Schroders to take charge of Woodford Patient Capital Trust October 24, 2019 Schroders will take charge of the embattled Woodford Patient Capital Trust (WPCT) after former star stockpicker Neil Woodford’s abrupt departure last week. Shares in WPCT surged over 28 per cent in morning trading following the news. Read more: DEBATE: Can Neil Woodford’s reputation ever recover? Woodford’s fall from grace was cemented last week when he [...]
Competition watchdog to examine £500m Ovo Energy-SSE deal October 24, 2019 The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said today it was looking into whether Ovo Energy’s £500m acquisition of energy supplier SSE’s retail arm will harm competition. SSE’s retail energy business supplies around 3.5m households in the UK. The watchdog said it was inviting comments on the transaction from interested parties until 6 November. Alistair Phillips-Davies, [...]
Treasury watchdog has huge task ahead October 24, 2019 Westminster isn’t a happy place these days. MPs leave under police escort while protesters from both sides of the Brexit stalemate berate them; conventions in parliament are tested almost to destruction by the Speaker and ministers alike; a domestic legislative agenda exists only on paper; the government cannot govern and the opposition demand an election [...]
CMA fines concrete cartel £36m for pushing up prices for seven years October 23, 2019 A concrete cartel must pay a £36m fine for breaking competition law for almost seven years. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has ordered three firms to cough up after fixing prices between July 2006 to March 2013. Read more: Audit watchdog calls on firms to improve reporting on climate change They also shared the [...]
Is oil’s relationship with energy stocks slipping? October 21, 2019 Our chart of the month shows that the link between energy stocks and oil appears to be on the slide. What’s happening? Typically, the US energy sector trades in tandem with oil prices. The sector is largely made up of household names like Exxon and Chevron, involved in exploration and production. They are known as [...]
Value of deals taking UK-listed firms private trebles October 21, 2019 The value of private equity (PE) deals taking UK-listed companies private has more than trebled over the past year, as the valuation premium of listed companies compared to private firms narrows. The total valuation of deals taking UK-listed firms off the stock market more than trebled in 2018/19 to £14bn, according to new research by [...]
These are the London boroughs where first-time buyers are getting the biggest discounts October 18, 2019 Recent reports of lagging London house prices have generally been met with a groan, as the mortgaged majority fret over the value of their property investment. This is not the case for would-be first-time buyers, though, who might find that they can snap up a home for less than they initially expected, or be able [...]
Watchdog launches investigation into Amazon’s Deliveroo investment October 16, 2019 The competition watchdog has launched a probe into Amazon’s investment in food delivery app Deliveroo. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) today said it would investigate whether Amazon’s investment would “result in a substantial lessening of competition”. The e-commerce giant led a $575m funding round in Deliveroo in May. Read more: CMA puts brakes on [...]
Sir John Kingman says lack of government action putting audit reform at risk October 15, 2019 The author of a report into the future of the audit regulator warned today that lack of government action risks letting the watchdog “drift on, half-reformed”. Former mandarin Sir John Kingman undertook the report into the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) following the failure of outsourcer Carillion in 2018. Kingman expressed his concerns in a letter [...]
Financial Conduct Authority clamps down on motor financing commissions October 15, 2019 The UK’s financial regulator is set to crackdown on motor financing commissions in an attempt to save drivers £165m a year. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) announced today it would ban how some auto dealers and brokers structure their sales commissions. Read more: Financial Conduct Authority sawn raids nearly doubled in 2018 The FCA said [...]