Brexit: Truss wants ‘call in’ power to allow ministers to overrule City regulators August 10, 2022 Liz Truss wants to give ministers the power to overrule decisions made by the UK’s financial services regulators in a move that is set to create serious tensions with the Bank of England. The Tory leadership frontrunner wants to revive the policy, which was recently ditched by the Treasury, as a part of the government’s [...]
Former CMA chair sues crypto exchanges Binance, Kraken and others for £10bn August 9, 2022 Crypto exchanges Binance, Kraken, and others have been hit with a £10bn lawsuit in a competition dispute by the former chair of the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority. Lord David Currie filed the claim against the two crypto giants as well as exchanges Bittylicious and ShapeShift for delisting the BSV cryptocurrency from their platforms, Financial [...]
Inmarsat and Viasat £5.4bn merger paused until CMA wraps up probe August 9, 2022 The £5.4bn takeover of British satellite giant Inmarsat by US rival Viasat has been put on hold until the UK’s competition watchdog completes a probe into the merger. The Competition and Markets Authority today officially launched an inquiry into the merger, having invited onlookers for comment in late July. The regulator will have until 5 [...]
Avast operating profit sink ahead of £7bn takeover August 9, 2022 Antivirus software giant Avast’s operating profit has sunk so far this year, as it looks set for a takeover by fellow cybersecurity heavyweight NortonLifeLock. Operating profit plunged by $54.2m (£44.8m), from $226.7m (£187.6m) to $172.6m ($142.8m), which bosses said had been driven by higher exceptional and other costs. While revenue inched 0.2 per cent higher [...]
Merge UK’s financial services regulators into one body, says Tory think tank August 8, 2022 The government should consider merging the UK’s several financial services regulators into one body post-Brexit, an influential Tory think tank has said. A new report from the centre-right Policy Exchange, which was founded by Michael Gove, today said “meeting the demands” of the multiple City regulators can be “a major barrier to innovation” for new [...]
Veolia to pocket £2bn from Suez UK waste unit as CMA forces energy giant to sell August 8, 2022 Veolia said this afternoon it plans to sell Suez’s UK waste business to Macquarie for £2bn after regulators raised competition concerns. The French utilities giant agreed to buy smaller French competitor Suez in a £10.9bn deal last year. However, it has had to sell parts of Suez’s waste operations in numerous regions amid concerns over [...]
Investment should flow from our thriving pension market August 8, 2022 People from around the world come to use the UK’s financial markets to fund their ventures, build their economies and make a return. Yet, for years, the UK has been poor at turning this natural advantage into investment here at home. For example, the UK has the second largest pension pot in the entire world, [...]
Fraud on the rise as cost of living soars, FCA warns August 4, 2022 The UK’s top financial watchdog sounded the alarm over rising fraud rates today as scammers look to swoop on vulnerable consumers amidst a cost of living crunch.
Lloyd’s of London aims to attract billions in capital via launch of new investment vehicle August 4, 2022 Lloyd’s of London has set out plans for the launch of a new investment vehicle, with a view to drawing in billions from institutional investors. The London insurance market today announced plans to set up a second protected cell company (PCC) following the successful launch of its London Bridge Risk PCC vehicle last year. [...]
‘Bad for competition’: Stephen King pushes back against Penguin and Simon & Schuster merger August 3, 2022 Novelist Stephen King has slammed the proposed merger of Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster, deeming it "bad for competition".