FCA pushes back on union recognition demands November 17, 2021 The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has pushed back on union demands to give official recognition to Unite the Union as the representative of staff at the watchdog. The new Unite general secretary Sharon Graham wrote to the regulator’s CEO Nikhil Rathi ten days ago, alleging that “staff at the Financial Conduct Authority are flooding to [...]
FCA unveils plans to ban debt advice firms charging referral fees November 17, 2021 Debt packager firms will be banned from chasing commission to refer those in financial distress on to other providers of debt solutions, under new plans unveiled by the UK’s financial watchdog today. The ban concerns debt advice firms that rely on income from referral fees paid by the other firms that they recommend – a [...]
Pathways to progression through socio-economic inclusion November 16, 2021 DiverCity® Podcast · Pathways to Progression through Socio-Economic Inclusion Reshaping the makeup of corporate leadership will help instil a culture of progression Socio-economic diversity seems to garner little specific attention as an element of corporate strategy, with the makeup of financial institutions rarely reflecting the wider public. Yasmine Chinwala, OBE, is a partner at capital [...]
Post-Brexit payments space is ‘breeding ground for financial crime as Wild West culture’ looms, warns rising City star November 16, 2021 After the UK left the European Union, a range of payment providers reported so-called IBAN discrimination as a number of companies across Europe began to refuse Euro account bank details if they contained the country code ‘GB’. As a result of Brexit, sending a payment to Eurozone countries resulted in additional charges. Whilst the fee is [...]
Inmarsat buyer plans London HQ in bid to ease security fears November 14, 2021 A US satellite company which offered to buy Britain’s Inmarsat for $7.3bn (£5.5bn) could set up an international headquarters in London to appease national security regulators. Viasat is in ongoing discussions with UK ministers after it announced plans to purchase Inmarsat through a merger which would create one of the world’s largest satellite operators, the [...]
BREAKING: Competition watchdog probes capacity sharing deal between P&O Ferries and DFDS November 12, 2021 A capacity sharing agreement between P&O Ferries and DFDS is being probed by the UK competition regulator. In May, the two ferry operators entered a mutual space charter agreement on the Dover-Calais route in an effort to shorten freight customers’ waiting times. The agreement was also intended to help improve the flow of traffic on [...]
Global luxury market on track to beat pre-Covid sales this year – but Europe lags behind November 11, 2021 The global luxury goods sector is set for a powerful rebound and will outperform pre-pandemic levels this year, but Europe lags behind in the absence of tourists’ purses, consultancy Bain has said. Global sales of personal luxury goods – which include fashion, cosmetics, perfumes, watches, handbags and jewellery – are set to reach €283bn (£242bn) this [...]
OECD ranking: The award for the country with the world’s most competitive tax system goes to… November 11, 2021 Estonia tops the rankings in a new report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) that was published today by the Tax Foundation, a tax policy non-profit in the U.S. The ranking zooms in on the the most competitive tax regimes around the world. Estonia’s top score is driven by a 20 per [...]
Targeting globally comparable disclosure standards November 11, 2021 Companies and consumers are increasingly looking beyond climate change as they consider wider environmental social and governance issues. A supportive regulatory foundation therefore is needed to help the financial sector to respond effectively. It’s not only ethically minded consumers that want to know the source and environmental and human impact of products that they buy, but [...]
Brexit in the City: New powers for watchdogs FCA and PRA as UK moves away from EU rules November 10, 2021 The City’s main regulators, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), will be given new powers to set rules as the UK moves away from the EU framework after Brexit, according to Government proposals. Regulators will be required to consider how the UK’s financial sector can grow and compete internationally when setting [...]