Peter Hargreaves: Government hasn’t got ‘a clue’ on Brexit August 7, 2018 One of the co-founders of Hargreaves Lansdown and a major supporter of the Leave campaign has slammed the government's handling of negotiations, saying there "isn't one person on our Brexit team who has a clue". In an explosive interview with Bloomberg, Peter Hargreaves railed against Theresa May and ministers for failing to involve business in [...]
Brexit via the lobby: Cicero’s executive chairman on why City lobbyists are about to focus on extending Article 50 August 6, 2018 The reputation of professional lobbyists – never particularly burnished, it’s fair to say – has gone through the wringer of late, with everyone from Boris Johnson to Greenpeace (itself active in that regard) sticking their oar in. There is a problem, acknowledges Iain Anderson, boss of the newly supersized City lobby firm Cicero, much of [...]
Calls to extend Article 50 grow as businesses fail to prepare for no deal August 3, 2018 Calls are growing for the government and the European Union to agree an extension to Article 50, amid fears that a deal cannot be reached this autumn. Two separate surveys – one by the Institute of Directors and one by Maritime UK – have both found that just half of businesses have made preparations for [...]
It’s time to consider an off-the-shelf deal if we’re serious about avoiding a hard Brexit August 3, 2018 Theresa May and her ministers are racking up air miles trying to convince their EU counterparts to back the Chequers deal, even though her own chief adviser Olly Robbins has said it won’t work. Alarmed at the pace of progress, most large firms are finalising their contingency plans – in some cases, like the London [...]
May’s leadership nightmare isn’t over and now the EU’s offer to extend Brexit talks could herald another election August 2, 2018 Theresa May heads to the fortress-turned-holiday retreat enjoyed by French Presidents this Friday at the invitation of Emmanuel Macron. Though the PM might hope for a little Mediterranean respite after the past few bruising months, she will be expecting a robust exchange with a smooth operator who has become a serious thorn in her side. [...]
London Stock Exchange executes no deal contingency plans August 2, 2018 The London Stock Exchange is executing its contingency plans for a hard Brexit, amid growing uncertainty a deal can be struck in time. The firm this morning reported a 21 percent rise in first-half adjusted operating profit to £480m – more than £20m ahead of consensus estimates – as its clearing, capital markets and information [...]
Brexiters seek to revive Canada plus-plus-plus model as Barnier rejects Chequers cherry picking August 2, 2018 The Canada-plus-plus-plus model mooted by former Brexit secretary David Davis is still in play, with pro-Brexit MPs discussing how to revive it in favour of the Prime Minister's Chequers model. The model, also called Super Canada, was first publicly floated by Davis last year, suggesting the free trade agreement recently signed between the EU and [...]
Ministers up the ante over fears Brussels is misrepresenting UK stance August 1, 2018 Government ministers will spend much of August using one-to-one meetings with EU counterparts to press the case for a financial services deal, fearing the Commission has been deliberately misconstruing the UK’s official position. Senior figures including chancellor Philip Hammond and the new foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt have been among those clarifying the stance adopted in [...]
StanChart reports profit surge as Winters’ restructuring takes hold July 31, 2018 Standard Chartered has unveiled a 34 per cent rise in pretax profit for the six months to June and issued an interim dividend, as the Asia-focused bank continued to grow its revenue after years of restructuring. However StanChart's share price fell 3.6 per cent on the back of the increasing cost of digitising the bank. [...]
Jeremy Hunt warns no deal likelihood increasing by the day – and issues veiled threat of deregulation July 31, 2018 The likelihood of the UK crashing out of the European Union without a deal is “increasing by the day”, foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt has warned. He also issued a veiled threat that the government could loosen regulation for financial services to ensure the City continued to "thrive". The former health secretary, who was parachuted into [...]
