City watchdog outlines tougher climate change disclosures for top firms March 6, 2020 The UK’s top listed firms must disclose how their business is affected by climate change using globally-agreed guidance or explain why they cannot, under proposals outlined today by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Under the plans, firms with a premium listing would have to either make climate-related disclosures in line with the approach set out [...]
Sterling strikes back March 6, 2020 GBP / EUR Update The pound started the week on the back foot after a tough end to last week. Brexit concerns weighed heavily after the UK stated it would walk away from unsatisfactory negotiations. The EU feels that this will not be the case, but the overall view is that both sides are underestimating [...]
UK house prices: Brexit clouds lift, but coronavirus threat looms March 6, 2020 UK house prices rose 2.8 per cent in February compared to the same month last year, Halifax data showed today. Homes’ values increased 0.3 per cent month on month and 2.9 per cent on a quarterly basis, Halifax’s House Price Index found. That left the average UK house price at £240,677 in February. But while [...]
Coronavirus: Asian stocks follow US into the red as infections near 100,000 March 6, 2020 Coronavirus cases approached the 100,000 mark today as volatility sparked by the global spread of the Covid-19 disease hurt Asian stocks and Wall Street. Asian stocks endured a torrid day of trading as Japan’s Nikkei plunged 2.7 per cent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index sank 2.3 per cent overnight. Asian stocks slumped as traders [...]
Flybe infected by aviation sector’s malaise March 6, 2020 As ministerial tweets go, the mid-January proclamation by the business and transport secretaries that Flybe’s future had been salvaged will surely endure as among the most ill-judged of Boris Johnson’s government. Barely 54 days later, Flybe has become just another corporate carcass, joining Monarch and Thomas Cook among the airlines which failed to cope with [...]
Influential Treasury Select Committee slams FCA culture but backs Bailey as next Bank governor March 5, 2020 Parliament’s influential Treasury Select Committee (TSC) today unanimously backed Andrew Bailey in his new role at the Bank of England, but took the opportunity to criticise failings in his post at the City’s watchdog. The TSC pointed to recent conduct issues such as the London Capital & Finance mini-bond and Woodfood investment scandals, which occurred under Bailey’s watch [...]
Mark Carney says Bank of England and Treasury working to tackle coronavirus fallout March 5, 2020 Bank of England governor Mark Carney has said that Threadneedle Street is coordinating with the Treasury to make sure British households and businesses are protected from the economic fallout from coronavirus. Carney, who will be replaced by Andrew Bailey as governor on 16 March, refused to be drawn on whether the Bank would carry out [...]
Goldman Sachs and UBS expect Bank of England rate cut March 5, 2020 Investment banking giants Goldman Sachs and UBS are both predicting that the Bank of England will cut interest rates in response to the coronavirus outbreak. Goldman analysts expect the BoE will slash rates by 50 basis points (0.5 per cent) at its meeting next month, saying that the epidemic is likely to push the UK [...]
UK businesses call for government help amid coronavirus outbreak March 5, 2020 Businesses big and small have called for urgent action from the government to help deal with the burden of sick pay amid the coronavirus outbreak and to ensure low-paid and part-time workers are supported. The intervention from business groups came after Prime Minister Boris Johnson promised statutory sick pay (SSP) from day one for all [...]
UK incomes have stalled since 2016, but economists aren’t blaming Brexit March 5, 2020 Incomes have stalled and inequality has risen in the UK since 2016, official figures showed today, highlighting the size of the task the government faces in “levelling up” the country. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said that growth in median income stalled between the 2016-17 financial year and 2018-19, growing on average 0.4 per [...]