Financial news

• Apple posts record revenue thanks to holiday sales of iPhone 7

  31-01-2017 23:10 via theguardian.com
  
  Revenue up 3% to $78.4m ending three quarters of declineSales of iPhones slip 12% in China, Hong Kong and TaiwanHoliday sales of Apple’s iPhone 7 helped the tech company end three consecutive quarters of decline and deliver record revenue, the company announced on Tuesday.Apple has struggled as iPhone sales have slipped in the face of fierce competition. The iPhone accounts for two-thirds of Apple’s sales and Apple said sales of the new model helped lift total iPhone shipments 5% to
  
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• Criminal inquiry begins after battery is found in Co-op chocolate bunny

  31-01-2017 21:06 via theguardian.com
  
  Investigation into suspected tampering comes as retailer withdraws £1 item and asks for those already sold to be returnedA criminal investigation has been launched into suspected product tampering after the discovery of a battery inside a hollow milk chocolate Easter bunny sold at the Co-op. The retailer has withdrawn the bunnies, which retail for £1 each, from sale in all 2,800 Co-op stores and has asked customers who bought any of the 3,000 already sold to return them. The German-m
  
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• Banks’ duty to provide free ATMs and keep branches open | Letters

  31-01-2017 20:55 via theguardian.com
  
  I note the current negotiations over the future of the ATM network (Fees row may lead to charge for Link cash machine withdrawals, 19 January). In 2005, I led a Treasury committee inquiry into cash machine charges which found hundreds of local areas where consumers were being hit with high charges. In Speke, a low-income area in Liverpool, consumers faced charges of £1.50 for making cash withdrawals. I established a working group including banks, consumer groups and ATM operators. The bank
  
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• Deutsche Bank fined $630m over Russia money laundering claims

  31-01-2017 20:36 via theguardian.com
  
  Authorities in US and UK issue fine after saying bank used offices in Moscow and London to move $10bn out of country Deutsche Bank has been fined more than $630m (£506m) for failing to prevent $10bn of Russian money laundering and exposing the UK financial system to the risk of financial crime.The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority imposed its largest ever fine – £163m – for potential money laundering offences on Germany’s biggest bank, which it said had missed
  
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• Deutsche Bank's $630m Russian fine reflects badly on banking | Nils Pratley

  31-01-2017 20:35 via theguardian.com
  
  The public must hope the weak controls at the bank, which risked financial crime, are not typical of the industryBig international banks provide the frontline troops in the battle against financial crime, or so their bosses like to say. In the post-crisis era, battalions of compliance officers have been recruited and trained. The costs are enormous and still increasing, say the banks, but financial regulators have got what they demanded. All banks must know their clients, including where and how
  
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• Brexit affords UK chance to rewrite archaic EU financial laws | TheHill - The Hill (blog)

  31-01-2017 20:20
  
  The Hill (blog)
  Brexit affords UK chance to rewrite archaic EU financial laws | TheHill
  The Hill (blog)
  Brexit will bring London, one of the world's top two financial centers, the opportunity to change how it does business. A regulatory re-fit can follow to remove ...en meer »
  
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• Brexit affords UK chance to rewrite archaic EU financial laws - The Hill (blog)

  31-01-2017 20:20
  
  The Hill (blog)
  Brexit affords UK chance to rewrite archaic EU financial laws
  The Hill (blog)
  Brexit will bring London, one of the world's top two financial centers, the opportunity to change how it does business. A regulatory re-fit can follow to remove unnecessary EU-driven red tape. Too many of the EU's regulatory initiatives after the ...en meer »
  
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• VW risks new pay row as compliance chief lands €10m payoff

  31-01-2017 19:38 via theguardian.com
  
  Christine Hohmann-Dennhardt, brought in after diesel emissions scandal, departs after 13 months’ workThe former judge brought in to shake up Volkswagen’s compliance and culture after it was struck by a diesel emissions scandal is to receive a payoff of more than €10m (£8.6m), despite working for the German carmaker for just 13 months.Christine Hohmann-Dennhardt left VW on Tuesday after joining the board of the company on 1 January 2016 as head of compliance and legal affai
  
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• Trump’s trade advis​​er says Germany uses euro to 'exploit' US and EU

  31-01-2017 19:16 via theguardian.com
  
  Peter Navarro, head of new National Trade Council, claims currency is ‘grossly undervalued’, sending it to eight-week high Donald Trump’s top trade adviser has hit out at Germany and accused the country of gaining an unfair trade advantage from the “grossly undervalued” euro.In a sign that the Trump administration is targeting currencies in its approach to trade deals, Peter Navarro, the head of the US president’s new National Trade Council, told the Financial
  
