Keydata owner pledges to fight FCA after £75m fine May 26, 2015 The bitter wrangle between the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Keydata reached boiling point yesterday as both sides promised legal action to decide the long-running dispute. The financial regulator announced it is seeking record fines against three former managers of the investment service, claiming the company mis-sold complex products known as “death bonds” to consumers. [...]
Invoice delays top 107 days with construction firms taking the hit May 25, 2015 Businesses in construction and real estate were forced to wait over 15 weeks for invoice payments last year, despite the ongoing economic recovery. The new report, published today by the Asset Based Finance Association (ABFA), comes after recent research by insolvency trade body R3 revealed £41.5bn in late payments was owed to UK businesses [...]
Could Greece ever pay off all its debt? Tomorrow’s IMF repayment is just the tip of the iceberg May 11, 2015 Eurozone ministers have once again gathered in Brussels to try and negotiate a deal between Greece and its creditors, but a big question mark hangs over whether the struggling nation could realistically remain in the Euro. Tomorrow, it must fork out a €750m (£544m) loan repayment for the IMF, but this is just the start [...]
It’s a scrum for Wasps’ £35m bond May 6, 2015 INVESTORS have piled into Wasps’ debut retail bond, stumping up more than the £35m maximum the rugby club planned to raise. As a result, savers who put in bids are waiting to hear how the bonds will be allocated, and how much of the 6.5 per cent yielding, 2022-dated securities they will end up holding. [...]
UK house prices: Number of risky mortgages grows 64 per cent in five years May 6, 2015 In the aftermath of the subprime mortgage crisis, you'd have thought lenders had learned their lessons – but perhaps not, after a new study suggested the number of risky mortgages sold in the UK has risen 64 per cent since 2010. Using last year’s data from the Bank of England, Moore Stevens, an accountancy firm, [...]
Bournemouth bask in glory of meteoric rise to top flight April 27, 2015 AFC BOURNEMOUTH all but sealed promotion to English football’s top flight for the first time in the club’s history with a 3-0 victory over Bolton at the Goldsands Stadium last night. Goals from Marc Pugh, Matt Ritchie and Callum Wilson means only a remarkable turnaround in fortunes can deny the south-coast side a place among [...]
Rugby club Wasps to raise £35m in retail bond offering April 27, 2015 Rugby club Wasps is raising up to £35m of debt in a retail bond offer, hoping to tap up fans with a payout of 6.5 per cent on the debt instruments. It is pitching the paper as a safe investment, on the basis that the vast majority of its income is in fact not [...]
Greece may not default – but still be insolvent – CNBC Comment April 20, 2015 How important is Greece to Europe? The real answer is that nobody really knows. But time doesn’t stand still, and we are now moving closer to some very real debt repayment deadlines. Athanasios Orphanides, former member of the European Central Bank (ECB) Governing Council, told me last week that he thinks the ECB is in [...]
As Greece comes close to defaulting on its debt, is a Grexit now more likely than not? April 16, 2015 George Efstathopoulos, co-portfolio manager at Fidelity Solutions, says Yes As liquidity constraints in Greece become more real, a Grexit is growing more likely by the day. While a possible Greek default on its payments to the IMF (recently suggested by Greek officials) may not directly result in Grexit, such an event could be perceived as [...]
BNY Mellon hit by £126m fine for failing to keep client money safe April 15, 2015 GIANT custody bank BNY Mellon is paying a £126m fine for failing to properly protect client funds, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said yesterday. BNY is the world’s largest custodian, responsible for keeping assets safe – but in fact, had the bank collapsed, clients’ funds may not have been entirely safe. Regulators found the London [...]