Exclusive: HMRC shells out millions in legal costs after losing tens of cases February 10, 2021 There was an 88 per cent jump in the amount of money HMRC was forced to pay out in legal costs to taxpayers, in cases the taxman lost in 2019/20. In the 2018/19 tax year, the taxman settled 34 cases, costing HMRC some £1.34m. In 2019/20, when the latest data was available, that had jumped [...]
UK admits EU’s ban on shellfish exports was ‘correct’ despite complaints February 10, 2021 The UK government has privately accepted the EU’s ban on British shellfish exports is justified, despite publicly declaring otherwise. Environment secretary George Eustice this week wrote to the EU Commissioner for food safety Stella Kyriakides to say that the ban – which applies to oysters, mussels, scallops, cockles and clams – was “legally wrong” and [...]
U.S law firm Armstrong Teasdale buys Kerman & Co in London expansion February 10, 2021 U.S law firm Armstrong Teasdale has bought City law firm Kerman & Co, adding 50 lawyers to the American firm. Kerman & Co, which is based in The Strand, specialises in corporate law, mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, commercial and intellectual property, litigation, employment and immigration, sports and entertainment and real estate. “We have [...]
Lancashire offset Covid losses with strong investment portfolio February 10, 2021 City-based insurer Lancashire left 2020 “relatively unscathed” as its investment portfolio offset nearly $150m in losses linked to the pandemic and natural catastrophes, the company announced this morning. The Group credits the positive fiscal year to its investment portfolio, which ranges from political risk to AV52 markets. Gross premiums written increased by 15.2 per cent [...]
All-time high bonanza for cryptocurrency February 10, 2021 Crypto at a Glance The markets continue to bathe in the glow of Tesla’s warm embrace, with Bitcoin hitting yet another (yawn) new all-time yesterday of over $48,000. It’s still not quite $50,000, but it will do for now. It’s green across the board today, with new all-time highs for Aave and Polkadot yesterday. Cardano [...]
KPMG chairman ‘sorry’ for telling staff to ‘stop moaning’ about working conditions February 10, 2021 KPMG UK chairman Bill Michael has apologised after telling consultants to “stop moaning” about working conditions during the pandemic. In a virtual meeting on Monday, members of KPMG’s consulting team told Michael they were worried about potential cuts to pension contributions, pay and bonuses, the Financial Times first reported. They also raised concerns about the [...]
Equinor posts record loss as oil firm sells US shale assets February 10, 2021 Equinor has today become the latest oil giant to post a huge annual loss after a dire year for the oil and gas industry. The Norwegian firm posted a loss of $5.5bn (£4bn), a record hit, as the pandemic sent oil and gas prices plunging. As a result, the company said that it had reduced [...]
Etihad Airways will only fly with fully vaccinated crew February 10, 2021 Abu Dhabi airline Etihad Airways will only operate flights with vaccinated pilots and cabin crew, the company said on Wednesday. The airline has made a coronavirus vaccine developed by Chinese pharmaceutical group Sinopharm available to all employees, as well as the Pfizer-BioNTech jab. It is not yet clear how many cabin crew and pilots have [...]
Exclusive: ‘Normal’ bank lending to SMEs down 10 per cent in 2020 as emergency loan use explodes February 10, 2021 Non-emergency lending by banks to SMEs dropped 10 per cent in 2020, while emergency coronavirus funding ballooned. ‘Normal’ lending to SMEs fell from £168bn in December 2019 to £152bn a year later, research by debt specialist ACP Altenburg Advisory found. At the same time, emergency coronavirus funding via the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBLIS) [...]
Google to pay UK publishers for news as global pressure mounts February 10, 2021 Google has inked a licensing deal with more than 120 UK publications as pressure mounts on tech giants to pay publishers for news. The launch of Google News Showcase, part of the company’s pledge to invest $1bn (£750m) in news worldwide, means publishers will be paid for excerpts that appear in its search results. The [...]
