Meet the 18 companies joining the FCA’s regulatory sandbox November 7, 2016 The UK's foward-thinking financial regulator has chosen 18 companies to participate in its so-called regulatory sandbox, where they will be able to test out new technologies without breaching rules. Launched over the summer, the sandbox is designed to foster fintech innovation while remaining under the supervisory eye of the City watchdog, the Financial Conduct Authority. Read more: [...]
Hiscox to scale back Lloyd’s operations after revealing that rates are under “severe pressure” November 7, 2016 One of the best known Lloyd's insurers today revealed a strategic pivot, saying its London market operations will "shrink materially" next year. Hiscox, whose Lloyd's footprint can be traced back over 70 years, said it can't generate enough profit when underwriting aviation, marine and energy and US large property policies in particular. Chief exec Bronek Masojada said that [...]
SoftBank’s boss wants to be the Warren Buffett of tech November 7, 2016 The boss of Japanese telecoms giant SoftBank, which snapped up UK chip maker ARM in a multi-billion pound deal earlier this year, has laid out ambitious plans for its new technology investment strategy. Chairman and founder Masayoshi Son said he wants to become the Warren Buffett of tech, handing over responsibility for the day to day [...]
HSBC’s shares rise four per cent despite larger-than-expected profit slump after Brazil disposal November 7, 2016 HSBC's share price rose by more than four per cent this morning, despite a sharper-than-expected slump in profits in the third quarter – although stripping out currency fluctuations, things looked rather better… The figures Pre-tax profit at the British lender fell 86 per cent to $843m in the quarter ended 30 September, down from $6.1bn in [...]
British businesses say cuts to corporation tax are “not the be all and end all” November 7, 2016 British businesses do not want further corporation tax cuts for fear of alienating the general public. The consensus opinion across the UK's companies is that corporation tax is not a "defining feature of tax policy". This means that the benefits of a cut are outweighed by negative publicity attached to business’ role in the tax system, according to [...]
Professors’ retirement fund to invest in future Green Investment Bank projects November 6, 2016 Macquarie Bank is poised to team-up with the pension fund that manages the retirement money of Britain's university professors as part of the privatisation of the Green Investment Bank (GIB). The Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS), a pension scheme that can trace its roots over a hundred years, will help the Australian lender pay for future funding [...]
Brexit may finally be hitting the car market after new car sales to consumers fell in October November 4, 2016 The UK new car market grew 1.4 per cent last month with sales of 180,168 new cars, new figures have shown – but individual consumer registrations fell by 1.1 per cent. Growth was led by new fleet registrations, which rose 4.2 per cent, according to figures published by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) [...]
City Moves for 4 November 2016 | Who’s switching jobs November 4, 2016 Hastings Group Hastings Group has appointed Teresa Robson-Capps and Alison Burns as non-executive directors with immediate effect. Teresa is currently a non-executive director and member of the audit committee for Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank Group and is chairman of the ACS Group. She was previously a non-executive director for National Australia Bank; Europe/Clydesdale Bank. Teresa brings significant [...]
Hurricane Matthew impact “less than it might have been” for Lloyd’s insurer Lancashire November 3, 2016 Hurricane insurer Lancashire's share price spiralled up over eight per cent today after blowing away analysts with its third quarter results. Announcing a $150m (£121m) special dividend, the Lloyd's insurer said that the impact of Hurricane Matthew – the worst in the Atlantic for nine years – wasn't quite as bad as it had expected. "As an [...]
Here’s a complete list of the 13,500 British companies in danger of losing their ‘passporting’ rights after Brexit November 3, 2016 The potential loss of Britain's so-called "financial passporting" rights once the UK leaves the European Union will have a widespread impact on the whole of Britain, and not just banks and insurance companies, research from market insight firm Mlex shows. Mlex obtained a full list of all 13,500 companies using financial passporting in some form [...]