Google’s Waze teams up with Allianz to bring in-app roadside assistance to Londoners July 3, 2018 Google-owned and developed traffic maps app Waze has partnered up with insurance firm Allianz to offer emergency roadside assistance to its European users at the touch of a button. Available 24/7, Waze users will be able to click on the SOS button for roadside help inside the app in the event of a breakdown, flat [...]
Crispin Odey-backed London insurtech startup Bought By Many has raised a £15m series B funding round, led by Commerzbank July 3, 2018 Billionnaire Tory donor and hedge-fund manager Crispin Odey has re-invested into London insurtech marketplace Bought By Many, which closed a £15m series B investment round today. The round was led by Commerzventures, the corporate venture capital arm of Commerzbank, alongside new investment from global insurance broker and risk management firm Marsh. Additional follow-on investment from [...]
Revealed: June’s top and bottom performing funds July 2, 2018 June was dominated by trade war fears as Donald Trump said he would add further tariffs on Chinese and European goods should there be any retaliation to his initial tranche of measures. The prospect of mercantilist trade policies unnerved investors concerned about future growth. There are few, if any, real winners in a full-blown trade [...]
Banks could be forced to fork out billions over undisclosed PPI commission following mis-selling ruling July 2, 2018 British banks may have to dole out billions more on mis-sold payment protection insurance (PPI) claims following a landmark legal ruling. Many of the UK's leading banks have ringfenced sums to compensate those who were mis-sold PPI, which was designed to cover repayments in circumstances such as redundancy, illness or death. The mis-selling scandal has [...]
City firms increase hiring and technology investment plans in spite of Brexit uncertainty July 2, 2018 Financial services firms increased hiring and investment in the second quarter in spite of continued nerves over the Brexit process, new figures show. Employment across financial services rose at the fastest pace in a year, with a balance of 24 per cent saying they had increased hiring in the second quarter, according to the survey [...]
City Moves – Monday 2 July. Who’s moving jobs at Kensington Mortgages, Lockton and Brilliant Basics July 2, 2018 Kensington Mortgages Kensington Mortgages hired Sharon Cochrane for the role of account development manager for Scotland, following Kensington’s full market launch earlier this year. Sharon will be responsible for new business growth and relationship management. Sharon brings over 19 years’ worth of experience in financial services to the role –15 of which were spent as [...]
DEBATE: In light of the FCA’s retirement outcomes review, is pension drawdown working? June 29, 2018 In light of the FCA’s retirement outcomes review, is pension drawdown working? Alistair Wilson, head of retail platform strategy at Zurich Insurance Group, says YES. Drawdown has given hundreds of thousands of retirees greater freedom and flexibility in retirement. Before the pension reforms, most people reaching retirement were forced to buy an annuity, which many [...]
Deliveroo pays workers to settle gig economy employment case June 28, 2018 Takeaway delivery firm Deliveroo has settled a legal claim by 50 of its couriers for a reported six-figure sum, in another legal battle involving employment rights in the gig economy. The claim revolved around the alleged failure of Deliveroo to give its couriers legal employment rights, such as the minimum wage and paid holiday. Multiple [...]
Banks to be subjected to ‘cyber stress tests’ to see if they could withstand a major hacking attack June 27, 2018 Financial services companies will be subject to “cyber stress tests” to establish if they could recover in the event of a major breach, the Bank of England said today. The bank is establishing new standards for how long a bank’s ability to deliver key services such as providing payments and insuring against and dispersing risk [...]
Why did TfL strip Uber of its licence and what did it do to get it back? June 26, 2018 After months of deliberation, Uber was today granted a 15-month licence after persuading Westminster Magistrates' Court that it had changed its ways and was now a "fit and proper" operator in the capital. City A.M. looks back at why TfL took the dramatic decision last year and what Uber did to try and win it [...]