Crispin Odey pleads not guilty to indecent assault charge September 28, 2020 High-profile hedge fund manager Crispin Odey has pleaded not guilty to a charge of indecent assault. The 61-year-old was charged in May with indecently assaulting a woman at his London home in 1998, according to court filings. Appearing in Westminster Magistrates Court this morning, Odey spoke to confirm his name and address and to deny [...]
Britain and EU reach temporary agreement on derivatives clearing September 28, 2020 Britain and the EU have reached a temporary accord on the information-sharing arrangements needed for eurozone banks to continue to use London’s clearing houses until June 2022. Britain’s unfettered access to the bloc’s markets ends on 31 December. Brussels had already agreed to grant UK clearing houses temporary access for 18 months, but an updated [...]
Aldi to create 4,000 jobs in £1.3bn UK investment as profits soar September 28, 2020 Aldi’s has announced plans to invest £1.3bn in the UK over the next two years as it reported a 49 per cent increase in profit for 2019. The German discount supermarket said it would open 100 new stores in the UK in 2020 and 2021, sticking to its target of 1,200 stores by 2025. Aldi, [...]
HSBC shares rebound after China’s Ping An boosts its holding September 28, 2020 HSBC shares in Hong Kong and London rose sharply on Monday after Chinese asset manager Ping An, the bank’s largest shareholder, increased its stake in the lender. In a regulatory filing late on Friday, Ping An revealed it had raised its holding in the lender from 7.95 per cent to eight per cent. HSBC’s Hong [...]
Natwest and Lloyds signal willingness to bring back dividends September 27, 2020 Two of the UK’s largest banks have indicated that they are ready to restart paying dividends as the Bank of England prepares to review its ban on shareholder payouts. Executives at Natwest and Lloyds have hinted at the strength of their balance sheets, with Natwest chairman Howard Davies saying lenders would resume paying dividends if [...]
Boris Johnson’s gigabit broadband target will be ‘missed by years’, warns BT boss September 27, 2020 Boris Johnson’s target for delivering gigabit broadband across the UK will be missed by eight years without £9bn worth of tax and red tape cuts, BT has warned ministers. BT claims the industry is on course to deliver gigabit speeds across the nation by 2033, significantly later than Johnson’s election pledge of full coverage by [...]
Restaurant industry risks ‘lost generation’ without more support, top chefs warn September 27, 2020 Raymond Blanc and Michel Roux Jr have warned that the restaurant industry risks losing a generation of talent and will “suffer enormously” amid fresh coronavirus restrictions and gaps in government support. Industry figures have condemned the new 10pm curfew as “devastating”, while a quarter of hospitality businesses fear they will go bust by the end [...]
Evidence on negative rates ‘encouraging’, says Bank of England policymaker September 27, 2020 The Bank of England has seen “encouraging” evidence that negative interest rates could help the British economy during the downturn triggered by the coronavirus, a policymaker has said. Silvana Tenreyro, who sits on the Bank’s monetary policy committee (MPC), said the committee has been discussing what options it has in its toolkit, including “how effective [...]
Commerzbank poaches Deutsche Bank executive as new boss September 27, 2020 Commerzbank has tapped a senior executive from rival Deutsche Bank to become its new chief executive, filling a leadership vacuum at the lender after months of uncertainty. Manfred Knof, head of Deutsche Bank’s German retail business, will take over as head of Germany’s second largest bank in January. Knof succeeds Martin Zielke, who resigned in [...]
London gains ground on New York in ranking of global financial centres September 25, 2020 London has held on to the second spot in a respected ranking of global financial centres, closing the gap on New York as investors sought out the relative safety of leading finance hubs amid the coronavirus pandemic. The British capital gained 24 points in the latest Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI), which measures the competitiveness [...]
