HSBC Swiss unit fined $192m over US tax evasion December 11, 2019 HSBC’s Swiss private banking arm will pay $192.4m (£146.7m) to resolve a US investigation into its role in helping wealthy Americans evade taxes using undeclared Swiss bank accounts. The US Department of Justice filed a charge of conspiracy to defraud the United States against HSBC Private Bank (Suisse), but agreed to drop the charges in [...]
How do UK general elections impact the stock market? December 10, 2019 General elections can have a profound long-term effect on the economy and people’s lives. The impact of elections on the stock market is less understood. Analysing the last seven UK elections, there is no definitive pattern as to how markets react, although there are historical patterns that may help investors and traders prepare for the [...]
UK GDP: Economy stagnates in run up to General Election December 10, 2019 The UK economy stagnated in October under the weight of yet more political uncertainty and a global slowdown, official figures showed this morning. British GDP’s failure to grow was worse than the 0.1 per cent expansion economists had expected. It marked an improvement from the 0.1 per cent fall seen in September, however. Read more: [...]
Revealed: The 10 fastest growing UK scale-ups of 2019 December 10, 2019 Renewable energy provider Bulb has won the top spot on a list of the fastest growing UK scale-ups thanks to a surge in value over the last three years. The energy provider, which has acquired 1.5m members since it was set up in 2015, has increased its valuation by 318 times since 2016, according to [...]
City regulator toughens up financial accountability rules after scandals December 9, 2019 Tougher accountability rules have today been extended to cover around 47,000 firms across the financial sector, as the financial watchdog seeks to clean up the City’s reputation following a string of scandals. The Senior Managers and Certification Regime (SMCR) holds firms’ senior managers directly accountable for their actions, and is intended to help regulators punish [...]
Watchdogs propose tougher rules to limit banking services glitches December 5, 2019 UK regulators have proposed new rules to make banks and payment firms more resilient to major problems in the wake of TSB’s IT meltdown. MPs called for regulatory changes in October after repeated technological failures by lenders such as TSB, Visa, Barclays and RBS. Read more: TSB IT meltdown blamed on data centre test failure [...]
How can banks factor in climate change without damaging the economy? December 5, 2019 In a few weeks, we will get the results of the UK bank stress tests, which is a measure of our biggest banks’ ability to withstand the toughest of economic shocks. In 2021, these tests will include a scenario on climate change. The regulator wants to know that our biggest financial institutions really can weather [...]
‘Clearance to take off’: Tory majority to propel UK economy, report says December 4, 2019 A convincing Tory majority at the upcoming election will send the pound surging to a three-year high and put rocket boosters under the UK economy, according to asset manager Toscafund. In a new poll shared exclusively with City A.M., Toscafund predicted Boris Johnson’s Conservatives will win a majority of about 30 in the 12 December [...]
Billionaire businessman Surinder Arora warns Labour tax plans could scare businesses away from UK December 3, 2019 Billionaire businessman Surinder Arora has hit out at Labour’s plans to increase taxation on corporations and wealthy individuals, saying the proposals could drive businesses and investors away from the UK. Arora – who came to the UK from Punjab at the age of 12 before establishing hotel operator Arora Group – warned a Labour victory [...]
Are we witnessing the US dollar’s fall from grace? December 2, 2019 November’s multi-asset chart of the month highlights how a global shortage of US dollars could be reversing. This could signal the beginning of a weak phase for the currency. A world in which money is scarce might appear to be a far-fetched idea. But for US banks in the business of taking deposits and making [...]