Explainer: What’s inside Rishi Sunak’s Northern Ireland deal? February 27, 2023 As you’re reading this, Rishi Sunak and Ursula von der Leyen are getting ready for their joint presser in Windsor after their lunch-time “final talks” on the new deal for the Northern Ireland protocol. Sunak will then bring the news to his MPs with a statement in the Commons. A senior government source has confirmed [...]
Red tape for small banks to be reduced as regulator looks to boost sector’s competitiveness February 27, 2023 The banking regulator has announced plans to reduce restrictions on small banks, saying it would take its new competitiveness mandate seriously. Announcing the regulations, Vicky Saporta, executive director at the Bank of England, said: “the importance of competition means that we need to act when rules that are proportionate for large firms are not proportionate [...]
Stablecoin market cap falls for eleventh consecutive month, and IMF calls for ‘coordinated action’ on crypto February 27, 2023 Data from CryptoCompare shows the price of Bitcoin steadily dropped from around $25,000 to a $23,000 low over the last seven days.
Brexit deal done: Rishi Sunak signs breakthrough agreement with EU over Northern Ireland protocol February 27, 2023 Rishi Sunak has signed a breakthrough deal with the European Union over post-Brexit trading arrangements for Northern Ireland and will now seek to win the backing of unionists and Tory Eurosceptics. The Prime Minister and EU chief Ursula von der Leyen finalised the long-awaited agreement to ease the trading issues created by the Northern Ireland [...]
Manchester beats London, as capital’s hotels struggle to return to pre-pandemic occupancy levels February 27, 2023 Manchester has trumped London in hotels occupancy levels for January, as the capital struggles to return to pre-pandemic levels. According to data by STR, a division of CoStar Group, occupancy rates in London were down six per cent in January to 65.1 per cent compared to 71.1 per cent by 6.0 per cent during the [...]
EY’s China staff asked to wear communist party badges to work February 27, 2023 Staff in EY’s Beijing offices have reportedly been asked to wear their communist party badges to work. A communist party committee in EY’s China business called on party members to wear their hammer and sickle pins in the office, the Financial Times reported. In an email to party members working in EY’s Beijing office, the [...]
Price cap: Government will ‘continue to help’ with high energy bills but falls short of fresh support packages February 27, 2023 The government has stopped short of pledging fresh support - even with customers facing higher bills after today's price cap announcement.
Government criticism of FCA’s consumer duty slammed by former watchdog official February 27, 2023 The City minister’s damning comments on planned consumer protection rules are a case of the government criticising the Financial Conduct Authority “for doing exactly what [it] has told it to do”, a former top regulator has said. City minister Andrew Griffith was reported to be scathing of the FCA’s planned consumer duty, which is set [...]
Gravity bags £30m as punters pick experiences over goods February 27, 2023 Gravity, which runs trampoline parks and other active entertainment experiences, across the UK, has secured £30m in funding from investor Sculptor to help grow the business. Gravity, which has 17 sites nationwide, said the funding will help to expend the business, with the group expected to announce a pipeline of new venues in UK cities [...]
Monzo and Wise founders back £8.8m Robin AI robot lawyer project February 27, 2023 A City computing company has raised $10.5m (£8.8m) from backers including top execs from Magic Circle law firm Clifford Chance to develop an artificial intelligence (AI) driven, robot lawyer. The founders of fintech firms Monzo and Wise have also thrown their weight behind London’s Robin AI, which is seeking to disrupt the legal sector with [...]
