Trump dismisses bitcoin, saying cryptocurrencies aren’t money July 12, 2019 The UK ambassador, the chair of the Federal Reserve and even the star player on the US women’s soccer team have all fallen victim to Donald Trump’s ire in recent weeks. But last night the President used his Twitter account to aim his sights at a rather different target: bitcoin and Facebook’s new proposed currency, [...]
Hiscox trumps profit forecasts but warns of profit hit from natural disasters July 12, 2019 A spate of natural disasters battered insurance giant Hiscox over the last year, with the insurer’s share price sliding five per cent this morning as it warned of a deteriorating market. The London-listed group’s share price fell five per cent to 1,653p in early morning trading, as investors digested the group’s warning that global catastrophes [...]
Share price crashes as car dealer Lookers issues profit warning July 12, 2019 Lookers suffered a sharp drop in its share price this morning as a profit warning fuelled investor concerns just a month after the car dealership giant revealed it was being investigated by the UK’s financial watchdog over its sales processes. Shares plummeted 25 per cent in early morning trading to roughly 33p after the firm [...]
IR35: ‘Damaging’ tax changes set to hit self-employed workers July 11, 2019 Self-employed workers face paying controversial new taxes from next year as part of a measure that is set to rake in more than £3bn for the taxman. New ‘off-payroll’ rules to tax sole traders as employees if their working arrangement are deemed to be akin to regular staff will likely hit roughly 170,000 private sector [...]
World markets rally amid growing hopes of Fed interest rate cut July 11, 2019 FTSE and other European markets enjoyed a bump this morning as expectations of an interest rate cut in the US mounted. Caution expressed yesterday by the chairman of the US Federal Reserve, Jay Powell, has been interpreted as a likely nod that rate cuts would happen at the end of this month. Read more: Powell [...]
US Department of Justice probes Deutsche Bank links with 1MDB July 11, 2019 Deutsche Bank is reportedly being investigated by the US Department of Justice over whether it violated anti-money laundering laws in its work with scandal-hit Malaysian state fund 1MDB. US officials are understood to be probing the German lender over its ties with the 1MDB investment vehicle between the years of 2009 and 2014, when billions [...]
Swiss Re suspends plans for £3bn float of UK insurer Reassure July 11, 2019 Swiss Re has put off its plans for a £3bn listing of its British life insurance arm Reassure in the wake of weak investor demand. The reinsurance giant blamed “heightened caution and weak underlying demand” from institutional investors for the postponement of its initial public offering (IPO). Trading in the shares, which were set to [...]
Hedge funds row back on controversial fee structure July 10, 2019 Hedgies are abandoning a lucrative fees model that has been coming under increasing fire from investors and politicians. Results from a new survey have found that the ‘2 and 20’ fee model – a fixed two per cent management fee and a 20 per cent performance fee – is no longer being used by hedge [...]
European banking stress tests too soft, auditor group warns July 10, 2019 Stress tests designed to assess the health of European banks have not taken some systemic risks into account, according to a major auditing report released today. The European Court of Auditors (ECA) has found “shortcomings for assessing resilience against systemic risk” in the stress tests carried out by the European Banking Authority (EBA), raising questions [...]
Dyson sweeps up Singapore luxury apartment for record sum July 10, 2019 British billionaire James Dyson has snapped up what is thought to be the most expensive flat in Singapore. The entrepreneur has paid roughly £43.5m for a “super penthouse” spanning three stories at the very top of the city’s tallest skyscraper. Equipped with a private garden, 600-bottle wine cellar and a swimming pool, the self-styled “bungalow [...]
