Financial news

• London housing: conflict and consensus about landlords and rents

  03-03-2016 22:36
  
  A new report on regulating the capital’s growing rental market reveals entrenched political divisions but maybe there is common ground out there Private renting and private rents excite fierce passions in London. It’s not hard to see why: rents are high and rising, too many landlords are amateurs or crooks and loads of tenants would sooner not be in the sector at all. But proposals for more regulation of the private rented sector (PRS) produce strong reactions too: it will hurt the w
  
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• Time for some joined-up thinking about the retirement age | Letters

  03-03-2016 20:40
  
  Before any rash decisions are made on increasing retirement ages (Be ready to work into your 70s, 2 March) I urge people to look at the evidence of the national review of health inequalities by Michael Marmot and his excellent colleagues. In clear, stark slides this shows the evidence of how and why less advantaged people will not be well enough to work even to current retirement ages, let alone longer, without significant shifts in their wellbeing.Couple that with growing internationa
  
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• City of London financial district backs Britain's EU membership

  03-03-2016 20:25
  
  LONDON (Reuters) - The City of London Corporation, which runs the only global financial centre to rival New York, has formally backed Britain's membership of the European Union in a June 23 referendum.
  
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• France tells British voters migrants will flow to Britain after EU exit

  03-03-2016 20:03
  
  AMIENS, France/LONDON (Reuters) - France warned Britain on Thursday it would end border controls and let thousands of migrants move on to its neighbour if British voters backed leaving the European Union.
  
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• It's true, the City will suffer if Britain votes to leave the EU

  03-03-2016 19:23 via telegraph.feedsportal.com
  
  Countries that reject the EU's obligations are denied access to its single market - particularly in banking
  
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• Probe into six insurers could mean COMPENSATION for pension savers

  03-03-2016 18:27 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  BRITONS who have previously held long-term savings products, including endowments and individual pension plans, could be in line for compensation after the regulator today launched an investigation into six insurers.
  
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• Mortgage lenders show UK house prices heading in opposite directions

  03-03-2016 18:24
  
  Nationwide says average property price rose 0.3% in February but Halifax reports 1.4% fallThe latest reports from two of the UK’s biggest mortgage lenders show house prices going in opposite directions in February.
  While Nationwide building society said the average price of a house in the UK rose by 0.3% in February to £196,930, Halifax reported a 1.4% fall over the month, with the average price dropping to £209,495.Continue reading...
  
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• Era of zero, negative interest rates could last for years -Barclays

  03-03-2016 17:33
  
  LONDON (Reuters) - The era of zero or negative interest rates, notably in Japan and the euro zone, could extend for several more years as central banks battle persistently low growth and inflation, strategists at Barclays said on Thursday.
  
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• Johnson guilty plea was a "massive shock" says Allardyce

  03-03-2016 17:12
  
  (Reuters) - Sunderland manager Sam Allardyce has said that Adam Johnson's guilty plea to a child sex charge came as a 'massive shock' to him as he was under the impression the former England winger was pleading not guilty.
  
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• EU would be less stable without UK - Germany's Schaeuble

  03-03-2016 16:37
  
  LONDON (Reuters) - German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble urged Britain on Thursday to stay in the European Union, warning that Europe could become less stable if it leaves and that the bloc could also become less competitive.
  
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• Ex-Scottish nationalist deputy leader backs British EU exit

  03-03-2016 16:21
  
  EDINBURGH (Reuters) - A former deputy leader of Scotland's ruling nationalist party says he is backing a British exit from the European Union, partly because the bloc told Scotland to "get stuffed" during its independence referendum in 2014.
  
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• UK pension warning despite rise in take-up of workplace schemes

  03-03-2016 16:19
  
  More than six in 10 workers paid into pension schemes in 2015, but millions are still unable to access them
  More than six in 10 workers were signed up to workplace pensions in 2015 as automatic enrolment continued to be rolled out in companies.This was the highest number of workers saving for their retirement since 1997, but experts warn that millions of people remain ineligible for the scheme. Continue reading...
  
