Financial news

• UK financial authority has its eye on manager cost transparency efforts - Pensions & Investments

  09-03-2017 20:58
  Pensions & Investments
  UK financial authority has its eye on manager cost transparency efforts
  Pensions & Investments
  The U.K.'s financial regulator is prepared to intervene in the money management industry should industry-led attempts to deliver greater cost transparency not measure up. The Financial Conduct Authority published in November its interim report on its ...
  
  Read more

• This was an out-of-touch budget of broken promises | Letters

  09-03-2017 20:42
  
  As chief executive of a national charity that supports adults with learning disabilities, I am bitterly disappointed with the supposed solutions proposed by Philip Hammond to address the funding crisis in the social care sector (Hammond gives extra £2bn to tackle social care crisis in England, 9 March).The £2bn cash injection over three years is a far cry from the £4.5bn figure recommended by the health select committee. By the chancellor’s own admission, this funding is
  
  Read more

• Philip Hammond has done little for tenants | Letters

  09-03-2017 20:42
  
  The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) is joining forces with the homelessness charity Crisis to ask the government for measures to support vulnerable tenants in the private rented sector (Benefit cuts ‘are forcing poor out of rental market’, 9 March). Rents are predicted to rise by more than 20% over the next five years and the access to rented properties for homeless people will fall as the government cuts support for housing costs. The budget included an announcement
  
  Read more

• The UK economy breaks more records – for all the wrong reasons

  09-03-2017 19:40 via theguardian.com
  
  Forget national insurance rates. The IFS and Resolution Foundation focus on the real story: 15 years without a pay rise, a decade of lost growthFifteen years without a pay rise. The most protracted squeeze on real wages since Nelson’s victory over Napoleon’s fleet in the Battle of Trafalgar. A lost decade for productivity growth. The gist of the post-budget analysis from two of Britain’s leading thinktanks was simple: the economy continues to break records – mostly for th
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• EU Lawmakers Seek More Oversight Of UK Financial Services - Law360 (subscription)

  09-03-2017 19:35
  
  EU Lawmakers Seek More Oversight Of UK Financial Services
  Law360 (subscription)
  Law360, London (March 9, 2017, 6:24 PM GMT) -- European Union lawmakers on Thursday said tougher oversight of U.K. supervision will be required if U.K.-based financial institutions and clearinghouses are to be granted regulatory equivalence to access ...en meer »
  
  Read more

• Poor financial performance key driver for investor support for UK activist ... - IR Magazine

  09-03-2017 18:57
  Poor financial performance key driver for investor support for UK activist ...
  IR Magazine
  Poor financial performance is the key driver for traditional investor support for UK activist campaigns, finds the Institutional Investor Survey 2017 on corporate governance trends, produced by Morrow Sodali, the global consultancy firm. The survey ...
  
  Read more

• No pay rise for 15 years, IFS warns UK workers

  09-03-2017 18:41
  
  Thinktank’s post-budget analysis says average wages will be no higher in 2022 than in 2007 with weak pay growth exacerbated by looming welfare cutsWorkers in Britain are on course to suffer an unprecedented 15 years of lost earnings growth and have been warned to prepare for a third successive parliament of austerity by a leading thinktank.Analysing Philip Hammond’s spring budget, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said that after suffering a lost decade of earnings growth, house
  
  Read more

• Savers urged to use THIS simple trick to beat dividend tax changes

  09-03-2017 17:32 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  PEOPLE relying on dividend income have been urged to take steps to protect themselves, after Philip Hammond announce the tax-free allowance would be axed from £5,000 to £2,000 from April 2018.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Mexican government accused of torture at disabled care home

  09-03-2017 17:23 via theguardian.com
  
  In a landmark legal case against the government, an NGO is fighting for disabled people’s right to live in their communities, rather than institutions
  For decades, disabled children and adults living in institutions worldwide have suffered abuse of all kinds – from deprivation and solitary confinement in miniature cells, to sexual abuse and forced sterilisation.Now a charity which has documented this abuse for more than 20 years is bringing a landmark legal case against the Mexican g
  
  Read more

• 'The Euro is IRREVOCABLE’ Euro Bank chief fires warning at Le Pen over Frexit vote promise

  09-03-2017 17:13 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  THE head of the European Central Bank declared the euro is "irrevocable" and "here to stay" in a tactical intervention ahead of the French election, amid fears the vote outcome could derail the union.
  
