Financial Conduct Authority dawn raids nearly doubled in 2018 April 29, 2019 The number of dawn raids conducted by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has almost doubled over the past year, from 13 in 2017 to 25 in 2018. Financial services regulatory consultancy Fscom said one of the drivers of the jump in raids was likely to be an FCA crackdown on unregulated investments. Read more: London [...]
Fund managers say oil companies need to go green to remain attractive investments April 29, 2019 Fund managers overwhelmingly say oil companies will not remain attractive investments unless they make their businesses more green. A survey of fund managers responsible for $10 trillion (£7.7 trillion) of assets by the UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association (UKSIF) found 86 per cent wanted oil companies to align their businesses with the Paris Agreement's [...]
City forum intervenes in Barclays’ battle with Bramson April 28, 2019 A forum for City investors has intervened in Barclays’ battle with activist investor Edward Bramson, ahead of the bank’s general meeting this week. Investor Forum has written to Barclays in recent weeks at the prompting of major institutional investors to raise a number of concerns, Sky News reported. The news comes before Barclays’ general meeting [...]
RAF missile-maker MBDA’s offices raided by French police April 25, 2019 Police raided the head office of missile manufacturer MBDA last week at the request of merchant bank Aldini which it is involved in a legal dispute with. Police were turned away with MBDA citing the French national defence act, Aldini said. MBDA manufactures the Brimstone anti-vehicle missile and the Storm Shadow cruise missile for the [...]
Clifford Chance signals confidence with largest promotions round since the financial crisis April 25, 2019 Magic Circle law firm Clifford Chance said today it was elevating 30 lawyers to its partner ranks in its largest promotions round since the financial crisis. The firm promoted nine in London: corporate lawyers Jennifer Mbaluto and Alexander Chester; finance lawyers Peter Chapman, Nicholas Kinnersley and Caroline Dawson; capital markets lawyers Andrew Kelly and Kate [...]
Fieldfisher merges with Irish firm McDowell Purcell in Brexit-related expansion April 25, 2019 City law firm Fieldfisher has struck a merger deal with Irish firm McDowell Purcell as it looks to secure a route into the EU market post-Brexit. The deal gives Fieldfisher a Dublin office and 16 new partners and 50 lawyers. A string of UK and US law firms have established Dublin bases following the 2016 [...]
Half of motorists think charging loyal car insurance customers more should be illegal April 24, 2019 Fifty per cent of motorists think it should be illegal for insurers to charge existing customers more than new customers for the same cover, a new survey said today. The research by price comparison site Go Compare showed 61 per cent of participants felt insurers treat existing customers less favourably by charging those who renew [...]
London Capital & Finance investors rage against the FCA, EY and PwC in stormy meeting April 24, 2019 Angry bondholders of collapsed lender London Capital & Finance railed against the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and accountants PWC and EY today at a packed meeting in City Temple church. Furious investors raged against the FCA, blaming it for failing to intervene in the regulated firm sooner. “We’ve been sold down the river!” One investor [...]
FCA: UK could embrace ‘lower burden’ financial rules post-Brexit April 23, 2019 The City could benefit from a “lower burden” regulatory regime when the UK exits the European Union, the top financial regulator said today. Setting out his vision for the future of UK financial regulation, Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) head Andrew Bailey said he thought the UK and EU would take contrasting approaches to regulation post-Brexit, [...]
Bottoms up: English and Welsh sparkling wine sales jumped six per cent last year with 4m bottles sold April 23, 2019 UK sales of English and Welsh sparkling wine rose six per cent last year with 4m bottles sold. UK consumers bought more British sparkling wine than they did sparkling wines from Australia, the US and Germany combined in 2018. Italy was the top exporter of sparkling wine to the UK last year with 117m bottles [...]
