Super Thursday: Why business wants the Bank of England to hold its nerve August 5, 2015 As the UK’s economic recovery solidifies, the siren calls for interest rate rises are intensifying. Even the governor of the Bank of England – who no one would describe as a monetary policy hawk – has begun to prepare the ground for rate hikes in the not-too-distant future. With the US Federal Reserve set to [...]
Bank of England Super Thursday: Here’s everything you need to know August 5, 2015 Economists, analysts and investors across the City are busily preparing for Super Thursday. Rather than having a fortnight to digest various releases from the Bank of England, they'll be hit with the central bank's interest rate decision, minutes of the meeting and new economic forecasts all at once. The Bank ended what governor Mark Carney [...]
Standard Life share price falls on hit from Osborne’s pension shake-up August 4, 2015 The insurance giant's admission that it will be hit by the government's pension shake-up sent shares down three per cent to 440.7p in mid-morning trade today. The figures In results posted this morning, Standard Life said operating profit before tax rose six per cent to £290m in the six months ended 30 June, from £274m during the same period a year earlier. The [...]
Labour leadership contest: Three reasons why Jeremy Corbyn could be the City’s new best friend August 4, 2015 Jeremy Corbyn is rumoured to be leading in the Labour Party’s leadership election. Without doubt he is setting the pace. The result is that words like ‘hard left’ are being bandied about, especially by his opponent’s camps. But is he bad news for the City? As the author of some of the economic policies [...]
George Osborne starts £2bn Royal Bank of Scotland sell-off August 4, 2015 Chancellor George Osborne has kick started the government's first sale of shares in Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) today, a sale likely to raise £2bn for the government. UK Financial Investments (UKFI), the agency which holds the government's 79 per cent stake in RBS, announced its intention to sell about 600m shares, representing 5.2 per [...]
Osborne starts to offload RBS with £2bn sale August 4, 2015 MINISTERS last night fired the starting gun on returning Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) to private hands, offloading a £2bn stake in the bank seven years after it was rescued by taxpayers. The government is selling a 5.2 per cent of the high street lender, equivalent to 600m shares, to take its interests down to [...]
Jeremy Corbyn loses lead in betting odds as Corbynomics comes under fire from Labour MPs August 4, 2015 Left-wing Labour leadership candidate Jeremy Corbyn has lost his lead in the betting markets amid attacks from senior members of his own party. Bookies from Ladbrokes, William Hill and Betfair all told City A.M. that Corbyn had dropped out of pole position yesterday, leaving Andy Burnham as the odds-on favourite to replace Ed Miliband. [...]
Tom Hayes receives 14 year jail term in Libor-fixing scandal as MPs call for bank bosses to face prosecution August 4, 2015 A jury sent shockwaves through the City yesterday when it convicted former UBS and Citigroup trader Tom Hayes of eight counts of conspiracy to defraud in connection with the Libor-fixing scandal. Justice Jeremy Cooke sentenced the 35-year-old former City worker to 14 years in jail for his part in the manipulation of the Libor [...]
President Barack Obama antagonises Republicans as he unveils ambitious clean power plan August 3, 2015 Framing climate change as one of the most pressing challenge the world faces, President Barack Obama has unveiled what he called “the single most important step America has ever taken in the fight against global climate change.” The goal of the plan, which has been two years in the making, is to cut greenhouse gas [...]
Labour leadership race: Shadow chancellor Chris Leslie confirms he would not serve under Jeremy Corbyn August 3, 2015 The Labour party would “not be the party” the shadow chancellor Chris Leslie joined if Jeremy Corbyn won the leadership. In an interview with the BBC, Leslie said Labour needed to find a “credible” alternative Prime Minister and that he would not service under Corbyn if he did win the leadership. Leslie is backing Yvette [...]