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• Money Talks: ancient appliances, miniature homes and the latest on house prices

  03-03-2016 15:32
  
  Plus, state pension age under review, and motorists fall victim to number plate fraudSeven years of low interest rates have ‘cost savers up to £160bn’ Continue reading...
  
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• Corbyn attacks New Labour's 'light touch' financial regulation - RT

  03-03-2016 15:28
  RT
  Corbyn attacks New Labour's 'light touch' financial regulation
  RT
  Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has used a speech at the British Chambers of Commerce to try and exorcise the ghosts of Labour's recent past by criticizing the Blair-Brown era approach to financial regulation in the run up to the 2008 crash. Taking a line ...en meer »
  

• 'Extractive' banking sector needs reform - Opposition leader Corbyn

  03-03-2016 14:16
  
  LONDON (Reuters) - The banking sector needs to be reformed to stop it treating businesses and consumers as "cash cows", the leader of Britain's Labour Party said on Thursday, words which may further distance companies from the opposition party.
  
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• Corbyn says "extractive" banking sector needs reform

  03-03-2016 14:15
  
  LONDON (Reuters) - The banking sector needs to be reformed to stop it treating businesses and consumers as "cash cows", the leader of the Labour Party said on Thursday, words which may further distance companies from the party.
  
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• Latest jobs report provides opening for candidates to share economy plans

  03-03-2016 13:00
  
  Many Americans are mad as hell about the economy, and they’re not going to take it any longer – it’s time for Trump, Clinton and Sanders to lay out their plansSuper Tuesday’s primary contests are receding rapidly in the rear-view mirror and November’s presidential contest is starting to take shape. Now maybe – just maybe – the candidates will start taking on real issues and not just each other. Tomorrow morning, the remaining hopefuls will get the chance
  
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• Standard Life fund arm raises governance concerns at VW, Shell

  03-03-2016 12:36
  
  LONDON (Reuters) - The investment arm of British insurer Standard life said on Wednesday it would step up its engagement with management at Volkswagen and Royal Dutch Shell over certain concerns it has regarding corporate governance.
  
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• Schroders defends governance as CEO becomes chairman

  03-03-2016 12:35
  
  LONDON (Reuters) - Money manager Schroders was forced to defend its corporate governance after announcing Chief Executive Michael Dobson would become chairman having led the company since 2001.
  
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• No "big short" yet for hedge funds on Brexit

  03-03-2016 12:35
  
  LONDON (Reuters) - Hedge funds, whose speculating contributed to the pound's devaluation in 1992, have yet to make major bets on Britain leaving the European Union because few expect it to happen and most doubt a big payout from market moves around the June vote.
  
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• FCA targets six life insurers over fees

  03-03-2016 11:53
  
  LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's financial watchdog is investigating six insurance firms including Prudential and Old Mutual over their treatment of long-time life insurance customers.
  
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• Major British seafood brands linked to fishing in fragile Arctic area

  03-03-2016 11:17
  
  Greenpeace finds suppliers of cod to Birds Eye, Findus and Young’s are using controversial bottom trawlers in the northern Barents SeaMajor British food brands and supermarkets buying cod from Arctic waters risk having their supply chain “tainted” because of links with fishing further north in the Arctic, Greenpeace has warned.
  An investigation by the group has revealed that suppliers of cod to Birds Eye, Findus and Young’s are using controversial giant bottom trawlers in
  
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• FCA says won't let pension freedoms become next mis-selling scandal

  03-03-2016 11:12
  
  LONDON (Reuters) - New rules allowing people to cash in their pension pots must not give rise to the next mis-selling scandal after banks have paid out billions of pounds on loan insurance compensation, Britain's financial watchdog said on Wednesday.
  
