Top ONS economist: Brexit recession still possible August 19, 2016 The top economist at the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has warned it is too early to rule out the prospect of a recession, despite a flurry of strong post-referendum indicators. Joe Grice, ONS chief economist told Bloomberg this morning there were still too many pieces of the puzzle to put together and would not like to [...]
Public finances falter following EU referendum August 19, 2016 Government income shrunk in July with tax receipts missing expectations in the first sign of a post-referendum hit to the public finances. The government ran a surplus of £977m in July, according to figures published this morning by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), though this was down on predictions for a £1.9bn windfall and [...]
One of the most ethical bankers of all time turns down multi-million reward August 19, 2016 A whistleblower whose information helped reveal false accounting at Deutsche Bank has turned down a huge financial reward from the Securities and Exchange Commission in protest of failure to punish wrong-doing executives at the bank. Eric Ben-Artzi, a former Deutsche risk officer, told the SEC that he does not want to take his share of a $16.5m [...]
Retail sales surge as Brits hit the shops in Brexit spending spree August 18, 2016 UK shoppers ignored prophecies of doom-and-gloom in July to hit the stores in their droves, sending retail sales surging in the month after the EU referendum. The pound rallied on the news hitting a two-week high against the dollar as economists said signs of strong consumer confidence were a "major boost" to the post-referendum economy. [...]
Investor confidence in UK bounces back to 2016 high after Brexit vote fall August 17, 2016 UK investor confidence is at its highest point this year, bouncing back from a post-referendum fall, new figures show. The Lloyds Bank Investor Sentiment Index, released today, showed all asset classes bar two – gold and cash – have experienced a rise in confidence since last month. Overall, positive sentiment is up 8.13 percentage points overall [...]
No sign of Brexit hit as employment rate reaches new record high August 17, 2016 The employment rate reached a new record high in June, as fresh figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) also showed no sign of a post-referendum hit to jobs. The latest jobs numbers, which refer to the month of the referendum, showed the number of people in work climbed to its highest on record of 31.75m in [...]
Rough & the smooth: Sadiq Khan’s first 100 days as mayor of London August 17, 2016 London mayor Sadiq Khan has celebrated his first 100 days in City Hall. So, how’s his mayoralty shaping up? Khan was elected on 5 May, after his rival Zac Goldsmith sank in a pit of his campaign’s own making. The Tory candidate would probably have made a perfectly decent and thoughtful mayor, but his campaign [...]
SNP accused of power grab after junior MSPs awarded top jobs August 15, 2016 The Scottish National Party has been accused of a power grab after a number of top jobs were given to MSPs. The MSPs have been awarded jobs as aids to ministers that they are meant to be holding to account. Education secretary John Swinney's assistant, Jenny Gilruth, was given her role after she was put forward to [...]
Never mind the Brexit: Meet JP Morgan’s “glass half-full” European chief August 14, 2016 JP Morgan Chase employees were left in little doubt about how damaging the UK’s Brexit vote could be. In early June, chairman and chief executive Jamie Dimon spoke to staff in Bournemouth alongside now-former chancellor George Osborne and warned that a vote to leave the European Union could lead to as many as 4,000 job losses [...]
Hammond guarantees £4.5bn EU funding for farmers and scientists until 2020 August 13, 2016 Chancellor Philip Hammond has today pledged to match EU funding for British firms in the first guarantee of its kind since the UK voted to leave the bloc in June's historic referendum. Hammond has agreed that all UK projects that win funds under the various EU development programmes will be "fully funded, even when these projects continue beyond the departure from [...]