Charlotte Hogg resignation: The Treasury will look for two people to replace her March 14, 2017 The Treasury will split Charlotte Hogg's role in two when it seeks to replace her, City A.M. understands. Hogg, who had just taken on the job of the Bank of England's deputy governor on top of her role as its chief operating officer, resigned today after it emerged she had failed to disclose her brother's job [...]
Second Scottish referendum: Bookies already have betting odds on the date and result – as well as the next region to vote for independence March 13, 2017 The second Scottish referendum is odds-on to take place after 2020, bookies said today, after first minister Nicola Sturgeon announced she will seek permission to hold another independence vote. Paddy Power said it was 5/6 the vote will be held in 2020 or later, putting the chances of it happening this year at 50/1. Although [...]
Second Scottish independence referendum: How five City analysts reacted to Nicola Sturgeon’s speech March 13, 2017 So there we have it: after months of fevered speculation, Nicola Sturgeon has announced she will begin the process of seeking a second Scottish independence referendum. Although it fell last week, when the rumours started in earnest, the pound barely shrugged at Sturgeon's announcement today. Here's what analysts had to say. 1. "Cocktail of uncertainty" [...]
UK house prices: Rent increases have fallen to their lowest since 2013 – while London prices fell for the ninth month March 13, 2017 Rent increases for tenants across the UK have fallen to their lowest since 2013, new figures have shown, with prices in London dropping for the ninth month in a row. Rents rose just one per cent to £1,190 in the year to February, the lowest rise since April 2013, figures from Landbay showed. In the [...]
Rate hike on the way? Non-farm payroll figures show US jobs smashed expectations in February March 10, 2017 New job openings in the US were even stronger last month, hitting 235,000 – up from the surprisingly high 227,000 openings posted in the month before. The figure smashed expectations of 200,000 jobs – however, average hourly earnings disappointed, rising 0.2 per cent, compared with the 0.3 per cent expected. Unemployment stuck at 4.8 per cent. [...]
A poll shows after the Budget, the Conservatives have their strongest lead in eight years March 10, 2017 Philip Hammond's Budget speech may have led to angry headlines, but many voters shrugged off his controversial plans to hike national insurance contributions (NICs) for the self-employed, a new poll has shown. The poll, conducted by YouGov for The Times, showed 47 per cent of voters supported Hammond's decision to raise £2bn by hiking NICs for those [...]
Esure share price soars to record high as it avoids discount rate hit March 10, 2017 Esure zoomed to the top of the FTSE 250 in late-morning trading after the insurer said it was in "full growth mode", and added it had avoided taking a hit from changes to discount rate rules. The figures In results posted this morning, Esure said underlying post-tax profits rose 18 per cent to 80.5m in the year to the end [...]
UBS has slashed its bonus pool by almost a fifth March 10, 2017 UBS has become the latest investment banking giant to slash its bonus pool as uncertain conditions continued to bite for the world's largest lenders. In the annual report it published today, UBS revealed its bonus pool has fallen 17 per cent, from SFr 3.5bn (£2.84bn) in 2015 to SFr 2.9bn in 2016. Meanwhile, chief executive Sergio Ermotti kept [...]
George Osborne deserves criticism for a lot of things, but his new salary isn’t one of them March 10, 2017 George Osborne deserved all the ribbing he got over the way he announced the £650,000 a year salary for his new advisory gig at BlackRock. It was not the first time he has used the cover of a bigger story (in this case, the Budget) to sneak out news: he originally unveiled his appointment at [...]
Mario Draghi says Brexit has had no economic impact as the European Central Bank (ECB) holds interest rates steady March 9, 2017 European Central Bank (ECB) president Mario Draghi said Brexit has so far not had a significant economic impact. Draghi said: "We haven't seen yet a consequence" or a "significant economic impact" from Brexit, despite the ECB's expectations. He also painted a more positive picture of the Eurozone economy as the bank held monetary policy steady, [...]
