Budget 2015: A quick guide to all the key measures March 18, 2015 Chancellor delivers good news for savers and first-time buyers as he turns up heat on banks in play for votes ahead of election. UK ECONOMIC OUTLOOK ● The UK was the fastest growing economy in the G7 last year. However, the economy grew by just 0.5 per cent in the final three months of 2014, [...]
Budget 2015: Here are George Osborne’s best quotes plus his Budget speech in full March 18, 2015 George Osborne's final Budget during this parliament had few surprises but plenty of great quips, including – to the dismay of bookies everywhere – a quip about Ed Miliband's now-infamous second kitchen. Here's a selection of our favourites from today's big speech. (Source: Getty/City A.M.) (Source: Getty/City A.M) (Source: Getty/City A.M.) [...]
Ryanair charters towards launch of first flights to United States March 16, 2015 IRISH airline Ryanair has its eyes set on America and will begin pursuing transatlantic possibilities, the company reported yesterday. The flight service known for its “no-frills, low-cost” currently operates in 30 countries in Europe and North Africa, and is looking to expand to 12 to 14 cities in the United States. “European consumers want lower [...]
Dollar surge: Just how much stronger will the currency get? March 16, 2015 The US Fed meeting this week will have big implications Yesterday saw some respite for those worrying about a surging dollar, as the euro rose just under 1 per cent to the $1.05 mark. But this did little to change the wider picture. Partly driven by divergent monetary policy paths in the US and the [...]
MPs warn breaking up banks may be best for competition March 10, 2015 BREAKING up the banks is one of the remedies for a lack of competition in the market, MPs on the Treasury Select Committee (TSC) have suggested. “Millions of consumers and small businesses have been getting a poor deal for decades because of a lack of effective competition and genuine choice in banking,” the committee said [...]
Britain’s quiet FinTech revolution has begun – and we’re determined to back it March 9, 2015 Whisper it, but there is a quiet revolution going on in British banking. If you don’t work in the financial world, you may never even have heard of the UK’s burgeoning financial technology or “fintech” sector. And you almost certainly won’t know about the opportunities it offers. So what is fintech? For me, it is [...]
Qatar 2022 World Cup: The six biggest problems with the controversial tournament February 25, 2015 It seemed almost impossible to believe in 2010, but five years after Fifa awarded the 2022 World Cup to Qatar, the prospect of the world's biggest football tournament in the tiny gulf state is more real than ever. Despite a litany of scandals associated with the bid and an outcry over the host [...]
The Yorkshire attacks account switch stitch up February 24, 2015 THE YORKSHIRE Building Society wants to become a challenger in the current account market, but its boss yesterday said it cannot because the switching service is not working. Seven-day switching helped the numbers moving between banks rise to 1.16m last year, but chief executive Chris Pilling told City A.M. that this is not the “game-changing shift” the [...]
Watchdog forces payday lenders to put prices on comparison site February 24, 2015 THE COMPETITION and Markets Authority (CMA) yesterday ordered payday lenders to publish details of their loans on at least one comparison website, as the competition watchdog looks to increase transparency in the industry. In a report on the payday lending market, the CMA said that the country’s short-term lenders “should provide customers with clear, objective [...]
Wonga cuts 325 jobs in restructure amid payday lender crackdown February 24, 2015 Troubled payday lender Wonga, which became the face of sky-high interest rates, will cut 325 jobs in a significant restructure amid mounting regulatory pressure on the short-term loans industry. Its bid to save at least £25m over the next two years comes as the competition regulator announced new rules for lenders, after a price cap was [...]