Moody’s downgrades outlook for UK banking system December 3, 2019 The UK banking system’s outlook has been downgraded by credit ratings agency Moody’s, after it cited a swathe of challenges facing lenders in the year ahead. Flagging the persistently low interest rate environment and a competitive mortgage market, Moody’s is forecasting a modest slide in profitability. Read more: Carney appointed UN climate envoy The agency [...]
None of the parties have a credible plan to fix the social care crisis November 29, 2019 Every day, 1.4m elderly people are left unwashed, unsupported, and without the care they need — because our social care system is broken. “Crisis” is an overused term, but in this instance, it’s no exaggeration. And people are increasingly aware of this. Recent polling commissioned by Deloitte and Reform revealed that social care is the [...]
Virgin Active and Iceland investor Brait to offload assets November 27, 2019 South African investment firm Brait, which owns stakes in New Look, Iceland and Virgin Active, has announced a financial restructuring plan that will see it offload its assets. Shares in the Johannesburg-listed company plunged more than 15 per cent after it unveiled plans to sell off its assets in a bid to reduce debts and [...]
Holiday firm On The Beach has taken a £25m hit from the collapse of Thomas Cook November 27, 2019 Package holiday company On The Beach has taken a £25.6m hit from the collapse of Thomas Cook, as the cost of getting stranded holidaymakers home weighed on the firm. The company maintained that the failure of one of its biggest rivals would ultimately help it in the long run, despite profits falling more than a [...]
Ignore Labour, Britain needs billionaires to feel welcome November 26, 2019 Labour wants to get rid of billionaires. If that sounds hyperbolic, just listen to how the party’s heavyweights talk about billionaires, in their own words. “No one needs or deserves to have that much money,” shadow chancellor John McDonnell has declared. “It is obscene.” Meanwhile, Jeremy Corbyn, who hopes to become our Prime Minister next [...]
What is microfinance and why does it matter for investors? November 25, 2019 Exclusion from the financial system is widely regarded as a major obstacle to people’s efforts to grow out of poverty. In 2017, 1.7 billion adults across the globe had no access to a bank account, with the vast majority of them living in emerging and frontier markets. 56 per cent of these were women, and [...]
Labour manifesto: Capital gains tax hike to fund £83bn spending spree November 21, 2019 Jeremy Corbyn is planning a raid on the UK’s higher earners as part of plans to fund its commitment for nearly £83bn on day-to-day spending, the Labour manifesto revealed today. In what Corbyn dubbed a “radical” manifesto, launched in Birmingham today, he revealed that a Labour government would change how capital is taxed, bringing it [...]
Inmarsat and BT cut ties with Prince Andrew over Epstein friendship November 20, 2019 Inmarsat and BT have become the latest organisations to cut ties with the Duke of York in light of questions about his relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. A source close to Inmarsat confirmed to City A.M. that the satellite company had withdrawn its sponsorship. In a statement, BT said that they would no [...]
General Election 2019: Boris Johnson hints at plans to hike National Insurance threshold November 20, 2019 A Conservative government would put up the National Insurance threshold to £12,000 as part of plans to “cut tax for working people”, Boris Johnson said today. During an apparently unintended revelation as part of a question and answer session in a Teeside factor, the Prime Minister told reporters he would increase the rate at which [...]
FTSE 100 falls one per cent after Donald Trump trade comments November 20, 2019 European stock markets have fallen today following President Donald Trump’s threat to raise tariffs on Chinese goods if no deal can be reached between the two sides, with the FTSE 100 leading the bunch downwards. The FTSE 100 was down 1.09 per cent by 12.45pm UK time. In Germany, the Dax index was 0.70 per [...]