Financial services watchdog reveals more information on the secondary market for annuities April 21, 2016 The financial services watchdog has today asked for feedback on its proposed rules on the second-hand market for annuities. Suggestions by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) include requiring brokers to set out charges up front and agree them directly with the customer, rather than receiving a commission from firms acting as buyers, and to provide [...]
Estate Agent Wars: Competitions watchdog warns firms over suspected collusion in OnTheMarket antitrust row April 21, 2016 Has the government just hammered the final nail in the coffin for OntheMarket? Estate agents have been sent a warning by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), telling them they may be breaking the law by making "joint decisions" to join the portal and exit rivals such as Rightmove and Zoopla. Those who are suspected of [...]
Ladbrokes reeling from “worst Cheltenham ever” but claws back to positive net revenue growth across the board April 21, 2016 Bookmaker Ladbrokes has said it is reeling from its "worst Cheltenham ever" in March this year, but has posted strong results despite the downer from the annual festival. The figures Ladbrokes posted an "encouraging" start to the year this morning and said results were especially positive before the bookie's worst ever Cheltenham in March. Net revenue [...]
Another day, another challenger bank win, as TSB profits leap April 21, 2016 Following yesterday's suggestion that challenger banks are steaming ahead, this morning TSB bolstered that, as profits jumped 53 per cent. The figures Pre-tax profits rose 53 per cent from last year to £52.6m in the three months to the end of March, the bank said this morning, while total customer deposits rose 8.4 per cent to £26.8bn. Meanwhile, lending rose 28.3 per cent to £27..4bn, which [...]
What to expect from TSB’s latest results tomorrow morning, one year on from Sabadell’s takeover April 20, 2016 TSB, the challenger bank snapped up last year by Spain's Banco Sabadell for £1.7bn after being carved out of Lloyds Banking Group in 2014, will report its first quarter results tomorrow morning. Earlier this year TSB boasted that more than 1,000 new customers were joining it each day, and that it was beating its own target for customers switching [...]
City Moves for 20 April 2016 | Who’s switching jobs April 20, 2016 Tungsten Corporation Global e-mail invoicing provider Tungsten Corporation has appointed Prabhat Vira as president of Tungsten Finance, the supply chain finance arm of the business. Prabhat has more than 30 years of global banking experience, and has held senior positions in banking businesses across the world including roles in London, New York, Amsterdam, Singapore and [...]
The Treasury has it entirely wrong: The British economy would gain from Brexit April 19, 2016 The Treasury has produced its 200-page report about the effects of Brexit on the economy. Predictably, it is highly negative. It is sad that the Treasury, for which I once worked for a few years, has become so politicised that it is reduced to rationalising the views of George Osborne. The modelling methods it has [...]
Ladbrokes-Gala Coral merger faces delay in provisional decision from Competition and Markets Authority April 14, 2016 The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has delayed a provisional decision on the merger of betting giants Gala Coral and Ladbrokes, an industry source has told City A.M. The decision was expected to be announced on 18 April or soon after, but this deadline is now "highly unlikely", according to the source. The final decision on the [...]
The Financial Conduct Authority wants to alter the IPO process – potentially changing how the blackout period works April 13, 2016 Alright, so the IPO market may not exactly be booming at the moment – but the UK's financial watchdog thinks it needs to be more tightly regulated all the same. In an interim report published today, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has put forward a package of measures aimed at putting an end to "potentially anti-competitive [...]
CMA urges European Commission to force Three or O2 sell-off before approving Telefonica-Hutchison 3G merger April 11, 2016 The head of the CMA has written to the European Commission, warning that the merger between Hutchison 3G and Telefonica would create "a significant impediment to effective competition" in the British telecoms market. The £10.25bn deal, which was agreed in March 2015, has been undergoing a lengthy probe by the European Commission. In January Ofcom came out against [...]