Lib Dems call for £18bn cut to VAT to ease cost of living crunch March 10, 2022 The Liberal Democrats are calling for an £18bn VAT cut that would see the rate slashed from 20 to 17.5 per cent in a bid to ease the cost of living crunch on British households. The Lib Dems say the new policy proposal, released on the eve of the party’s spring conference, would save households [...]
Moscow orders airlines to hold leased planes hostage amid growing sanctions March 10, 2022 The Kremlin today threatened to impound the aircraft leased to Russian airlines, casting doubts over the fate of 780 planes worth a total of $10bn. According to a draft law proposed by the Russian transport ministry, carriers should be required to pay leases in rubles for the whole of 2022, de facto allowing them not [...]
Exclusive: London ‘insurtech’ firm Loadsure gets funding injection March 10, 2022 Insurance tech firm Loadsure announced a $11m funding injection today as it looks to ramp up its tech development for the global cargo and freight insurance market.
City Moves: Who’s switching jobs in the Square Mile this week? March 10, 2022 City A.M.’s Millie Turner provides a roundup of the most important hires and job moves across the City, every morning. Email citymoves@cityam.com to be featured. Field Renewable energy storage company Field has announced a flurry of senior hires. Elspeth Vincent, who joins the London-based firm as general counsel, brings over a decade of legal experience to the role. While Ben Saward joins [...]
How stock markets perform after heavy falls March 9, 2022 While public attention has understandably focused on the grave humanitarian consequences of the invasion of Ukraine, global markets have reflected investors’ concerns about financial and economic impacts. Our live blog on the Ukraine crisis will be updated regularly throughout the week, it can be found here. To date the current crisis has seen major markets fall [...]
UK impounds aircraft following new round of aviation sanctions against Russia March 9, 2022 Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said today UK authorities had impounded an aircraft following a new round of aviation sanctions against Russia. “There is one such aircraft on the ground at the moment at Farnborough that I’ve essentially impounded whilst we carry out further investigations for the last few days – and it’s very important that [...]
Prudential enjoys bump in new business profit as it cuts off loss-making US operations March 9, 2022 Life insurance and financial services company Prudential enjoyed a bump to new business profit last year, as the pandemic-era drive to get one’s affairs in order rolls on. New business profit lifted 15 per cent to $2.5bn in the year to 31 December, up from $2.2bn in 2020. The London-headquartered company’s gross premiums for 2021 [...]
Letters: Time to bank on it with Solvency II March 9, 2022 [Re: Insurers and analysts temper enthusiasm on Solvency II reforms, March 2] They say good things come to those who wait. The governments proposed post-Brexit reforms to the EU’s Solvency II requirements finally incentivises UK insurers to put their excess cash to better use with lower capital charges. Solvency II has proved to be overkill [...]
Direct Line profits suffer as insurance giant weathers ‘challenging market’ March 8, 2022 Insurer Direct Line reported humble growth this morning as the group feels the sting of inflation. Whilst operating profit increased to £582m, driven by an increase in underwriting, its profit before tax of £446m was £5.4m lower than 2020. The focus seemed to be on cost cutting for Direct Line; the firm reduced its operating [...]
Asset manager M&G rolls out £500m buyback after smashing capital targets March 8, 2022 British insurer and asset manager M&G unveiled a £500m share buyback programme today after it smashed capital generation targets set out following its demerger from Prudential in 2019.