EE boss Olaf Swantee takes rivals to task over complaints about BT’s takeover July 27, 2015 EE boss Olaf Swantee yesterday hit back at rivals attacking a proposed £12.5bn takeover by telecoms giant BT amid fears the deal will dilute competition in the sector. “We have about 20 of our competitors who want to use lawyers to get a certain result, rather than using engineers to help them differentiate,” he said. [...]
Rescued banks are not out of the woods yet: New FCA rules to improve account transparency for customers July 23, 2015 The City watchdog put more pressure on the financial sector yesterday with new rules that could see banks and building societies named and shamed for paying poor interest rates to longstanding customers. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said that from next year, firms will have to provide clear information on how much interest savers are paid [...]
The Financial Conduct Authority is going to help savers by making it easier for them to switch accounts July 23, 2015 The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Britain’s financial regulator, has announced plans to introduce new measures to help customers switch cash savings accounts, following a review of competition in the industry. Read more: This chart shows how many current account switchers Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds and NatWest have lost The regulator is proposing new rules which will make [...]
The EU risks damaging consumer interests in its push against Google dominance July 22, 2015 Jean Tirole won last year’s Nobel prize for economics for his work on a new type of market – and one that has grown with the meteoric rise of the internet. So-called two-sided markets arise when a company brings together suppliers and consumers. Google is a classic example: it provides browsers with web pages, and [...]
Ofcom says BT merger with EE could harm other mobile firms July 19, 2015 Telecoms giant BT could be facing double trouble from the industry regulator, after Ofcom revealed concerns surrounding its proposed merger with mobile network EE. The planned £12.5bn takeover is being probed by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which issued an update regarding the scope of its investigation at the end of last week. Ofcom [...]
Europe should rediscover its confidence in battling against China’s protectionism July 19, 2015 “Giving people self-confidence is by far the most important thing I can do. Because then they will act.” – former GE chief executive Jack Welch Beyond doubt, we are not living through a golden age for Europe. But just as feckless champions of the EU as a superpower have been found intellectually wanting, so [...]
Iceland boss Malcolm Walker: Which? supercomplaint over supermarket offers was “b*****ks” July 17, 2015 Iceland boss Malcolm Walker – the supermarket sector's answer to Michael O'Leary – has blasted the Which? supercomplaint over misleading deals as “bollocks”. The consumer group took a petition signed by more than 100,000 to the Competition and Markets Authority earlier this year, claiming it had found examples of “dodgy special offers” that led [...]
George Osborne ousts Martin Wheatley from FCA July 17, 2015 Martin Wheatley, the man who famously said he would "shoot first and ask questions later" as he launched the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), has been ousted by chancellor George Osborne. Wheatley, who will leave on 12 September, jumped before he was pushed: City A.M understands he resigned after learning Osborne had decided not to [...]
China’s unravelling: Will it devalue the yuan next? July 16, 2015 China could be gearing up to join the global currency wars by devaluing the renminbi. So far this year more than 30 central banks from all over the world, including South Korea and Australia, Canada and Hungary have cut interest rates – which works to weaken their currency. Since the global financial crisis, central [...]
Ofcom communciations review: What next for BT, Openreach, Sky and the telecoms market? July 16, 2015 While Ofcom’s latest move is no doubt being celebrated as a win by BT’s more than vocal rivals, it’s by no means a foregone conclusion that BT is heading for a breakup. Last time Ofcom reviewed competition, BT was forced to create Openreach in order to give access to its broadband network to rivals, something Ofcom [...]