-focused venture capital firm Hoxton Ventures. Two weeks ago reports broke that Slack, the workplace [...]
Case alleging Libor-rigging launched against raft of major banks January 20, 2019 A string of major banks have been accused of rigging the Libor benchmark again, five years on from a major scandal. A class action has been filed in the US against banks such as the Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays, Lloyds Banking Group, HSBC, UBS, Bank of America, Citi and Deutsche Bank. The action, which [...]
EU digital tax could be agreed by March, says French finance minister Bruno Le Maire January 20, 2019 The European Union could reach an agreement on details of a digital tax by the end of March, the French finance minister has said. Talks among EU ministers aimed at aligning the taxation of online businesses broke down in December. A number of smaller member states, including Ireland, Sweden and Denmark, opposed the plan and [...]
Labour loses up to 150,000 members over its stance on Brexit January 20, 2019 The Labour party's stance on Brexit has prompted the exodus of about 150,000 members in recent months, according to reports. Labour sources told the Sunday Times that up to 100,000 are also not up to date with their subscriptions and enrolment is floundering at 385,000. The losses have reportedly cost the party £6m. A Labour source [...]
Theresa May faces trying week in parliament as MPs plan to delay Brexit January 20, 2019 Theresa May will update MPs on her Brexit plan B on Monday amid open warfare in her own party over how to break the deadlock in parliament. She will also table a motion that will be debated and voted on 29 January. The Prime Minister is believed to be focusing her efforts on winning over [...]
Angela Merkel calls for greater military cooperation in EU ahead of European elections in May January 19, 2019 Angela Merkel has said the European Union should cooperate more in developing weapons systems in a bid to push back against a growing wave of euroscepticism before the European parliamentary elections in May. The German Chancellor said her country may need to make compromises on strict export controls. Read more: German politicians including Chancellor Angela Merkel [...]
Donald Trump to hold second summit with Kim Jong Un in February to continue denuclearisation discussion January 19, 2019 Donald Trump will hold a second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in late February having held a meeting with the country’s top nuclear negotiator on Friday. The US president met with Kim Yong Chol, a hardline former spy chief, to continue the denuclearisation effort that had stalled since the first meeting between [...]
John Major urges Prime Minister May to ditch red lines on Brexit negotiations January 19, 2019 Former Conservative prime minister John Major has urged Theresa May to drop her so called red lines on Brexit negotiations and let parliament find a way to avoid a no deal scenario. Major said: “Her deal is dead and I don’t think honestly that tinkering with it is going to make very much difference if [...]
Customs union compromise could open the door to renewed talks on Brexit, says commissioner January 19, 2019 Britain could clear the way to reaching an agreement on the Brexit deal if it rows back on a commitment to leave the EU’s customs union, according to a senior commissioner within the bloc. Prime Minister Theresa May is still in a stand-off with opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, halting her last minute bid to [...]