‘I actually don’t know if Libra’s going to work’: Congress grills Zuckerberg over Facebook’s digital currency plans October 23, 2019 Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has appeared before Congress to defend the social media giant’s controversial proposed digital currency, Libra. Zuckerberg told US lawmakers that Facebook would not support Libra launching before the stablecoin has won the approval of all US financial regulators. Read more: Bitcoin falls to lowest level since June amid Libra concerns [...]
Bitcoin falls to lowest level since June amid Libra concerns October 23, 2019 Bitcoin has tumbled eight per cent as concerns mount over cryptocurrencies ahead of Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg’s appearance before Congress this afternoon. Zuckerberg is set to be questioned on Libra, Facebook’s proposed digital currency, from 3pm UK time. Regulators and lawmakers from around the world have raised concerns about the possibility of Libra being used [...]
Real estate tech company Blueground launches in London October 23, 2019 Blueground, a startup providing tech-driven flexible apartment rentals, is launching in London and has raised $50m (£39m) in a funding round. The real estate tech firm offers Airbnb-style apartment rentals aimed at business travellers, offering rental lengths of one month or longer. Read more: Exclusive: Flexible office space firm Central Working falls into administration Blueground, [...]
Blackstone’s third-quarter results beat expectations October 23, 2019 Blackstone, the world’s largest private equity firm, has reported an increased profit for the third quarter, but a drop in the proportion of earnings that could be returned to shareholders. The group posted a profit of $779m (£605m) for the third quarter, up from $443m a year earlier. Read more: Takeover titan and Blackstone boss [...]
Vanguard slashes fees in escalation of European fund price war October 23, 2019 Vanguard has cut fees on almost half of its European funds, in a major escalation of the ongoing price war within the European asset management market. The second-largest asset manager in the world slashed fees on 46 of its European funds, 36 of which are available to UK retail investors, in a move that could [...]
Peer-to-peer lender Fundingsecure enters administration October 23, 2019 Peer-to-peer investment and lending platform Fundingsecure has gone into administration, the financial regulator announced. Fundingsecure operated a peer-to-peer lending platform that facilitated crowdfunded loans and pawn-broking style loans secured against valuable items. In a statement on the company’s website, Fundingsecure said its board of directors had resolved to place the firm into administration today. CG [...]
Quilter assets continue to be hit by investment manager departures October 23, 2019 The departure of a team of asset managers last year has continued to weigh on Quilter, with £600m of client cash leaving the business in the third quarter, taking the total outflows for the year so far to £1.4bn. In a trading update published this morning, the asset manager reported net client cash outflows of [...]
China ‘planning to replace Carrie Lam’ as Hong Kong withdraws extradition bill October 23, 2019 Beijing has reportedly drawn up plans to replace Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam with an interim chief executive, as the territory’s legislature formally withdrew the controversial extradition bill that sparked months of protests. There have been months of often-violent protests against Lam’s leadership in Hong Kong over concerns Beijing is tightening its grip on the [...]
‘There’s an awful lot of business’: St James’s Place boss defends rewarding cruises to partners October 22, 2019 The chief executive of St James’s Place has defended the trips offered to its partners as part of the firm’s controversial incentive scheme. The wealth manager is conducting a review into the scheme after details of rewards ranging from white-gold cufflinks to luxury cruises were made public last month. Read more: St James’s Place maintains [...]
Banks could drop Facebook over Libra, ING head warns October 22, 2019 Banks could have to cut ties with Facebook if it launches Libra without first addressing regulators’ concerns over the possibility of the digital currency being used for money laundering, the head of ING was warned. Chief executive Ralph Hamers said banks such as ING act as “gatekeeper to the financial system”, and told the Financial [...]
