Roche faces further delay in $4.3bn takeover of Spark Therapeutics June 10, 2019 Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche’s $4.3bn (£3.4bn) acquisition of US gene therapy firm Spark Therapeutics has been delayed again amid increased scrutiny from US and UK regulators. Read more: Big pharma: Invidior launches generic version of own drugs to beat copycat Roche said both firms had received a request from the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) [...]
Ofgem urged to extend prepayment price cap due to smart meter delays June 7, 2019 The competition watchdog has urged Ofgem to extend protection for prepayment consumers beyond the end of 2020 due to the delayed roll-out of smart meters. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) implemented a temporary prepayment price cap in 2017 in a bid to reduce customers’ bills by around £300m a year. Read more: Ofgem won’t [...]
FCA to overhaul banks’ ‘dysfunctional’ overdraft fees June 7, 2019 The financial regulator will set out to stop banks from charging higher fees for unarranged overdrafts, it confirmed today. Read more: Consumers could save ‘£100m a year’ from overdraft shake-up The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) laid out planned reforms to the “dysfunctional” overdraft market in a bid to make such arrangements simpler, fairer and easier [...]
CMA head Lord Tyrie warns Big Four that appetite for audit reform is ‘very strong’ June 5, 2019 The chair of the Competition and Markets Authority Lord Tyrie today warned the Big Four that the appetite for reform of the audit market is “very strong” in government and parliament. “I think the market needs to realise, if they don’t already, that the appetite for whatever is required to address this is very strong, [...]
Competition watchdog to probe £1.6bn One Savings Bank and Charter Court merger June 5, 2019 The competition watchdog has announced it is investigating the potential £1.6bn merger between One Savings Bank and Charter Court. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it would assess whether the deal would lead to a “substantial lessening of competition” in the market. Read more: One Savings Bank and Charter Court announce terms of £1.6bn [...]
PwC invests £30m in audit quality but stops short of CMA report recommendations June 5, 2019 Big Four firm PwC said today it plans to invest an extra £30m in its audit practice as part of a package of measures intended to boost quality. PwC’s move comes amid intense scrutiny on the sector which has been rocked by scandals such as the collapse of outsourcer Carillion and the accounting scandal at [...]
Non-Standard Finance abandons offer for Provident Financial June 4, 2019 Non-Standard Finance (NSF) will abandon its offer for Provident Financial, it said today, after regulators stamped out any hope of the deal going through. The Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) told the company the enlarged group would not have enough capitalisation at current levels of shareholder acceptance. “Accordingly, NSF has decided, with the consent of the [...]
Uber under investigation by US and foreign tax authorities June 4, 2019 Uber has revealed it is under investigation by a string of tax authorities in the US and abroad. The ride-hailing firm said in a filing today that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has launched a probe into its taxes for 2013 and 2014. Read more: Uber loses $1bn in first quarterly results since stock market [...]
Shares fall in Google parent Alphabet as Justice Department probe looms June 3, 2019 Shares in Google parent Alphabet took a beating this afternoon after reports that the company is about to be hit with a competition investigation. The company tumbled more than six per cent as markets opened in New York, its biggest drop since 30 April when it showed low revenues in its financial results. Read more: [...]
Aberdeen Standard opposes Non-Standard Finance’s hostile Provident Financial takeover June 2, 2019 A major shareholder in Provident Financial has come out to publicly oppose rival doorstep lender Non-Standard Finance’s (NSF) hostile takeover bid. Aberdeen Standard Investments, which owns 3.1 per cent of the sub-prime lender, said it would not accept NSF’s offer. Read more: Watchdog probes Non-Standard Finance's hostile takeover of Provident Head of UK equities Andrew [...]