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• Europe's insurers, pension funds turn to risky property in hunt for yield

  03-03-2016 11:11
  
  FRANKFURT/LONDON (Reuters) - Traditionally conservative European insurers and pension funds are turning increasingly to risky property bets on everything from new homes in provincial Britain to car parks at Brussels airport, as they feel the pinch from rock-bottom interest rates.
  
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• Six firms investigated over pension exit and transfer charges

  03-03-2016 10:40
  
  FCA criticises some life insurers, with Prudential and Old Mutual among the companies under scrutinyBritain’s financial watchdog has strongly criticised the way some life insurance firms have treated longstanding customers with pensions and other savings products and is carrying out a further investigation into six companies.The investigationsforms part of a wider review conducted by the Financial Conduct Authority into whether insurers have treated customers locked into pension and other
  
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• Watchdog bans Libor-rigging trader from financial sector - Belfast Telegraph

  03-03-2016 10:34
  Belfast Telegraph
  Watchdog bans Libor-rigging trader from financial sector
  Belfast Telegraph
  A former Deutsche Bank trader who pleaded guilty to conspiring to manipulate the Libor rate has been banned from the UK financial services industry. Michael Ross Curtler was convicted for Libor-related fraud in the US for receiving requests from ...
  UK's Financial Conduct Authority Bans Former Deutsche Bank Trader, Michael ...Exchange News Directalle 49 nieuwsartikelen »
  

• Average house price creeps up to £196,930, says Nationwide

  03-03-2016 09:27
  
  Much of recent mortgage activity is thought to have been driven by new stamp duty surcharge on second homes The average price of a house in the UK rose by 0.3% in February to £196,930, according to the country’s biggest building society.Despite signs of strong activity in the mortgage market at the start of the year, Nationwide’s figures, which are based on loans it approved during the month, show prices remained steady.Continue reading...
  
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• China slowdown deepens as service sector stumbles - business live

  03-03-2016 09:23
  
  All the day’s economic and financial news, as fresh data shows how the global economy fared in FebruaryChinese economy ‘weak and unstable’ 8.23am GMTChina’s vice central bank governor has pledged to maintain a prudent approach to monetary policy this year, rather than shocking the markets with another yuan devaluation.Reuters has the details:Yi Gang said the central bank would keep the yuan basically stable against a basket of currencies this year.#China to keep Yuan stab
  
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• UK house price growth accelerates in February, Nationwide says

  03-03-2016 08:28
  
  LONDON (Reuters) - British house price growth picked up speed in annual terms last month as investors sought out buy-to-let properties before the introduction of a new tax, mortgage lender Nationwide said on Thursday.
  
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• Passion spent, Scots yet to be fired up by Britain's EU vote

  03-03-2016 08:08
  
  STIRLING, Scotland (Reuters) - If Prime Minister David Cameron is to win a June 23 referendum on membership of the European Union, he will need the passion of the Scots, who turned out in droves two years ago to decide the fate of the United Kingdom. But this time around, they just aren't that fired up.
  
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• We should be striving to work less, not toiling until we drop | Owen Jones

  03-03-2016 08:00
  
  Progress wasn’t supposed to mean chasing an ever-receding prospect of retirement. It’s time to challenge this bleak vision
  Work already consumes too much of our lives: for the next generation, it could consume even more. The state pension age will be bumped up to 66 by 2020; and according to experts reacting to the government’s review of the state retirement age, those lucky young things now joining the world of employment could be waiting into their 70s for a state pension. An
  
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• Is it a multiple tenancy if I rent my house to three people under one contract?

  03-03-2016 08:00
  
  I need to let out my property rather than sell to avoid early repayment charges on my mortgage, but am only allowed a standard let, not multiple occupancyQ I am a young professional earning £40,000 a year. Two years ago I bought my first home for £167,000 and put down a 10% deposit. I spent probably more than thought I would because I was adamant that I wanted a house in one of the better areas of Birmingham. My mortgage is a five-year fixed-rate deal, which costs £870 a month.
  
