Eight years after the collapse of Lehman Brothers, FutureBrand’s Tom Adams says that perceptions of banks’ brands are improving September 19, 2016 Eight years after the collapse of Lehman Brothers, FutureBrand’s global head of strategy Tom Adams reflects on how the public perceives financial services organisations. In 2014, when his global brand consultancy first began polling professionals in 17 countries to see how they perceived the firms in PwC’s list of global top 100 companies by market capitalisation, [...]
China sees Brexit as a huge opportunity to forge new trading links with Britain September 19, 2016 I returned last week from a key overseas trade visit as lord mayor, to China and Hong Kong. I was accompanied by a number of City firms, and because the trip followed the G20 Summit, held just before our arrival there, all of them expected an exciting and illuminating visit. One of the big topics [...]
Britain to veto establishment of an EU army September 17, 2016 Britain will block the creation of an army for the European Union, the defence secretary Michael Fallon has said. Speaking to The Times, Fallon said the EU's plan to create a "common military force" is "not going to happen". Read more: UK will play bigger role in Nato after Brexit, says defence secretary France and Germany have [...]
Autumn Statement 2016: Businesses tell Philip Hammond to cut national insurance September 15, 2016 Business leaders want Philip Hammond to cut the cost of employment in his first Autumn Statement as chancellor, rather than indulge in headline-grabbing measures like slashing corporation tax. Accountants EY found 64 per cent of top decision makers at both UK firms and multinationals with a big presence here said reducing the cost of national insurance [...]
The public are far less hostile to high levels of immigration than you think September 15, 2016 During elections, complex issues are radically simplified. Both the campaigns and the media are responsible for it, but this is reasonable – busy people have little time to investigate the merits of complicated policy ideas. As such, the immigration debate that took place during the EU referendum was depicted as a choice between continued large-scale [...]
It’s eight years since the Lehman Brothers collapse. What’s changed? September 15, 2016 Eight years ago today US banking giant Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy. This was an unprecedented event in the modern financial world and it sent shock waves through global markets. We're still recovering from some of them. The bank's collapse has now entered the vocabulary as a term for when an industry has a potentially catastrophic moment. It is used again. And again. And again. And again (maybe it [...]
Bankers went bonkers for bonuses last year – but payments across the economy hit a record level September 15, 2016 UK employers went on a bonus frenzy last year, as payments hit a record £44.3bn – finally beating the pre-recession record set in 2008. Naturally, the finance sector was the biggest contributor. Bonus payments in the financial year ending 2016 were six per cent of total pay, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said today – that's [...]
Cyber attack fears push up hack insurance September 15, 2016 Increasing fears over potential cyber attacks has pushed up the number of firms taking out hack insurance. Research from insurance broker Marsh has found 83 per cent of respondents say they have a basic or complete understanding of their company’s cyber exposure, compared to 61 per cent last year. According to Marsh almost a third [...]
Shadow MPC calls on Mark Carney to wait before pulling the trigger on another rate cut September 14, 2016 City economists have told Mark Carney to keep interest rates glued at their record low when the Bank of England meets today. City A.M.’s Shadow monetary policy committee (MPC) voted eight-to-one in favour of holding rates at 0.25 per cent, as experts said the governor and his fellow rate-setters should wait for more signs of [...]
The Mayor of London has opted to protect privilege not competition September 14, 2016 Sadiq Khan’s crackdown on London’s private hire industry is a sop to a privileged monopoly that distorts competitive markets and fails to defend consumer interests. As private hire services make inroads into London’s black cab monopoly, the case to protect them from decline and enforce consumer safety may sound reasonable. But Khan’s reforms go beyond safety and are [...]