Carney goes out not with a bang but a whimper January 31, 2020 There may be a part of Mark Carney that will be glad to see the back of the Bank of England. His eight-year tenure, which ends in March, has been dominated by political turbulence and so, perhaps inevitably, rows about the politicisation of the Old Lady. Threadneedle Street is not alone in being pulled into [...]
Rate decision announcement from the Bank of England January 30, 2020 For many investors the outcome was too close to call, and therefore offered potential heightened currency volatility. Foreign exchange markets had attributed a 50/50 chance of an interest rate cut, leaving the pound with a burden of uncertainty in the run up to the decision. It also meant it traded with a softer tone over [...]
Bank of England avoids interest rate cut as Mark Carney bows out January 30, 2020 The Bank of England has held off from an interest rate cut despite a surge in expectations that it would reduce rates for the first time in four years. Today’s decision came even as the Bank slashed its long-term growth forecasts for the UK economy to account for Brexit disruption and Britain’s productivity crisis. Read [...]
City economists urge Bank of England to avoid interest rate cut January 29, 2020 For the whole of 2019, the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee (MPC) held interest rates steady despite a slowing economy as parliament wrestled with Brexit. Yet with Britain now leaving the EU, there is a real possibility the MPC will cut rates for the first time in four years tomorrow, in what will be [...]
DEBATE: Should the Bank of England cut interest rates this week? January 29, 2020 Should the Bank of England cut interest rates this week? Simon Ward, economic adviser at Janus Henderson Investors, says YES. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) keeps making mistakes because it ignores monetary trends. It hiked rates in August 2018 even though 12-month broad money growth (as measured by non-financial M4) had slumped from 6.5 per [...]
Could the coronavirus derail the global recovery? January 28, 2020 Concerns over the spread of the coronavirus are escalating as the death toll has jumped to 81 with 2,744 confirmed cases worldwide (as at 11:00 GMT, 27 January). Travel restrictions on about 40 million people around Wuhan, in the Hubei province of China, have been introduced in an effort to contain the outbreak. However, cases [...]
City watchdog demands banks explain similar overdraft pricing January 28, 2020 The City watchdog has demanded that high street lenders explain why they have aligned their new overdraft rates at around 40 per cent following a rule change. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) will from April ban banks from charging more for unarranged overdrafts, in response to complaints that such fees were regularly 10 times as [...]
It’s not just Whitehall that needs a Dominic Cummings January 28, 2020 The topic of Whitehall reform has never exactly been sexy. No list of “Moments that Made the Modern World” would ever include, let alone kick off with, the publication of the Northcote-Trevelyan Report in 1854. Even many who work in Westminster would be unable to pick the cabinet secretary out of a line-up, even though [...]
City Moves for 27 January – Who’s switching jobs at CMS, the FCA and Shoosmiths? January 27, 2020 Today’s City Moves includes CMS, the FCA and Shoosmiths CMS Global law firm CMS has announced the re-election of Penelope Warne as senior partner of CMS’s UK arm following a vote by the firm’s partnership. This will be Penelope’s second term, effective for four years from 1 May 2020. Penelope became the firm’s first woman [...]
Bank of England urged to hold interest rates January 26, 2020 The Bank of England has been urged to keep interest rates on hold as some City economists are painting a brighter picture for the UK economy thanks to increasing clarity on Brexit and a strong labour market. The report from the EY Item Club comes after official statistics on the UK’s labour market and other [...]