JP Morgan backs property lender Glenhawk with £200m facility March 16, 2020 JP Morgan has agreed a £200 facility with challenger lender Glenhawk to grow its property loan size and enter the UK homeowner mortgage market. The new senior funding line will support Glenhawk’s ability to grow its maximum property bridging loan size from £3m to £5m to fund a mixture of residential and commercial borrowers. The [...]
London Stock Exchange gets US approval for Refinitiv deal March 16, 2020 US regulators have approved the London Stock Exchange’s (LSE) takeover of financial data firm Refinitiv, the bourse said today. LSE said that the US Committee on Foreign Investment had determined that there were no national security concerns related to the $27bn (£22bn) deal, which was first announced in August last year. The all-share deal would [...]
Coronavirus: Union bosses likely to put Tube strike on hold March 16, 2020 Union bosses have indicated they will delay a planned Tube strike during the coronavirus outbreak, after meeting with Transport for London (TfL) today. Members of the train drivers’ union Aslef last week voted to go on strike over a pay dispute. However, it appears the union, which has 2500 Tube drivers, is prepared to suspend [...]
Bloodshot review: A below-average Vin Diesel vehicle filled with mindless chaos March 16, 2020 Vin Diesel hopes to kick off a new franchise as superhero Bloodshot, a special forces operative killed in action only to be reborn as a supersoldier whose fractured memories begin to unveil a conspiracy. Diesel works best in an ensemble – even his signature Fast and Furious franchise only truly took off once bigger names [...]
Misbehaviour film review: Dramatisation of the Miss World pageant stormed by feminists lacks feeling March 16, 2020 This glossy dramatisation of the 1970 Miss World Pageant in London, during which feminist protesters stormed the stage and covered host Bob Hope in flour, is intended to be a tale of heroism when viewed through a modern lens, but ends up playing things a little too safe. The story unfolds from several perspectives. Kiera [...]
IMF ready to lend up to $1 trillion in coronavirus response March 16, 2020 The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is ready to mobilise its $1 trillion (£813bn) of lending capacity to help member countries deal with the impact of coronavirus, the organisation’s managing director Kristalina Georgieva has said. Georgieva also said governments should ramp up spending and increase international coordination to stop the virus from wreaking long-term economic damage. [...]
Coronavirus: Sunak to head new economic and business response committee March 16, 2020 Prime Minister Boris Johnson has asked his chancellor Rishi Sunak to head up a new committee specifically dealing with the economic fall-out of the coronavirus. The economic and business response committee will consider the impact of Covid-19 as it continues to spread throughout the world, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman confirmed this morning. Business secretary [...]
FTSE 100 plunges despite Fed’s coronavirus ‘bazooka’ March 16, 2020 The FTSE 100 has plunged despite the US Federal Reserve slashing interest rates to near zero in an emergency move to curb the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic. The blue-chip index was last down seven per cent as traders reckoned with the ongoing spread of coronavirus and shrugged off the Fed’s surprise intervention. Airlines and [...]
Shoe Lady at Royal Court review: Surreal, strange story fails to sweep us off our feet March 16, 2020 The IT Crowd’s Katherine Parkinson stars as Viv, or Shoe Lady, in E.V. Crowe’s latest piece at the Royal Court. The premise is simple but effective; lady has two shoes; lady loses one shoe; lady realises how much lost shoe stands for; lady tries to live without lost shoe but cannot. Shoes, of course, come [...]
BBC delays licence fee changes for over-75s due to virus fears March 16, 2020 The BBC today said it will push back plans to end the blanket free licence fee scheme for over-75s amid concerns about the impact of the coronavirus outbreak. Pensioners were due to face changes to the licence fee from 1 June, but this will now be delayed until 1 August. Millions of over-75s will have [...]