CMA: US chipmaker Broadcom’s £50bn VMware deal could hurt server competition March 22, 2023 Britain’s competition regulator said U.S. chipmaker Broadcom’s acquisition of VMware VMW.N could make servers more expensive, and it would refer the $61 billion deal (£49bn) to an in-depth inquiry unless its concerns were addressed. Broadcom AVGO.O agreed to buy the cloud computing and virtualisation company last year to diversify into enterprise software. Britain’s Competition and [...]
Why HAVE savers missed out on interest rate rises? MPs accuse banks of ‘profiting’ in failing to pass on savings hike March 22, 2023 MPs suggested banks were earning “disproportionate profits” by failing to pass on interest rates rises to savings accounts. In a letter to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the Treasury Committee also asked whether banks were earning “disproportionate profits” by “increasing rates on mortgages far quicker than rates on savings products”. Earlier this month, the chair [...]
CMA: £1.2bn deal with data and software firms will push UP NHS costs and reduce competition March 17, 2023 A £1.2 billion deal between two data management and software companies could push up costs for the NHS by reducing competition, a regulator has found. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) gave UnitedHealth and Emis five days to come up with a plan to mitigate some of its concerns – or risk the watchdog blocking [...]
CMA probes Asda’s £611m Co-op petrol station takeover deal over fears it could hike fuel prices March 14, 2023 Asda’s £611m takeover over of 132 Co-op petrol stations has come under scrutiny from the UK’s competition watchdog over concerns the deal was likely to push up fuel prices. After the supermarket snapped up the sites last October the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) launched a Phase 1 investigation at the start of this year [...]
As a new FCA chair steps up, we need a crack down on offshore firms’ lax rules March 14, 2023 Hopefully, guided by a new chair, the FCA will make progress in holding offshore firms who don't follow the rules to account, writes Sadiq Bhatti
Londoners most at risk of being among the 350,000 UK borrowers who will struggle to repay their mortgage, regulator warns March 10, 2023 An extra 356,000 mortgage borrowers could face payment difficulties by the end of June 2024, in addition to those who are already behind, according to the City regulator. This has been reduced from a previous estimate made last September that an additional 570,000 mortgage borrowers could become financially stretched by the end of June 2024, [...]
London fintech Railsr rescued from collapse in emergency sale March 9, 2023 Embedded banking platform Railsr has been rescued from collapse after it was snapped up by a group of investors led by London-based D Squared Capital. The City-based fintech, which has been on the hunt for a buyer after running into cash troubles in the past year, said today that it had been “purchased and re-capitalised” [...]
Brexit: Retained EU law deadline must be extended to avoid ‘rushed bonfire’ of regulations, think tank warns March 9, 2023 The post Brexit retained EU law deadline should be extended to avoid a “rushed bonfire” of business regulations, a think tank has warned. Government risks missing a “golden opportunity” to boost the quality of the statute books if it does not lengthen the December 2023 deadline for the so-called sunset clause. Most Brussels legislation will [...]
FTSE 100 live: London takes fright as Powell testimony scares off blue chip investors March 9, 2023 London’s main index took another step back on Thursday as a second day of testimony in front of Washington lawmakers by Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell largely stuck to the hawkish tone of the previous day. The FTSE 100 was last at 7,868.64, down 61.28 points or 0.77 per cent while the FTSE 250 which includes [...]
Liverpool have ‘identified potential investors’, says owner John Henry March 7, 2023 Liverpool owner John Henry says they have “identified potential investors” but that his group’s commitment to the football club “remains stronger than ever”. Henry’s comments appear to open the door to the sale of a minority stake in the Premier League team, having appointed bankers to test the market late last year. But they also [...]