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• Eurozone growth rises to 0.5%; Trump adviser claims euro 'grossly undervalued'- as it happened

  31-01-2017 19:06 via theguardian.com
  
  All the day’s economic and financial news, including new growth and unemployment data from the eurozoneTrump adviser blasts Germany over cheap euroMerkel: Don’t blame usEarlier:Eurozone growth and inflation both jumpEurozone unemployment rate falls to 9.6%
  Inflation soars in Spain, and France
  Markets nervous over Trump 6.06pm GMTTime for a recap.The new US administration has opened up a new front against Europe, accusing Germany of unfairly profiting from the “grossly undervalu
  
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• Unions blame 70% fall in employment tribunal cases on fees

  31-01-2017 19:03
  
  Workers’ groups say slump revealed in review has mostly affected low-paid women and call for charges to be scrappedThe number of cases taken to employment tribunals has fallen by 70% since fees were introduced, a government review has found.Unions called for the fees of up to £950 to be scrapped, saying the slump in claims mostly affected low-paid women. Continue reading...
  
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• Energy companies have 'abusive relationship' with customers, says MP

  31-01-2017 17:21 via theguardian.com
  
  Public is reluctant to switch suppliers despite poor customer service and cheaper tariffs, claims select committee chairUK consumers are in an “abusive relationship” with the big six energy providers, according to the MP who chairs the Commons business select committee.Iain Wright, the Labour MP who heads the business, energy and industrial strategy select committee, questioned why the public was reluctant to switch suppliers despite poor customer service and the availability of chea
  
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• Guarantee minimum wage for gig economy workers, says Frank Field

  31-01-2017 16:59 via theguardian.com
  
  Labour MP wants government to set up national standards to cover self-employed at companies such as Uber and HermesTheresa May should guarantee the minimum wage for self-employed workers for companies such as Uber and Hermes and prevent them from losing work with no notice, the Labour MP Frank Field has said. The chairman of the Commons work and pensions select committee told a Downing Street review of modern working practices that all workers should benefit from a new “national standard o
  
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• Why the EU must be generous to the UK over Brexit | Hans-Werner Sinn

  31-01-2017 16:37 via theguardian.com
  
  Europe will suffer if it punishes leavers and restricts free trade. It must transform itself so all states gain from membership
  Theresa May has confirmed it; the UK will, without a doubt, leave the EU and negotiate new trade agreements. The question is what kind of agreement the EU will accept.Britain, May has made clear, doesn’t want an arrangement like that of Switzerland or Norway, because that would require it to cede some control over its immigration policy. Submitting to the jurisdic
  
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• Minister's social care ideas ignore the million childless over-65s | Kirsty Woodard

  31-01-2017 16:37
  
  The idea that older people may not have family members who are able to help, or may have no family at all, seems not to have occurred to the governmentThis year, for the first time, more older people need care and support than there is family to provide it. In the UK, there are already 1 million people aged over 65 who do not have adult children. This figure will double by 2030, as one in five people over the age of 50 do not have children.The 1 million people over-65s are only those who have ne
  
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• Hand delivered: will Ocado's robot soon be picking your shopping?

  31-01-2017 14:49 via theguardian.com
  
  Online retailer trials arm that can select fruit and vegetables without damaging them – but says it will still need humansOcado is testing a robot hand that can pick and pack fruit and vegetables in a move that could reduce its reliance on thousands of warehouse workers.
  The online grocery retailer is developing the machines in partnership with academic institutions in Germany, Italy and Austria as well as Disney Research – a Zurich-based lab that is part of the US entertainment grou
  
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• Shell sells more than half of its North Sea oil and gas fields for $3.8bn

  31-01-2017 14:10 via theguardian.com
  
  Oil giant continues to reduce debt as it offloads assets to Chrysaor, led by its former group head Linda CookShell has sold a large part of its North Sea oil fields for $3.8bn (£3bn) to a company headed by Linda Cook, who left the Anglo-Dutch group more than seven years ago after missing out on the top job.American-born Cook, nicknamed the first lady of oil and gas by the City, had been at Shell for 29 years and was latterly in charge of the group’s gas and renewables businesses. She
  
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• Secret aid worker: development in Palestine is hostage to politics

  31-01-2017 13:31 via theguardian.com
  
  Is development work futile in the West Bank? Should aid workers instead focus entirely on lobbying politicians at home to pressure Israel to end the occupation?Like many young development fanatics, making a difference on the ground in an exciting foreign country was what drove me into this career, so naturally I couldn’t believe my luck when I landed a job with a big development organisation in Palestine almost straight out of university. It felt like my opportunity to contribute to overco
  
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• Britain has enough land to solve the housing crisis – it's just being hoarded

  31-01-2017 13:00
  
  Developers are sitting on land without building anything, then selling it on for profit – a vicious cycle that can make it impossible to create affordable homes. What can be done to stop this speculative feeding frenzy?“Buy land,” said Mark Twain. “They’re not making it any more.”“Then once you’ve bought it, sit on it for a while, apply for planning permission, and sell it on for 10 times the price!” retort the land traders. Continue reading.
  
