Fintech review flags sector’s status as one to watch August 3, 2020 Six figures from the business world have set sail on a six-month voyage to investigate and recommend priorities for the financial technology sector. Ron Kalifa is helmsman of the ‘Fintech Strategic Review’, announced in March’s Budget but – until now – stuck in the harbour as the coronavirus pandemic took hold. Sherry Coutu, Anne Glover, [...]
EU prepared to soften state aid demand to reach Brexit deal August 3, 2020 The European Union is reportedly willing to soften its demand that Britain follow EU state aid rules after it leaves the bloc, in order to break the Brexit impasse. Diplomatic sources told Reuters that Brussels may seek a compromise involving a dispute-settling mechanism on state aid in order to resolve the Brexit deadlock. They said [...]
FCA proposes 180-day wait for property fund withdrawals August 3, 2020 The City regulator is planning to ask investors in open-ended property funds to give 180-day notice before they withdraw money. In a consultation paper released today, the Financial Conduct Authority said there was a “liquidity mismatch” between the underlying property held in the funds and the almost daily basis in which investors buy and sell [...]
Nobel Peace Prize winner John Hume dies aged 83 August 3, 2020 Nobel Peace Prize winner and former Irish politician John Hume has died aged 83. He passed away in Londonderry early this morning, following a short illness and ending a years-long battle with dementia. One of Ireland’s most well-known politicians in the second-half of the twentieth century, Hume was leader of the SDLP between 1979 and [...]
Former BoE governor Sir Mervyn King warns that increasing QE would be ‘premature’ August 3, 2020 The former Governor of the Bank of England has warned that it would be premature for the UK’s central bank to expand the quantitative easing scheme too early, saying such a step would be premature. Speaking to the Coronanomics podcast, King, who held the top job at the Old Lady of Threadneedle Street during the [...]
Pent-up demand pushes up competition for property despite coronavirus August 3, 2020 Years of pent-up demand are driving up competition for UK properties despite the coronavirus pandemic, a new survey from estate agent Knight Frank has found. The firm found that discounts are still being negotiated due to the ongoing downturn caused by the pandemic, but sellers are fast hardening their resolve as demand grows more quickly [...]
City grandees recognised in latest Honours list July 31, 2020 A number of the City’s most prominent figures have been awarded peerages in the Queen’s latest honours list. Dame Helena Morrissey, founder of the 30% Club and one of the City’s best-known fund managers, will become a baroness, having been nominated by Johnson. The Prime Minister also nominated billionaire Michael Spencer, the founder of ICAP [...]
Pay no attention to the EU negotiator behind the curtain July 31, 2020 In the film the Wizard of Oz, the heroine, on finally arriving in the presence of the unseen Wizard, hears his booming voice telling her to go away and come back another time. When her dog Toto pulls back the curtain in the grand room to reveal a small, old man operating the levers of [...]
A data arms race has begun — it’s not a game, it’s a national security imperative July 31, 2020 Data privacy is a human right. It is also a matter of national — and international — security. If the “new Cold War” is upon us, as has been claimed on City A.M., it will be fought with information. However, the west seems less serious about the “data arms race” than China and Russia, leaving [...]
Liberal Democrats leadership race: The long road to relevance July 30, 2020 For the second consecutive summer, Liberal Democrat members will be dragged to the polls to vote in a leadership election. While last year’s contest had a palpable feeling of optimism and excitement for many members, this year’s affair will likely represent the most abject contrast. The Liberal Democrats had surged to an unlikely lead in [...]