Mitie shares bump as firm cuts price of Interserve deal by £80m November 4, 2020 Mitie has reduced the terms of its acquisition of outsourcing rival Interserve’s facilities management arm by over £80m, the firm announced this morning. When the deal was announced back in June, it was set to cost Mitie £271m, but the firm will now issue 110m fewer shares to finance the deal. As a result, it [...]
Sink or float: What’s next for Ant Group after China suspends world’s biggest IPO? November 4, 2020 The tech world was thrown into turmoil yesterday after Chinese authorities put an abrupt halt to Ant Group’s record-breaking initial public offering. The Chinese fintech giant was set to raise $34.4bn (£26.5bn) through a dual listing in Shanghai and Hong Kong in what would be the world’s largest stock market debut. But the Shanghai leg [...]
‘Markets got what they really did not want’: The City reacts to knife-edge US election November 4, 2020 Investors didn’t want this to happen. They had bet on a Joe Biden win in the US presidential election that they hoped would unleash a big stimulus, but found themselves rapidly adjusting their positions as the race became too close to call. Bonds and the dollar rose as investors sought safety. US stocks were volatile, [...]
Brexit: UK and EU clash on share trading rules November 4, 2020 Square Mile banks and asset managers can use exchanges from the European Union to trade shares from January, creating a cross-border clash in securities rules for investors.
Box-fresh? Sandboxes go global November 4, 2020 What image does the word ‘sandbox’ conjure up for you? For most people, the answer is likely to be kindergartens, buckets and sandcastles. But for financial services innovators, sandboxes have a different meaning – and, for some projects, pivotal importance. For organisations looking to launch a product that needs a regulatory licence, a sandbox is [...]
The curse of the Mail-In Vote: How this contested US election became a horror show November 4, 2020 For a number of months now, good political risk man that I am, I have worried aloud in these pages with increasing dread about the 2020 US presidential election. There are times when you hate being right about making correct political risk calls. The Iraq War debacle was surely such an occasion for me. Sadly, [...]
UK services sector ‘close to stalling’ as coronavirus cases surge November 4, 2020 The recovery in the UK services sector slowed sharply in October as a surge in coronavirus cases and new restrictions knocked the economy, a survey has shown. The IHS Markit/Cips services purchasing managers’ index (PMI) – a closely followed measure of the sector’s health – fell to 51.4 in October, down heavily from 56.1 a [...]
Prop 22: Uber and Lyft win California bid to class drivers as contractors November 4, 2020 Uber and Lyft have secured a major victory today after winning a vote in California that allows the ride-hailing apps to continue classing their drivers as contractors rather than employees. Voters in California yesterday passed Proposition 22, a state ballot measure that will enable companies in the gig economy to bypass labour laws. Roughly 58 [...]
Marks & Spencer posts first loss in firm’s history November 4, 2020 Marks & Spencer posted its first loss in 94 years as a publicly listed company as clothing sales collapsed due to the coronavirus crisis. The high street stalwart reported a £87m pre-tax loss for the first half of the year. In the same period last year it made a profit of £158.8m in the same [...]
