After the Nvidelity comes the Huangover. Jensen Huang joins long list who confused boardroom and bedroom
UK house prices are going to keep going up – Standard and Poor’s March 2, 2016 The UK's rapid house price growth will not end anytime soon, a major ratings agency said today. "Conditions for ongoing robust gains of UK residential property prices remain intact," Standard and Poor's said in a new report. Low mortgage rates and record high employment are fuelling demand, the report said. It added that "the search for yields in a [...]
Bitcoin technology could allow everyone to have an account at the Bank of England, but beware bank risks – Ben Broadbent March 2, 2016 The Bank of England could use the technology that underpins digital currencies such as bitcoin to offer everyone a bank account with the central bank, one of its top officials said today. Only commercial banks and a select few financial companies can currently hold accounts at the Bank of England. But Ben Broadbent, deputy governor [...]
BBC’s self-regulating trust should be scrapped, independent report by former Bank of England deputy governor finds March 1, 2016 The BBC’s self-regulating body, the BBC Trust, should be scrapped, a new independent report has suggested. Sir David Clementi, a former deputy governor of the Bank of England, was tasked with conducting the review into how the BBC is regulated and governed as part of the Government's review of the corporation’s Royal Charter. He has recommended today that the BBC Trust [...]
UK manufacturing growth slumps to lowest pace since 2013 – Markit PMI March 1, 2016 A gauge of the manufacturing sector's growth dropped to a 34-month low this morning. Markit's manufacturing purchasing managers' index – compiled from a survey of businesses – fell to a score of 50.8 for February. It is only slightly above the 50 mark that implies there was no growth on the previous month. Output growth eased sharply while the [...]
Budget 2016: Royal Statistical Society rejects Treasury Select Committee’s calls for Treasury to take control of UK statistics at next month’s Budget February 29, 2016 Statistics experts have today slammed calls from MPs to hand full responsibility of national statistics to the Treasury, saying such a change would be "the wrong move". In a letter today to City A.M., Mike Hughes, chair of the Royal Statistical Society (RSS) advisory group, said "strengthening the independence of statistics is laudable but bringing them under [...]
Pound could fall to parity with the euro if Brexit vote gets through, warns UBS, as Deutsche Bank says Brexit would be a “journey down the rabbit hole” for UK economy February 29, 2016 Economic wonks at UBS have calculated the British pound could fall to equal value to the euro, if the UK does decide to quit the European Union in the vote set for 23 June. UBS reckons the chance that the UK will leave the EU stands at around 40 per cent. The latest warning follows [...]
Smaller UK banks and investment firms will not have to abide by EU bonus cap rules – FCA and PRA February 29, 2016 The UK's financial regulators have told their European counterparts they will not be applying the bonus cap to smaller banks and investment companies. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Bank of England's prudential regulation authority (PRA) have told the European Banking Authority (EBA) they will not apply the bonus cap to all firms recommended by the [...]
Consumer borrowing growth hits decade-high February 29, 2016 Borrowing on credit cards and through overdrafts is growing at its fastest rate since January 2006, data published today by the Bank of England reveals. The stock of consumer credit reached £179.5bn in January, up 9.1 per cent on the same month last year. Total credit growth in the UK is now at its highest [...]
House purchase approvals hit two-year high as buy to let investors rush to beat April’s stamp duty change February 29, 2016 Mortgage lending picked up in January as buy to let investors rush to buy properties before a hike in stamp duty in April. Net mortgage lending rose to £3.7bn in January from £3.2bn in December, according to figures published by the Bank of England this morning. There were 128,709 mortgages approved. Approvals for house purchase, as opposed to [...]
The City has nothing to fear – and much to gain – from Brexit February 29, 2016 The UK’s continued membership of an increasingly hostile EU is putting the City at risk. The EU is an important market but its significance has been waning. In 2005, 39 per cent of our exports in financial services, pensions and insurance went to the EU, but this has now fallen to 33 per cent. By [...]