Greek crisis: Leaked document shows creditors still at odds with Greece June 24, 2015 A document leaked this afternoon shows deep divisions remain between Greece and its creditors over crucial issues such as taxation and pensions. Read more: Can Greece get past its sticking points? The document, leaked to several sources including the FT, showed Greece's original proposals, heavily edited by its creditors. Issues such as VAT and pensions remain massively [...]
Leaked proposals: Everything Greece wants, and what its creditors changed June 24, 2015 As tensions escalated between Greece and its lenders, the inevitable happened: a four-page document originally produced by Greece but edited heavily by its creditors was leaked. The document includes dozens of changes on proposals from VAT reform to fiscal structural measures and pension reforms. An agreement over the document would unlock the €7.2bn Greece needs [...]
Fall in first quarter US GDP was less than we thought June 24, 2015 The fall in US first quarter GDP was less than we previously thought, after the Bureau of Economic Analysis revised its figure up. GDP contracted 0.2 per cent in the first three months of the year, less than the 0.7 per cent originally mooted. However, it's a fall from the first estimate of a 0.2 [...]
UK house prices: Mortgage approvals rise to their highest in 14 months June 24, 2015 Mortgage approvals continued their inexorable rise last month, figures published this morning showed, suggesting growth in UK house prices is unlikely to abate anytime soon. The figures, from the British Bankers' Association, showed mortgage approvals for house purchases rose to 42,530 last month, up from 42,020 in April – and way up on a 20-month [...]
Neil Woodford-backed challenger Atom gets thumbs-up from regulators June 24, 2015 A mobile-based bank backed by City superstar investor Neil Woodford and launched by a founder of Metro Bank has been granted a banking licence, it said this morning. Durham-based Atom, launched by former Metro Bank chairman and First Direct chief executive Mark Mullen, will launch as a mobile app at first, with a desktop version [...]
Eurostar services suspended for the rest of the day as riots close Eurotunnel June 23, 2015 Eurostar said it was unable to run "any trains" from France because of a fire caused by demonstrators outside the tunnel in northern France. This morning riot police were called after wildcat strikes by workers at a terminal run by My Ferry Link in northern France caused hundreds of migrants to attempt to make the [...]
Co-operative Bank warns on regulatory action from FRC and PRA June 23, 2015 The Co-operative Bank warned today that UK regulators are likely to "make findings against" following an 18-month investigation. Read more: Co-op Bank says it is on track to meet Bank of England targets The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) have indicated they are likely to "commence formal settlement discussions" in [...]
RBS AGM: Lender did not anticipate £10bn of penalties, says Sir Philip Hampton June 23, 2015 RBS’ outgoing chairman said today that the bank did “not anticipate” the £10bn of fines it’s been handed in recent years. At the bank’s annual general meeting today, Sir Philip Hampton, who is due to bow out as its chairman, said the regulatory fines, litigation charges and customer redress were completely unexpected. “The [...]
National Women in Engineering Day: Stereotypes are creating a huge skills gap in the UK’s engineering sector June 23, 2015 National Women in Engineering Day isn’t just a celebration. It’s a landmark opportunity to draw attention to a critical economic factor that can no longer be ignored: women need to fill an ever-growing engineering skills gap. Quite simply, the UK economy will not do well without engineers. Without skilled workers it is hard for [...]
Standard & Poor’s: Brexit could “significantly dent” UK financial services and insurance sectors June 23, 2015 Any departure from the European Union could do significant harm to the UK's insurance and financial services sectors, ratings agency Standard & Poor's has suggested. Read more: Eurosceptic report sets the stage for Brexit In a report published today, the organisation pointed out that between them, the two sectors account for 30 per cent of [...]
