Is foreign secretary Philip Hammond set to be named the UK’s new chancellor? July 13, 2016 Foreign secretary Philip Hammond is emerging as a frontrunner to become the new chancellor in Theresa May's first cabinet. May is expected to name her top team in the coming days, and Hammond has been widely named as the likely inheritor of one of the government's most senior roles. According to ITV political editor Robert Peston, Hammond [...]
Three immediate challenges to the new government are apparent July 13, 2016 Recently I sat next to the head of corporate lending at one of the big banks. The usual question of “how’s business” was inevitably asked, with the answer “just had six quarters of lending growth but the last two weeks… awful! Especially with infrastructure, we had so much in the pipeline but confidence is low”. [...]
What Theresa May as Prime Minister means for the future of the fraud squad July 13, 2016 Monday saw the pound spike and the FTSE 100 creep back into bull territory following Andrea Leadsom’s exit from the Conservative party leadership race. It was clear that bookies’ favourite Theresa May’s campaign to frame herself as the candidate for stability in the post-referendum chaos had resonated deeply with markets. Yet while those in the [...]
London-based broker strikes up US strategic alliance July 13, 2016 UK-based broker N+1 Singer has today announced a new partnership with US wealth manager Janney Montgomery Scott. The agreement with Janney, which has more than $66bn (£51bn) of client assets, will enable N+1 to run US roadshows for corporate clients. Read more: Some of the UK's biggest brokers are straining under post-Brexit demand “Janney has a venerable [...]
The Irish economy grew by a whopping 26 per cent last year – but economists are not impressed July 12, 2016 The Irish economy grew by an impressive 26 per cent last year, soaring past estimates of 7.8 per cent gross domestic product (GDP) growth – but only after the capital stocks of a number of companies that relocated to the country were included in the state's balance sheet. Revised figures from Ireland's Central Statistics Office (CSO) show GDP was [...]
Foreign currency: With sterling down against the euro and US dollar, here’s how to make your holiday money go further this summer July 12, 2016 Unless you’re holidaying in South Africa, Brazil, Russia or a number of other countries whose currency has fallen more steeply than sterling this year, you should brace yourself for considerable increases in the cost of hotel rooms, car hire and dining out. Market uncertainty around Brexit has led sterling to fall against a basket of other [...]
Forget populist executive pay curbs: Prime Minister May should embrace these six policies to revitalise growth July 11, 2016 Predictably, those who demand more government spending both when the economy is doing well and badly are calling for increases to see off any potential post-Brexit slowdown. “Infrastructure spending” is the call of the day, with masses of supposed “shovel-ready projects” with high returns apparently lying around for the government to undertake. Unfortunately, in the [...]
Post Brexit vote, your business still needs to be prepared for the EU General Data Protection Regulation July 11, 2016 High-profile data breaches are becoming increasingly routine. Media coverage of events like the massive TalkTalk hacking scandal have opened the public’s eyes to the insecurity of their private data in the hands of enterprises, though they aren’t the only ones who have taken notice. Regulators across Europe have taken it upon themselves to ensure these [...]
Here’s how UK fintech’s rallying action in a post-Brexit no-man’s land July 10, 2016 London's fintech industry is rallying to action after the vote for Brexit in a bid to alleviate the fears of startups, along with their investors and supporters, over issues such as capital, market access and talent. The industry is already formulating a plan in the face of overwhelming uncertainty and a lack of clarification from political leaders on [...]
Union urges Tata to end “rollercoaster of uncertainty” as it halts UK sale July 9, 2016 Unite is pressing Tata Steel to give cast iron guarantee to end the "rollercoaster of uncertainty" for British Steel workers following the group's decision to halt the sale of its UK assets. Tata said late last night that it had paused the sale of its biggest UK assets as it entered talks over a joint venture with German [...]