Asian stocks slip on recovery hopes amid global rally August 26, 2020 Asian stocks edged lower on Wednesday on lingering uncertainties regarding the global economic outlook, even as US stocks advanced to new highs. MSCI’s index of shares outside Japan slipped 0.1 per cent, retreating slightly from a two-year high on Thursday. Japan’s Nikkei dropped 0.12 per cent. It came after a set of mixed economic data, [...]
Regulators target football fans in pension scam awareness campaign August 25, 2020 Regulators are targeting football fans in a new campaign intended to raise awareness of pension scams, with over £30m reportedly lost to scammers since 2017. Reported losses range from under £1,000 to as much as £500,000, according to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and The Pensions Regulator (TPR) with the average victim being a man [...]
Ofqual boss Sally Collier quits after exams fiasco August 25, 2020 The head of the exams regulator, Sally Collier, has resigned just weeks after schools and universities were engulfed by the exams fiasco. Collier, the chief regulator and chief executive of Ofqual, oversaw the introduction of an algorithm that was eventually scrapped after nearly 40 per cent of A Level results were downgraded. The controversial algorithm, [...]
Alibaba’s Ant Group files for dual listing in Hong Kong and Shanghai August 25, 2020 Alibaba’s fintech arm Ant Group has filed for a dual listing in Hong Kong and Shanghai, in what could become the world’s largest ever IPO. Ant’s float would be the first simultaneous listing in Hong Kong and Shanghai’s Nasdaq-style Star market, in a listing which could raise as much as $30bn. Ant Group, which made [...]
British Business Bank issues 75,000th startup loan August 25, 2020 The British Business Bank has issued its 75,000th loan under its Start Up Loans programme, marking more than £623m invested in small business across the UK since its launch in 2012. The number of loans for small firms has risen sharply since the start of the pandemic. Between May and July a total of £31.9m [...]
Astrazeneca starts trial of Covid-19 antibody treatment August 25, 2020 Astrazeneca has started the first phase of a clinical trial of a combination of two monoclonal antibodies, to prevent and treat Covid-19. The British pharmaceutical company said the first 48 participants, from the UK and between the ages of 18 and 55, have been dosed. The trial will evaluate the “safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetics” of [...]
US and China welcome ‘constructive’ trade talks after delay August 25, 2020 The US and China have welcomed a “constructive” round of talks over a phase one trade deal after discussions were delayed earlier this month. In a call between US trade representative Robert Lighthitzer, US treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin and Chinese vice premier Liu He, the two sides reaffirmed their commitment to the deal. “Both sides [...]
Global dividends plunge to record quarterly low August 24, 2020 Global dividends plunged by a fifth to $108.1bn in the second quarter, with payouts in the UK and Europe the worst affected. As companies scrambled to conserve cash as coronavirus cases increased, payouts fell 19.3 per cent on an underlying basis to $382.2bn, according to Janus Henderson’s global dividend index. It is the worst quarterly [...]
No substitute for creativity in the office, says adland boss August 20, 2020 There is no substitute for face-to-face interaction in the creative process, the boss of advertising giant Havas London has said. Speaking on City A.M.’s The City View podcast, Xavier Rees, chief executive of Havas London, said there is a limit to what people can do away from the office. “It’s true to say we can [...]
Shuttered Woodford fund to pay out £183m to investors next week August 20, 2020 Investors trapped in the failed Woodford Equity Income will receive a £183m payout next week, following the sale of a number of assets. Link Fund Solutions agreed a £224m deal to sell 18 healthcare stocks, representing around half the remaining fund’s assets in June to Acacia Research. The firm then offloaded the bargain stocks just [...]