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• How has my fixed-rate Co-op energy bill spiralled to £2,000?

  03-03-2016 08:00
  
  My contract was fixed at £111.38 per month, but when I tried to move suppliers they hit me with a whopping billI signed up to Co-operative Energy in June 2012 and was led to believe that I was agreeing to a fixed-price contract for dual fuel, currently standing at £111.38 per month. Recently, I tried to transfer to First Utility, but this was blocked by Co-operative who claim I owe £1996.25. This is like a restaurant advertising an all-you-can-eat buffet for £5 and then p
  
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• Brexit would restrict financial services sector – UK Govt - Gibraltar Chronicle

  03-03-2016 07:15
  Gibraltar Chronicle
  Brexit would restrict financial services sector – UK Govt
  Gibraltar Chronicle
  The absence of 'passporting' would present challenges for the financial services sector in the event of a UK withdrawal from the EU, according to a new report published by the British Government yesterday. The finding, part of a much wider document, ...en meer »
  

• Anti-insect paint and electric planes: can technology make aviation sustainable?

  03-03-2016 06:00
  
  From Nasa’s experimental X-planes to Google’s airship, there’s plenty of innovation but the emissions-intensive industry has a long way to go Insects may not seem the most obvious problem to tackle when trying to make aviation more sustainable. But avoiding them on takeoff could help cut airlines’ fuel bills and emissions by up to 10%.It’s already an idea that NASA has explored. Last year it tested hi-tech coatings to make dead insects slide off wings, with one desi
  
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• Nathan Tinkler bankrupt as private jet brings coal baron down to earth

  03-03-2016 05:02
  
  A failure to come up with $2.25m owed on a Dassault Falcon jet was the final straw for the electrician turned billionaireNathan Tinkler, who rode the mining boom to become Australia’s youngest billionaire before losing it all when coal prices collapsed, has been declared legally bankrupt after failing to pay off a private jet.Related: The Newcastles: two clubs on different sides of the globe but united by strife | Janek SpeightContinue reading...
  
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• British government must restore energy sector confidence – MPs

  03-03-2016 01:08
  
  LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's government must set out its policies beyond 2020 to restore confidence in the country's energy sector if it is to secure the billions of pounds of investment needed to keep the lights on while meeting climate targets, MPs said on Thursday.
  
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• Energy policy U-turns 'may cost households £120 a year'

  03-03-2016 01:01
  
  Power bills may be higher due to changes to wind farm funding and energy efficiency schemes, MPs warnChanges in government energy policy since the last election have chased off investors and may have added £120 a year to household bills, according to a parliamentary report.Thursday’s report, from the energy and climate change committee, argues future domestic and business power bills may be higher than necessary as a result of changes including U-turns on funding onshore windfarms an
  
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• VW CEO was told about emissions crisis a year before admitting to cheat scandal

  03-03-2016 00:10
  
  Then-CEO Martin Winterkorn was sent memo detailing emissions figuresVolkswagen installed illegal ‘defeat device’ in US cars to trick regulators
  Volkswagen’s chief executive was told about the company’s illegal emissions crisis more than a year before it admitted it was systematically cheating on US regulators tests. The German company admitted on Wednesday that its former CEO Martin Winterkorn was, in May 2014, sent a memo detailing how some VW cars were producing up to 3
  
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• Tasmanian power crisis reveals urgent need for more renewable energy

  03-03-2016 00:04
  
  With Tasmania’s hydropower plants idle due to low rainfall, and a faulty cable connecting the state to the mainland grid, it’s clear a better long-term solution is needed The timing couldn’t have been any worse. On 20 December 2015, the undersea cable connecting Tasmania with mainland Australia malfunctioned, leaving the island state’s energy infrastructure stranded without help – just when it was needed most.
  The bulk of Tasmania’s internal energy capacity co
  
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