EU tells banks to comply with sustainability disclosures despite lack of guidance October 30, 2020 The EU has told banks and insurers they must comply with the bloc’s new laws on sustainability-related disclosures from March, even though detailed guidance on how the rules work in practice will not be ready in time. Last year the bloc approved a law designed to increase transparency on how financial institutions consider sustainability risks [...]
UK house price growth rises to highest rate in five years October 30, 2020 UK house price growth jumped to the highest rate in five years this month, as the market continued to experience a post-lockdown bounce. Annual UK house price growth rose to 5.8 per cent in October, the highest level since January 2015. Property prices were up 0.8 per cent month-on-month compared to growth of 0.9 per [...]
Augmentum Fintech raises £28m in oversubscribed placing October 30, 2020 Listed venture capital firm Augmentum Fintech hit its £28m fundraising target through an oversubscribed share placing launched this week. The firm said demand from both existing and new investors exceeded the maximum issue and applications have been scaled back accordingly. Augmentum Fintech raised £28m through the issue of 23.37m shares at 120 pence each. The [...]
Marriott International fined £18.4m over customer data breach October 30, 2020 Marriott International has been handed an £18.4m fine by the UK data watchdog over a data breach that compromised the personal details of millions of customers. The fine relates to an attack on the Starwood hotels chain that exposed records belonging to 339m guests worldwide. The cyber attack began in 2014, before Marriott took over [...]
Sainsbury’s launches partnership with Deliveroo October 30, 2020 Sainsbury’s has launched a trial with Deliveroo in the latest partnership for the delivery app, which has seen demand for groceries soar during the coronavirus pandemic. The supermarket will offer the on-demand delivery service from its North End Crescent convenience story in Hammersmith, before expanding the trial to a further nine branches across the UK [...]
Water spending rebellion could cost households billions, says Citizens Advice October 30, 2020 Citizens Advice has waded into a row between the competition and water watchdogs over new spending rules for the country’s water companies. According to the charity, households could lose out on a combined £3.7bn across the next five years if the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) sticks with its decision to back a rebellion against [...]
It’s England’s Six Nations to lose, and I fancy France to beat Ireland handsomely October 30, 2020 Everyone is thankful for competitive live sport like the Six Nations Championship at the moment. And the fact that the final round of fixtures on Saturday will decide the winner makes it even more exciting. Away from all the increasingly gloomy news in other areas of life, we have a Six Nations finale and a [...]
Astrazeneca and Pfizer vaccines under accelerated review by drugs regulator October 30, 2020 The UK’s drugs regulator has reportedly begun an accelerated review of coronavirus vaccine candidates developed by Astrazeneca and Pfizer. Bloomberg reported that the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) have already commenced ongoing reviews of both vaccines. A source familiar with the trial confirmed to Bloomberg that Pfizer’s treatment was under review, although this [...]
Brexit talks: Germany ‘concerned’ over lack of progress given reliance on City October 30, 2020 A senior German government official said he was “deeply concerned” by the lack of progress in post-Brexit trade talks between the UK and EU, given the reliance of Germany companies on funding from the City. “German corporates, for all that I can tell, rely massively on wholesale financing offered from the City of London, so [...]
Negative rates explained: should UK investors prepare? October 30, 2020 The UK’s banks received a letter from the Bank of England (BoE) this week which has brought negative interest rates back into the headlines. The letter, published here, asked banks how ready they would be if the Bank of England base rate – which currently sits at 0.10% – moved into negative territory. The letter, signed [...]
