City law firm Fieldfisher acquires Mayfair boutique in bet on London’s hedge fund sector January 17, 2019 City law firm Fieldfisher has acquired a specialist Mayfair boutique in a bet London’s hedge fund sector will thrive post-Brexit. The City firm has acquired West End boutique Cummings Law and hired two senior partners from rival firms to launch Cummings Fisher, which will specialise in funds, derivatives, financial services regulation and fund formation work. [...]
Chevron and Total join new Blockchain venture for oil trading January 16, 2019 Chevron, Total and Indian refiner Reliance Industries have joined their rivals in a new venture to bring blockchain into energy trading. The oil majors will become users of Vakt, a London-based platform for trading Brent crude oil using the technology behind bitcoin. Read more: Blockchain is changing finance forever – it will do the same to [...]
Patisserie Valerie reveals balance sheet was significantly manipulated in ‘devastating’ fraud January 16, 2019 Patisserie Valerie posted a bombshell update to the market this afternoon, admitting that its balance sheet was “significantly” manipulated and thousands of false entries were made into the high street baker’s books before a shock £40m black hole was discovered last year. The troubled firm has appointed RSM as auditors and KPMG has been hired to [...]
Snap shares plummet as its finance chief’s departure takes a toll on investor nerves January 16, 2019 Shares in Snap have opened this afternoon down almost 12 per cent, after news broke of its chief financial officer's impending departure late last night. The company's shares dipped more than eight per cent in after-hours trading, before falling even further as markets opened today to an 11.8 per cent drop. Snap said in a [...]
Shares in recruitment firm Page Group drop amid macroeconomic uncertainty despite record profits January 14, 2019 Recruitment firm Page Group saw its shares fall by seven per cent today after it said in its annual results statement that Brexit uncertainty has affected the job market. The FTSE 250 recruiter said that while it had increased its number of fee-earning staff by 561 in the first three quarters of 2018, this slowed [...]
Three killed and dozens injured after huge explosion in Paris city centre January 12, 2019 Three people have died and dozens more are injured following a huge explosion in central Paris this morning. The explosion, which is thought to have been caused by a gas leak, took place at around 9am local time. Interior minister Christophe Castaner said two firefighters have been killed and 10 people, including one firefighter, are in a critical condition. [...]
Nissan US boss Jose Munoz resigns amid financial misconduct investigation January 12, 2019 A senior Nissan executive has resigned just a day after it emerged he is being investigated in relation to the financial misconduct scandal surrounding Carlos Ghosn. Chief performance officer Jose Munoz wrote in a LinkedIn post last night that he is stepping down from the car manufacturer with immediate effect. Yesterday it emerged Munoz, who [...]
UK economy posts slowest growth in six months but beats lower expectations January 11, 2019 The UK economy grew at its slower rate in six months between September and November, data released today shows, but still managed to beat lower expectations. GDP grew by 0.2 per cent in November compared to the month before, and by 0.3 per cent in the 12 weeks to the end of the month, the [...]
The key to improving our dismal productivity? Reignite the UK’s competitive instincts January 11, 2019 The dismal productivity results out this week should cause alarm for anyone who cares about UK prosperity. And we need to talk about it. Productivity – the cumulative output of our workers per hour – is the critical indicator of how competitive we are as a nation, and the surest way of delivering sustained wage growth. [...]
New visa for architects as trade body calls for ‘drastic reform’ of UK immigration system post-Brexit January 10, 2019 The Home Office launched a visa scheme for exceptional architects today as the Royal Institute of British Architects (Riba) argues UK immigration legislation needs a drastic overhaul post-Brexit to safeguard the £4.8bn industry. From today architects will be able to apply for Tier 1 (exceptional talent) visas – the first bespoke immigration category available for [...]