UK competition watchdog to push for tighter controls on US tech giants February 3, 2020 The UK’s competition watchdog will push for tougher powers to regulate companies such as Google and Facebook following the UK’s official departure from the EU, and will pursue antitrust investigations against tech giants independently of the bloc. “The upside [Brexit] is that you take back control — genuinely — of the decisions,” Competition and Markets [...]
FTSE 100 opens higher despite market chaos in China February 3, 2020 The FTSE 100 and other European stock markets have opened slightly higher, despite China’s Shanghai index plunging almost eight per cent over the coronavirus outbreak. The UK’s blue-chip index had climbed 0.3 per cent by 8.30am, Germany’s Dax was also 0.3 per cent higher, while France’s CAC 40 had risen 0.2 per cent. Europe’s gains [...]
Boris Johnson’s disastrous Huawei decision is an act of national self-harm February 3, 2020 Powerful US Republican senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas put it best. Letting the state-sponsored Chinese technology firm Huawei build even a portion of Britain’s 5G network — as the Prime Minister nonsensically decided to do last week — is quite a bit like letting the KGB construct the British phone systems in the 1980s. At [...]
The ethical executive is coming to a boardroom near you February 3, 2020 We are undergoing a paradigm shift in our political, economic, and commercial worlds — and it’s truly stranger than fiction. Donald Trump, Brexit, Cambridge Analytica, the weaponisation of data, deep fakes, and artificial intelligence (AI) — phenomena that would have seemed inconceivable a decade ago are now our day-to-day reality. While some businesses are ahead of [...]
AIM and FTSE Small Cap firms ‘falling behind’ on board diversity February 3, 2020 London’s FTSE Small Cap (SMC) and AIM exchanges are lagging behind their larger peers when it comes to diversity on company boards, according to a new report. A mere 15 per cent of AIM directors are women, while over a third of companies listed on the market have all-male boards, according to a study by [...]
Atlantic Crossing: What should be on the UK’s trade deal wishlist? February 2, 2020 Now that Brexit has become reality, the United Kingdom can use its newfound independence by negotiating an ambitious free trade agreement with the United States. Such an agreement can deepen commercial ties between two longtime allies, not only in goods trade but also in financial services and the movement of people. Outside the European Union, [...]
Johnson says Australian model on the cards for UK–EU trade deal February 2, 2020 Boris Johnson will today fire the starting gun on trade negotiations with the European Union, with the government floating the idea of a looser Australian-style deal if a more comprehensive arrangement cannot be agreed. In a speech today the prime minister will say the UK is aiming to negotiate a Canada-style free trade deal, “but [...]
Nissan plans to increase UK market share in Brexit contingency plan February 2, 2020 Nissan has drawn up a contingency plan to pull out of Europe if Brexit leads to tariffs on car exports, but will double down on the UK. The Financial Times reported that according to two people involved in the plan, drawn up last year, Nissan would close its Barcelona van facility and stop manufacturing in [...]
Business groups react as Heathrow expansion in doubt again February 2, 2020 Business groups warned that the failure to expand Heathrow would see the UK “fall behind the rest of the world” as the new runway’s future was again plunged into doubt this weekend. It emerged that Spanish infrastructure giant Ferrovial was reportedly considering selling its 25 per cent stake in the airport if it could not [...]
Brexit: UK diplomats ordered to make immediate break with EU counterparts February 2, 2020 British diplomats have reportedly been ordered to make a clean break with their EU counterparts following the UK’s exit from the bloc. Foreign secretary Dominic Raad ordered diplomats to sit apart from their former EU allies at international events and adopt a stance as a “confident independent country”, the Sunday Times reported. According to a [...]