Bank of England hawk Saunders suggests interest rates will rise in 2022 September 7, 2021 Your mortgage rate looks more likely to rise next year, according to one Bank of England rate-setter. The Bank of England may need to increase interest rates next year if the UK’s GDP recovery momentum holds and inflation becomes stickier, policymaker Michael Saunders said today. Saunders, who in August voted for an early stop to the BoE’s [...]
Here’s how much you must put into your child’s JISA to get them on the housing ladder September 6, 2021 Parents and grandparents face putting away more than £3,000 per year typically to help children on to the property ladder in adulthood, and in London it’s more than double that. A child born in 2021 would need average annual deposits of £3,129 into their Junior Isa (Jisa) to afford the average UK first-time buyer deposit [...]
PCR test firm for travel being investigated over results, refunds and service September 3, 2021 One of the UK’s largest and cheapest PCR test companies focussed on travel is under investigation by the competition watchdog over several service failings. Expert Medicals faces allegations that tests and results were not provided in a timely manner, or at all in some cases, bosses failed to respond to complaints and refunds were not [...]
EU vs Astrazeneca: Vaccine legal battle over as UK pharma pledges jab deliveries September 3, 2021 The legal stand-off between the European Union (EU) and FTSE-listed Covid-19 vaccine maker Astrazeneca appears to be over. Astrazeneca and the European Commission have reached a settlement on the delivery of 200m vaccine doses still to be delivered by the drug com[any, ending a row about shortages that had heightened reputational damage on Astra and weighed [...]
City A.M. TV: A market snapshot September 3, 2021 Following Powell’s dovish speech at Jackson Hole last week, markets have been re-pricing the liquidity environment. In particular, the dollar has been notably weaker, commodity prices have rallied, and equities have pushed out to new highs. In the US that’s been most marked in the S&P500 and the NASDAQ100. The key question therefore, at this [...]
Instagram down: Users vent frustration as photo sharing app fails to update September 2, 2021 Photo-sharing app Instagram appears to be down in the UK, with the app unable to update users’ news feeds with a fresh flow of photos. An error message is appearing on people’s app which says that there is an issue with Instagram refreshing It reads: “We’re sorry, but something went wrong. Please try again.” Users [...]
Telefonica ‘taps investment bankers at Barclays’ to find partner for Virgin Media O2 fibre rollout September 2, 2021 Virgin Media O2’s Spanish co-owner Telefonica has reportedly hired investment banks Barclays and LionTree to seek a partner to finance its fibre network rollout across the UK in Britain, according to Spanish media outlet El Confidencial.. Virgin Media O2, which merged together two dominant players in the home broadband and mobile industry last year and [...]
KPMG and ex-partner accused of misconduct in FRC’s investigation into Carillion audit September 1, 2021 KPMG, ex-partner Peter Meehan and current and former staff at the Big Four accountant are alleged to provided false and misleading information to a City watchdog investigating its audit of collapsed construction giant Carillion. The allegations are part of a Formal Complaint issued this morning by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) in connection with the [...]
City A.M. TV: A market snapshot August 31, 2021 Markets responded well to Fed Chair Powell’s key speech last Friday. The main US equity index rallied both on the speech and then continued its strength during yesterday’s US session (whilst the UK was closed for bank holiday). As well as new record highs for the S&P500 and NDX100, Powell’s dovishness also brought about a [...]
BBC licence fee may shrink in real terms as ministers reject inflation link August 31, 2021 The BBC licence fee will increase by less than the rate of inflation out until 2026 because ministers are concerned about hitting households with higher bills, the Times has reported The dominant public service broadcaster is in the middle of a funding squeeze that has forced it to restructure major parts of its news production. [...]
