UK fintech body slams government for ‘ducking’ to roll out sector strategy November 8, 2021 UK fintech’s industry body, Innovate Finance, has attacked the government for inaction in delivering on its recommendations for the sector in the Kalifa report, published earlier this year. Adam Jackson, director of policy at Innovate Finance, said: “The main policy and regulation recommendation that has been ducked so far is for a FinTech strategy. “Kalifa [...]
From Patterson row to peerages for donors: Boris Johnson increasingly under pressure over Tory sleaze November 8, 2021 Calls for a public inquiry into allegations of Tory sleaze are growing this morning as MPs consider how to clean up Westminster following the Owen Paterson row. The Commons will spend three hours hearing an emergency debate on the situation, despite ministers seeking to dismiss the row as a “storm in a teacup”. The Liberal [...]
Outrage grows over months-long Northern Line closures as TfL tells Londoners: ‘Just find another way’ November 8, 2021 Outrage is growing over TfL’s decision to shut parts of the Northern Line for nearly five months, with many Londoners taking it to social media to express their anger and disbelief. Planned works at Bank and Monument stations mean that the Northern line (Bank branch) will be closed from 15 January to mid-May 2022. As [...]
KPMG eyes larger piece of UK’s asset management pie as it lures EY and UBS veterans November 8, 2021 Accountancy giant KPMG is ramping up its efforts in the UK’s wealth and asset management space as the firm has appointed a range of new partners. KPMG said it has appointed Dean Brown as a partner and Shelley Doorey-Williams as an Associate Partner in its market leading Wealth and Asset Management practice. Brown will support [...]
BHP pockets £1bn after offloading coal unit in COP26 push to lower emissions November 8, 2021 BHP said this morning it struck a £816m deal to sell its 80 per cent interest in BHP Mitsui Coal (BMC), an metallurgical coal joint venture in Queensland, Australia. A subsidiary of Stanmore Resources Limited will acquire 100 per cent of the shares in Dampier Coal (Queensland) from BHP Minerals, the subsidiary which holds BHP’s interest in [...]
Ryanair turns East Midlands into major hub as it launches 30 new routes from region’s airport November 8, 2021 Ryanair has said it will operate 130 weekly flights across 31 European destinations from East Midlands Airport from April next year, turning the regional airfield into one of its main UK hubs. Ryanair’s director of commercial, Jason McGuinness, said he was “delighted” to have extended the airline’s long-term partnership with East Midlands. Destinations include Alicante, [...]
Pay and conditions row at Weetabix heats up as workers start four-day strike November 8, 2021 From this morning, hundreds of workers at two Weetabix factories will launch four-day strikes in a dispute over pay and conditions. Members of Unite at the cereal firm’s Kettering and Corby factories have been on strike every Tuesday and Wednesday since September. The union claims engineers face cuts to their pay, terms and conditions, describing [...]
COP26: HSBC makes green push as it pumps £500m into new fund for SMEs across UK November 8, 2021 HSBC has launched a £500m Green SME Fund, the banking giant said. The new £500m fund is available for businesses with a turnover of less than £25m and will offer 1 per cent cashback on loans, starting from £1,000 to help SMEs invest in green activities, HSBC clarified. “This is the first green offering for small businesses with a [...]
China exports surge despite port disruptions at regional lockdowns November 8, 2021 Asia markets have got the week off to a quiet start this week, with the latest China trade data for October giving a mixed insight into the world’s second biggest economy. The last couple of months have proved to be “fairly resilient” ones for China trade, despite disruption at Chinese ports, and the various lockdown restrictions [...]
Private equity and UK tech powering £8.4bn M&A tsunami on LSE’s AIM as deals jump 155 per cent November 8, 2021 The value of M&A deals on London’s Alternative Investment Market (AIM) has jumped 155 per cent to £8.4bn in 2020/21, compared to £3.3bn in 2019/20, according to new research shared with City A.M. this morning. The large rise in the value of AIM M&A deals this year is due in large part to a number [...]
