Tim Martin’s JD Wetherspoon blames ‘ferocious’ inflation for profits plummeting 91 per cent March 24, 2023 The chief of JD Wetherspoon has said blamed “ferocious” inflationary pressures in the pub industry as the pub giant reveals a 90.9 per cent loss in profits for the 26 weeks to January. As the cheap beer chain felt the hangover from Covid-19 and Brexit supply issues, pre-tax profits were down to £4.6m compared to [...]
‘The UK has real strengths’: Deutsche Bank CEO Tiina Lee on Brexit, the City of London and Edinburgh reforms March 24, 2023 The City of London has been facing a crisis in confidence recently with a string of stories suggesting London no longer holds its edge as a world-leading financial sector. But despite hand-wringing in the City – particularly following ARM’s decision to list in New York – Deutsche Bank UK’s CEO Tiina Lee cautioned against this [...]
Meet the City’s new enforcers: FCA calls in regulatory veteran and NCA boss to lead clampdown March 23, 2023 The Financial Conduct Authority has appointed two new chief enforcers today as it prepares to clampdown on financial crime and usher in contentious new consumer rules this year.
10 construction firms fined £60m for ‘illegally colluding’ to rig contracts including for Selfridges and 135 Bishopsgate March 23, 2023 The UK competition watchdog has fined 10 construction firms a total of almost £60 million for “illegally colluding” to rig bids for contracts. The construction firms have been punished over cartel agreements related to 19 contracts worth over £150 million on both public and private sector contracts. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said the [...]
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, [...]