The Week Ahead: Barclays, Natwest, retail sales, public borrowing February 15, 2021 City A.M. takes a look at some of this week’s market-shaping events. Barclays – Full year results (Thursday) The past 12 months have been difficult ones for banks in general, but UK banks have underperformed relative to their peers, Hewson said, with the unknowns of what a final Brexit deal might look like also weighing [...]
Government must re-engineer the economy for a new way of working February 14, 2021 The Bank of England predicts the UK economy will recover rapidly from the Covid-19 shock, as vaccines are rolled out across the country. But might a vaccine-resistant mutation and a failure to bring workers back to offices with sufficient speed scupper such optimistic forecasts? The threats are real and worth considering. The chance of a [...]
Rishi Sunak doubles down on 2021 deadline for global tech tax deal February 12, 2021 Rishi Sunak has doubled down on a commitment to establish a new global tax on tech firms in the coming months following years of conflict over a new regime targeting Silicon Valley. In a G7 meeting today the chancellor said the new digital tax framework was a “key priority” and called on member nations to [...]
UK GDP: How City analysts reacted to the record economic slump February 12, 2021 The City was hit with some sobering figures this morning, as the latest official data showed UK GDP suffered its largest annual fall on record. The economy shrank 9.9 per cent in 2020 as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, but narrowly avoided a double-dip recession with growth of one per cent in the final [...]
Before the Bell: Firm focus on UK GDP numbers this morning February 12, 2021 It was another uneventful day in the markets yesterday as fresh news stories were thin on the ground. The same old headlines about vaccines being distributed and optimism with respect to President Biden getting his $1.9 trillion stimulus plan approved in the next few weeks continued to be the main focus of traders’ attention. Both [...]
UK GDP suffers largest contraction on record in 2020 February 12, 2021 UK gross domestic product (GDP) contracted 9.9 per cent last year, marking the largest annual fall on record. Data from the Office for National Statistics showed UK GDP grew one per cent in the fourth quarter of the year due to recovery in government consumption and business investment as Covid restrictions eased. That followed 16.1 [...]
EU financial services chief warns of long road ahead for UK-EU equivalence deal February 12, 2021 The EU’s financial services chief has warned the UK that “there cannot be equivalence and wide divergence” in financial regulation as the battle over the City’s future relationship with the bloc heats up. Mairead McGuinness also confirmed fears held by many in the City that the EU would demand to know the UK’s future regulatory [...]
Commerzbank embarks on revamp as loss deepens to record level February 11, 2021 Germany’s second biggest bank reported a record $3.3bn fourth-quarter loss on Thursday as it continued to absorb the fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic. Shares in Commerzbank fell nearly 6 per cent in mid-morning trade. Commerzbank said it would swiftly introduce plans to cut 10,000 jobs and close hundreds of branches in a bid to strive [...]
Ex-FCA chief Woolard nabs leadership role at EY February 11, 2021 Chris Woolard, the former interim chief executive at city regulator the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), has nabbed a leadership role at EY. Woolard will join the Big Four firm in April to lead its EMEIA financial services regulatory capabilities, and chair the EY Global Financial Services Regulatory Network. He will replace John Liver, who currently [...]
Bank of England’s Alex Brazier steps down from Financial Policy Committee February 10, 2021 The Bank of England’s executive director for financial stability strategy is stepping down to take a career break. Alex Brazier has worked at the bank for two decades and served as former Governor Mervyn King’s principal private secretary. “Throughout my career, I’ve been very lucky to have worked with such an incredibly talented group of [...]