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• Sony takes $1bn writedown on film division

  31-01-2017 12:24 via theguardian.com
  
  The studio’s loss is ‘a result of revising the profitability projection for the pictures segment’Sony Pictures, the studio whose recent releases include T2 Trainspotting, Sausage Party and Passengers, has announced a dramatic revision of future profit in its film division. On Monday, a note from CEO Kazuo Hirai and Sony Entertainment CEO Michael Lynton read: Continue reading...
  
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• Over 276000 UK businesses ended 2016 in significant financial distress: Research - CNBC

  31-01-2017 12:10
  
  CNBC
  Over 276000 UK businesses ended 2016 in significant financial distress: Research
  CNBC
  More than 276,000 businesses in the U.K. finished 2016 in "significant" financial distress, with 91 percent of those classified as small to medium sized businesses (SMEs), according to new research. Independent business recovery practice Begbies ...en meer »
  
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• 276,000 UK businesses ended 2016 in significant financial distress - CNBC

  31-01-2017 12:10
  
  CNBC
  276,000 UK businesses ended 2016 in significant financial distress
  CNBC
  More than 276000 businesses in the U.K. finished 2016 in "significant" financial distress, according to new research.en meer »
  
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• Integro Appoints Abraham and Gregory to UK Financial Institutions Group - Insurance Journal

  31-01-2017 10:02
  
  Integro Appoints Abraham and Gregory to UK Financial Institutions Group
  Insurance Journal
  International broker and risk management firm Integro Insurance Brokers announced the hiring of industry veterans Simon Abraham and Darren Gregory, who join the firm's growing Financial Institutions group in the London office at 100 Leadenhall Street.
  
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• UK's Financial Conduct Authority Fines Deutsche Bank £163 Million For Serious ... - Exchange News Direct

  31-01-2017 08:27
  UK's Financial Conduct Authority Fines Deutsche Bank £163 Million For Serious ...
  Exchange News Direct
  The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has today fined Deutsche Bank AG (Deutsche Bank) £163,076,224 for failing to maintain an adequate anti-money laundering (AML) control framework during the period between 1 January 2012 and 31 December 2015.en meer »
  
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• Nursery schools: ‘What society gives children less chance than their parents?’

  31-01-2017 08:15
  
  Few doubt the value of nursery schools, yet many could close as early as July thanks to government plans for free childcareKate Daenke is sitting in the headteacher’s room at Homerton early years centre in Cambridge, recalling her childhood years at the nursery school. She remembers her headteacher and many hours spent playing in the generous garden that wraps around the building. “I genuinely do have happy memories of being here,” she says. Related: One in 10 nursery schools i
  
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• What really happens when Royal Mail fails to deliver?

  31-01-2017 08:00
  
  All they left me was a card with no contact numberWhen Royal Mail fails to deliver an item, perhaps because they are too big or the person is out and a signature is required, what happens to these items next? I presume they’re destroyed.I ask, because last July I was awaiting delivery of a rare vintage lamp, which never turned up. The sender assured me it was not returned.Continue reading...
  
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• Ex-UBS and Citigroup trader jailed over Libor seeks review of case

  31-01-2017 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Tom Hayes, serving an 11-year sentence, claims he felt under pressure to admit guilt in order to avoid being extradited to US The jailed City trader Tom Hayes is to submit his case to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) in an effort to demonstrate his conviction for rigging the Libor interest rate is “unsafe”.The move, which could be made as soon as Tuesday, comes after the former UBS and Citigroup employee failed in a previous attempt to have his conviction overturned, and w
  
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• Saudi Arabia signals end of tax-free living as oil revenues slump

  31-01-2017 02:51 via theguardian.com
  
  Cabinet approves an IMF-backed value-added tax to be imposed across the Gulf in bid to cut budget deficitTax-free living will soon be a thing of the past for Saudis after its cabinet on Monday approved an IMF-backed value-added tax to be imposed across the Gulf following an oil slump.
  A 5% levy will apply to certain goods following an agreement with the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council in June last year. Continue reading...
  
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