Insurers and price comparison sites face shake up after car insurance market investigation September 24, 2014 Insurers are facing sweeping changes to the way car insurance is sold after a two-year investigation by the competition watchdog. Measures such as banning agreements between insurers and price comparison websites, and increased scrutiny of how add-ons to car insurance policies are sold to customers have been recommended by the Competition and Markets Authority. The [...]
Life is sweet for British Sugar September 23, 2014 BRITISH Sugar yesterday avoided a watchdog investigation into its market practices,after the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) confirmed it would not look into a complaint by a rival that it was abusing its dominant position in the market. Rival Napier Brown claimed that British Sugar was charging higher prices for its sugar and that this [...]
Get more for your money when buying overseas September 23, 2014 An expert foreign exchange service can help make your money go further on the overseas property market With summer at an end and autumn closing in you might understandably be dreaming of owning your own place in the sun. And now could be the time to buy. With the pound’s strength against the euro and [...]
Low inflation isn’t abnormal: It’s a feature of a competitive market economy September 23, 2014 FEARS of deflation are rising across Europe, as inflation keeps edging down to lower and lower rates. Eurostat estimates the rate of inflation in the Eurozone in the year to August to be only 0.4 per cent, compared to 1.3 per cent in the year to August 2013. Negative rates were observed in eight EU [...]
From chips to telecoms innovation is the key September 17, 2014 INNOVATIVE COMPANY of the year City A.M.’s Innovative Company of the Year category salutes businesses that are frontrunners in their industry, from micro-chips to car service apps. With London being one of the leading hubs in Europe – if not the world – of innovative technology, our judges have had a hard time choosing a [...]
Speak to the experts for great exchange rates and fee-free online transfers September 17, 2014 It's been an unsettled summer for sterling. Back in July, it seemed that the pound could do no wrong. A stream of encouraging economic data emanated from the UK. Upbeat employment figures, strong PMI readings and a statement from the Governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, which suggested that interest rates could rise [...]
Libor and forex scandals: Banks admit they are “puzzled” over how to stop rate fixing September 9, 2014 Banks and regulators have still not found a way to be sure of stopping traders from manipulating Libor, foreign exchange and other benchmarks, top watchdog Martin Wheatley said yesterday. More than two years on from the first bank fine over attempted Libor fiddling, the new setup for benchmark regulation is yet to be finalised. “I [...]
How incompetent policymakers have kept the Eurozone in perpetual crisis September 9, 2014 THE EUROZONE lurches into yet another crisis, with fears of deflation and a further drop in output. There are several dominant explanations as to why Europe has been unable to recover from the crisis. Depending on their tastes, most commentators subscribe to them either on their own, or in various combinations. One puts the blame [...]
Save money on your overseas transfers and payments September 4, 2014 With an expanding expat community (6 million British citizens reside overseas, by the last count) and a diverse population with global connections at home more Brits than ever before are finding it necessary to send money overseas. According to the World Bank the equivalent of more than $23 billion was transferred out of the UK [...]
Scottish independence: That WEF report could boost Salmond’s plans to keep the pound September 3, 2014 Most of the UK media attention given to the new World Economic Forum (WEF) rankings has been focused on Britain edging up one place to take spot number nine for global competitiveness. However, there may be more to glean from the WEF's report than the UK's marginal improvement in competitiveness. Specifically, the WEF's rankings on [...]