Strong Chinese loans prop up Asian markets February 17, 2014 A MAJOR boost to Chinese lending in January buoyed Asian markets yesterday, even following Japan’s disappointing fourth quarter GDP data. The Peoples’ Bank of China announced that 1.32 trillion yuan (£128.36bn) was distributed in new loans during January, the highest in over nearly four years, easily beating more bearish forecasts. The news follows better than [...]
UK asset managers can boost competitive edge with more transparency February 17, 2014 WHEN we asked asset managers and investors to name the most important issue facing the sector, the answer was overwhelmingly how clients’ funds are spent through dealing commission. The growing consensus that more can be done to ensure clients’ funds are used fairly reflects a wider cultural shift across financial services. Firms in all sectors [...]
3 reasons for the achingly slow progress on EU-US free trade deals February 17, 2014 Though a stock-taking meeting for the US-EU Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) begins again today, progress is likely to be painfully sluggish. Transpacific talks have gone through 18 rounds already, not including meetings between ministers or chief negotiators. In comparison, the EU and US not yet even the third round of talks, which [...]
Competition probe for annuities February 13, 2014 THE CITY watchdog today announced a competition probe into the annuities market over fears pensioners are being ripped off by unfair sales techniques. Sixty per cent of retirees buy an annuity through their current provider, even though shopping around could boost their income by more than 10 per cent, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) found. “As part [...]
Switzerland’s shock migration vote has dealt the EU a huge blow February 10, 2014 THERE are two kinds of Eurosceptics. There is the pro-market, classical liberal variety: believers in the Four Freedoms – the free movement of goods, services, capital and people – across the countries of the European Union, but who oppose everything else, including political integration, the undemocratic nature of the European construct, the EU’s myriad subsidies, [...]
Switzerland’s shock migration vote has dealt the EU a huge blow February 10, 2014 THERE are two kinds of Eurosceptics. There is the pro-market, classical liberal variety: believers in the Four Freedoms – the free movement of goods, services, capital and people – across the countries of the European Union, but who oppose everything else, including political integration, the undemocratic nature of the European construct, the EU’s myriad subsidies, [...]
Challenger banks face a Capital Catch 22: It’s time to level the playing field February 5, 2014 WANDER down any high street and you’ll see those well-known chain restaurants offering appetising food at a reasonable price. Then there are the one-off, often family-run eateries with their own unique menu – perhaps with a speciality that will one day become a staple of that household-name restaurant over the road. The larger chains, of [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 31 January 2014 January 30, 2014 FINANCIAL TIMES Renault and Nissan deepen alliance Renault and Nissan will fully combine their manufacturing and research and development operations to save at least €4.3bn (£3.5bn) a year by 2016, in the most significant step toward full integration since the alliance was founded. The 15-year-old Franco-Japanese alliance, which has kept both carmakers from financial ruin, [...]
Miliband wants annual review of banks and energy businesses January 20, 2014 CONSUMER lobby groups should conduct an annual competition audit on the government’s behalf, Ed Miliband will say today. The Labour leader argues that paying more attention to groups like Which? would improve competition and help consumers. But business groups attacked the idea. “The role of the Competition and Markets Authority is to act as an [...]
More competition would be good but Miliband is proposing little that’s new January 19, 2014 ED MILIBAND appears to be in the process of reinventing the Labour Party as the consumer party. His central theme is the “cost of living crisis”. He tells us how he is on the side of consumers in gas and electricity, freezing prices, in banks forcing competition, and in general by having consumer bodies report [...]