EU referendum: London mayor Boris Johnson’s economic adviser Gerard Lyons backs Brexit as CBI president Paul Drechsler praises the EU Single Market March 2, 2016 London can still be “Europe’s world city” even if Britain leaves the European Union, mayor of London Boris Johnson has argued in a major new report from City Hall. “London: The Global Powerhouse”, was first published yesterday and was written by the mayor’s economic adviser, Gerard Lyons, among others. In the report, Lyons wrote that [...]
New Barclays chief executive Jes Staley gets a frosty reception in the City as investors reject his case for slashing dividends, sending share price down more than 10 per cent March 2, 2016 New Barclays boss Jes Staley received a frosty reception in the City yesterday, as investors rejected his case for slashing dividends, sending the bank’s share price down by more than 10 per cent and wiping £2.3bn off its market value. Investors recoiled when Barclays said it planned on paying a dividend of 3p for this year [...]
UK income tax: Chancellor George Osborne says lowering the top rate of tax from 50p to 45p raised an extra £8bn for the Treasury in one year March 1, 2016 Cutting the top rate of income tax has raised billions of pounds in extra revenues for the Treasury, chancellor George Osborne said today. Speaking in the House of Commons earlier today, Osborne said that lowering the top rate from 50p to 45p raised an additional £8bn in its first year. Osborne said the new revenue figures "completely" [...]
Banking Standards Board (BSB) names Sir Brendan Barber deputy chairman, replacing former Treasury Select Committee chairman Lord McFall March 1, 2016 A former trade union boss has been named deputy chair of an influential body tasked with improving standards of behaviour in the Square Mile and restoring the public’s trust in financial institutions. The Banking Standards Board (BSB) announced today that Sir Brendan Barber would take the number-two role on the board, replacing former Treasury Select [...]
Peel Hunt initiates coverage of UK challenger banks and specialist lenders, forecasting Aldermore, OneSavings Bank and Shawbrook will deliver average return on equity of 21 per cent February 29, 2016 Analysts at the stockbroker Peel Hunt initiated coverage of three of Britain's challenger banks today, naming Shawbrook their "top pick" among smaller lenders. In a note out this morning, analysts Anthony Da Costa and Stuart Duncan said that after a "period of significant share price weakness", there is "currently an opportunity to acquire high-quality/high return specialist lending businesses at [...]
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) chief executive Ross McEwan, chairman Sir Howard Davies, and chief financial officer Ewen Stevenson bought almost £1m shares in the taxpayer-backed bank February 29, 2016 Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) revealed today that its top bosses have bought up nearly £1m in shares in the lender, just days after the taxpayer-backed bank reported disappointing results for 2015. News of the bank’s eighth consecutive year of losses sent RBS shares down more than seven per cent at the end of last week. Investors were doubly [...]
Budget 2016: Royal Statistical Society rejects Treasury Select Committee’s calls for Treasury to take control of UK statistics at next month’s Budget February 29, 2016 Statistics experts have today slammed calls from MPs to hand full responsibility of national statistics to the Treasury, saying such a change would be "the wrong move". In a letter today to City A.M., Mike Hughes, chair of the Royal Statistical Society (RSS) advisory group, said "strengthening the independence of statistics is laudable but bringing them under [...]
Budget 2016: Brewers call on chancellor George Osborne to announce a fourth consecutive cut in beer duty February 29, 2016 Surprise, surprise: the British brewing industry is calling on chancellor George Osborne to once again cut beer duty in next month's Budget. If Osborne were to axe the tax on booze on 16 March, it would mark the fourth consecutive annual cut in beer duty. In a 23-page submission to the Treasury today, the Society of [...]
EU referendum: Six in 10 small business owners would vote for the UK to stay in the EU, while 17 per cent back Brexit according to new Moore Stephens pol February 29, 2016 Six in 10 owners of small and medium-sized businesses in Britain would vote to stay in the European Union, according to a new poll out today from a leading accountancy group. Moore Stephens polled nearly 500 owner-managed businesses in Britain, across multiple sectors, finding that just 17 per cent of so-called SMEs back Brexit. "Owner-managed businesses [...]
Budget 2016: Sir Charlie Bean’s report on national statistics should be published ahead of Osborne’s budget, according to the Treasury Select Committee February 29, 2016 An influential group of MPs have today raised red flags over the government's handling of official national statistics, ahead of the publication of a major review on the subject. Andrew Tyrie, the Conservative MP who chairs the Treasury Select Committee, has written to Sir Charlie Bean calling for a "shake up" of UK national statistics. [...]
