Ryanair loses legal challenges to EU state aid for Scandi airlines April 14, 2021 Ryanair has this morning lost its attempt to have state aid provided by the EU to Scandinavian airlines SAS and Finnair ruled unlawful. The Luxembourg-based General Court, the EU’s second highest legal body, ruled that the bailouts were in compliance with the bloc’s rules on state aid. The ruling is another blow to the airline, [...]
Former BP boss Lord Browne joins private equity firm General Atlantic April 13, 2021 Former BP boss Lord Browne has today joined private equity firm General Atlantic to advise it on environmental and social issues, including the road to net zero. The New York firm said that Browne would work with the firm to “find new ways to invest in climate solutions, and help develop corporate strategies for addressing [...]
Never go without fizz again thanks to The Finest Bubble’s Champagne Helpline April 13, 2021 There’s no feeling like it. That sinking sensation in your gut. You keep telling yourself it’s not happening; it’s something that happens to other people, not you. You check all the usual places but there’s nothing. No Blanc de Noirs. No Prestige Cuvee. No Extra Brut. So what do you do when you suddenly discover you [...]
Boris Johnson wants to ‘understand intention’ behind David Cameron lobbying April 13, 2021 Boris Johnson has today said a review into the David Cameron lobbying scandal will seek to “understand what the intention was” behind efforts to implement supply chain financing into government departments. Johnson yesterday launched an independent review into Cameron’s efforts to lobby ministers on behalf of failed finance supply chain finance firm Greensill Capital. The [...]
Will ESG turn Bitcoin into a digital ‘stranded asset’ or monetary MySpace? (Part II) April 13, 2021 In this second instalment of a two-part piece, Ben Ashby, Derek Usher and Gerard Fox explain why environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors will undermine Bitcoin’s eye-catching rise, here focusing on the ‘S’ and ‘G’. We at Good Governance Capital (GGC) are enormously enthusiastic and supportive of innovation and competition in finance. As former mainstream [...]
US dealmaking pushes global M&A to first-quarter high April 13, 2021 Global M&A is on course for a record-breaking year as pent up demand pushed deal-making to an all time high in the first quarter. The momentum seen in the latter half of 2020 has continued unabated with the M&A market surging in the first three months of the year. The number of deals is up [...]
To make Britain competitive globally, we must strip away regulatory red tape April 13, 2021 Last month, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) made a ruling which blocked the merger of the two British crowdfunding sites Seedrs and Crowdcube. This was wrong for a slew of reasons, not the least because Seedrs and Crowdcube are both tiny companies that should be below the regulatory radar. Both companies are currently [...]
Credit Suisse, Greensill and Archegos: how did it all go so wrong? April 12, 2021 Spare a thought as the week begins for Christine Graeff, the group head of corporate communications for Credit Suisse. The Swiss finance giant has lost billions of dollars in recent weeks in what has been branded a “disaster pile-up”. The basic cause is easy enough to diagnose: Credit Suisse provided financial backing for the the [...]
Bitcoin consolidates, Ethereum sets new all-time high, XRP more than doubles April 12, 2021 Bitcoin consolidates, Ethereum sets new all-time high and XRP more than doubles as crypto rides high.
Back in business: Lord Mayor kickstarts Square Mile reopening April 12, 2021 As the City officially reopened this morning, the Lord Mayor embarked on a tour of the businesses that have opened their doors after months behind shutters. While still noticeably quieter than pre-pandemic, it was heartening to see the City return to some kind of normalcy, with the streets busier than they have been for months. [...]