Hunt to unveil post-Brexit Big Bang 2.0 for UK financial services industry December 8, 2022 Jeremy Hunt will finally unveil the government’s plans to shred EU financial services laws today as he proposes a package to boost the City’s global competitiveness post-Brexit. Hunt will deliver the landmark announcement in Edinburgh this morning, with the chancellor set to drop Solvency II capital requirements on insurance firms and ease current bank ring-fencing [...]
Government must reveal more about onshore wind plans, say experts December 8, 2022 Energy experts have urged the Government to reveal more details about its proposed consultation to revive onshore wind.
Asda slashes petrol prices after CMA review December 8, 2022 Asda has slashed petrol prices at the pumps over the past two days, opening up the possibility of a price war with its supermarket rivals.
CMA slaps BMW with fine for not complying with probe request December 8, 2022 The Competition and Markets Authority has slapped BMW with a £30,000 fine for not complying with an information request. The watchdog – which has also added a daily penalty of £15,000 – believes the German marque is withholding information regarding a probe from earlier this year. Launched in March, the investigation focused on suspected anti-competitive [...]
CMA provisionally clears Mitie and PAE over Heathrow and detention centre contracts December 7, 2022 The markets regulator has closed an investigation into alleged anti-competitive behaviour over procurement contracts for Heathrow and an immigration centre. In an update published on Wednesday, the Competitions and Markets Authority (CMA) said it would close the probe into the conduct of Mitie and PAE launched in March. The two firms were responsible for on-going [...]
CMA concerned £94m hearing implant merger will stoke higher prices for NHS December 6, 2022 A merger between two hearing implant suppliers has raised concerns within the UK’s competition watchdog, which said a deal could risk higher prices for the NHS and less choice for patients. Should Cochlear and Demant’s £94m deal for Otican Medical go ahead, it would mean the combined group would control between 90 and 100 per [...]
Brits had most volatile year for fuel costs as CMA probe ‘rocket and feather’ pricing December 6, 2022 Brits have suffered the most volatile year on record for fuel prices, as the Russian invasion of Ukraine and cost of living crisis continued to pile pressure on drivers the pumps. New analysis published today show fuel prices rose by 50p a litre from January to July, which is the largest leap ever recorded. It [...]
TikTok rides out wider advertising slowdown December 5, 2022 TikTok is expected to ride out the advertising slowdown, as the Chinese-owned social media titan becomes an outlier to the wider industry slowdown. According to a new report published by GroupM, the media buying agency owned by WPP, TikTok doubled its advertising revenue in 2022. “This has likely been another driver of the advertising deceleration [...]
Insurers are undervaluing policy holders’ cars, FCA warns December 4, 2022 The UK’s financial watchdog has warned insurers against undervaluing policyholders’ vehicles after seeing evidence of customers being offered payouts less than their cars are worth. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said it had seen evidence of customers who have had their cars written off being offered less money than their vehicle’s fair market price. It [...]
Ofwat to focus on credit ratings as it defends lack of debt limits for water suppliers December 2, 2022 Boosting the financial resiliency of each water supplier is more important than taming overall sector debt, argued Ofwat.