Google accused of using its dominance to harm the competition September 6, 2024 Google has been accused of using “anti-competitive practices” which harm thousands of publishers and advertisers in the UK. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it has provisionally found that the US giant could be negatively impacting rivals over open-display advert technology. According to its findings, the watchdog said that when placing digital adverts on [...]
Nationwide to complete £2.9bn takeover of Virgin Money after FCA and PRA approval September 6, 2024 Nationwide is to complete its £2.9bn takeover of rival Virgin Money next month after the deal was given the green light by the UK’s financial regulators. The banks said in statement issued to the London Stock Exchange that the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Bank of England’s Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) have both approved [...]
Competition watchdog to probe Ticketmaster’s ‘dynamic pricing’ for Oasis tickets September 5, 2024 The UK's competition watchdog has launched a probe into Ticketmaster's sale of Oasis concert tickets, including the platform's use of so-called "dynamic pricing".
Cutting bank transfer fraud refund limit not enough, industry warns regulator September 4, 2024 The UK’s payments regulator is under pressure to U-turn on a controversial fraud reimbursement scheme after confirming it would look at scaling back the measures.
Vodafone: Buybacks boost UAE’s sovereign wealth fund’s stake September 4, 2024 According to a recent update, the sovereign wealth fund of the United Arab Emirates now owns 15 per cent of Vodafone. While the Emirates Investment Authority (EIA) has not acquired any more shares in the communications giant, Vodafone’s ongoing share buyback has reduced the number of shares outstanding, boosting EIA’s position on the share register. [...]
CMA clears Microsoft and Inflection AI partnership after merger ruling September 4, 2024 Britain’s competition regulator has today cleared Microsoft’s arrangements with Inflection AI, which included a licensing deal and the hiring of former Inflection employees. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced in April it was looking at three separate deals that potentially fall under UK merger law and, if so, whether they could have a harmful [...]
Apple has ‘significant concerns’ over CMA probe into its Safari mobile browser September 4, 2024 Apple said it has “significant concerns” with the UK competition watchdog investigation into the supply of mobile browsers. In 2022, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) launched a probe into the dominance of Apple’s Safari browser and Google’s Chrome browser, along with the possibility that Apple may be restricting the cloud gaming market through its [...]
Barratt: Profit halves at housebuilder but firm optimistic after Redrow deal September 4, 2024 Housebuilder Barratt reported a halving in profit and drop in completions amid a challenging housing market, but has said it is optimistic about the future. Barratt said its total home completions in the year ended 30 June reached 14,004, down 18.6 per cent from 17,206 in 2023 but at the upper end of the company’s [...]
Viagogo defends reselling Oasis tickets for thousands of pounds as ‘legal’ August 31, 2024 Viagogo defended reselling Oasis tickets for thousands of pounds on its website following the Britpop group warning fans that passes would be “cancelled” if not sold on an official site.
City watchdog’s motor finance review drives up official complaints August 29, 2024 A review by the City regulator into now-banned commission arrangements on car loans has contributed to a surge in official complaints to the UK's financial ombudsman in recent months.