  Read more

• The shameless Tories have betrayed the self-employed – and themselves | John Harris

  09-03-2017 16:08
  
  It’s a cynical Conservative trick: the budget exposed a party happy to help the big company bosses while penalising the little peopleSuperficially it looks like the rightwing press falling into yet another fit of specious morality. The morning after the budget, newspaper pages brimmed with testimony from sole traders and small-business owners, as if Philip Hammond’s budget pushed them to the brink of destitution. By contrast, there have been no tears for young people about to be deni
  
  Read more

• Domino's feels the heat as Pizza Hut takes a slice out of sales

  09-03-2017 16:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Company blames ‘very aggressive’ rival and rising prices for slowdownDomino’s Pizza suffered a sharp slowdown in sales growth in early 2017 as rival Pizza Hut cut prices and consumers reined in spending. David Wild, the Domino’s chief executive, said Pizza Hut was “very aggressive” in January and that consumers were more cautious about spending. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• UK workers record lowest rate of sick days since records began

  09-03-2017 15:48
  
  Britons were absent for an average of 4.3 days last year, with coughs and colds the most common cause followed by back pain, ONS figures showBritish workers have reported the lowest level of sickness absence since records began almost a quarter of a century ago, according to official figures for last year.About 137m working days were lost from illness and injury in 2016, said the Office for National Statistics, equivalent to 4.3 days per worker, the lowest rate since 1993, when it was 7.2 days.C
  
  Read more

• What the 2017 budget means for you, plus rents 'out of step' with incomes

  09-03-2017 15:47
  
  Also, just one in 50 Pret a Manger job applicants are British, will your diesel car be worthless in five years and castles for saleHello and welcome to this week’s Money Talks – a roundup of the week’s biggest stories and some things you may have missed. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Warnings over children's health as recycled e-waste comes back as plastic toys

  09-03-2017 13:08 via theguardian.com
  
  A trend towards using plastic parts in electrical and electronic goods is causing a headache for the recycling industryFlame retardants used in plastics in a wide range of electronic products is putting the health of children exposed to them at risk, according to a new report (pdf). Brominated flame-retarding chemicals have been associated with lower mental, psychomotor and IQ development, poorer attention spans and decreases in memory and processing speed, according to the peer-reviewed study b
  
  Read more

• STOCK MARKET WARNING: Oil price slump signals DOOM for markets

  09-03-2017 12:48 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  A DRAMATIC fall in oil prices has sent waves of fear through markets amid warning signals a large stock crash is looming.
  
  Read more

• I'm 82 and MPs need to hear my views on this devastating housing benefit cap

  09-03-2017 11:46
  
  If this cap goes ahead, my wife and I face a shortfall of £609 a year. I don’t know how we’d cope if we have to leave our sheltered home On Tuesday I went to parliament to provide evidence against the government’s proposed plans – something, at my age, I never thought I’d say. The government wants to introduce housing benefit caps for those living in supported accommodation, including sheltered housing. But it hasn’t considered how this will affect those
  
  Read more

• What are the UK's highest paid apprenticeships of 2017?

  09-03-2017 10:42
  
  Here are five of the best paid apprenticeships in the country, with tips on how to applyIt is a long-held misconception that the only route into a professional, well-paid career is with a university degree. The popular view among parents and young people is that apprenticeships are a way into manual jobs with little formal progression.However, there are many wide and varied career paths that a school leaver without a degree can choose to follow. Here are five of the highest paid apprenticeship o
  
  Read more

• John Lewis slashes staff bonus to 6% – the lowest in 63 years

  09-03-2017 10:28
  
  Retailer cuts payouts for fourth year in a row despite profits rising by a thirdJohn Lewis has slashed its staff bonus to just 6% of salary, the lowest level since the 1950s, despite a 21% rise in pre-tax profits.
  The group, which includes department stores and the Waitrose supermarket chain, said the bonus was the equivalent of three weeks’ pay and had been cut to retain profits and strengthen its balance sheet.Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Few will spot the difference in national insurance – at first | Patrick Collinson

  09-03-2017 09:01
  
  There is a lot of jiggery pokery going on with NI from 2018-19, but it’s in year two that the figures start to look painfulIs the tax rise for the self-employed a harsh new burden on gig economy workers? A hit on the “strivers” setting up businesses crucial for the economy? Or is it high time the self-employed paid their proper share of taxes? It’s just possible all could be true.Make no mistake, this is a big change in UK tax policy (and a major manifesto U-turn). In cas
  
  Read more

• Southwold: welcome to the town where business rates are set to rise 177%

  09-03-2017 09:00
  
  The seaside town is to be the place worst hit by the government’s proposed business rate hike, but the locals aren’t taking it lying downWhen shop owners in the seaside town of Southwold warn of the “tragic” and “catastrophic” consequences of steep increases in business rates, it is tempting to assume that their campaigning zeal might be nudging them towards hyperbole. But fuelling this powerful, coordinated local protest is a real, widely-shared fear that a p
  
  Read more

• DPD and Parcelforce face MPs' questions over working conditions

  09-03-2017 08:17 via theguardian.com
  
  Courier companies must provide details of contracts with ‘owner-driver’ workers who are not directly employed by the firmsParcel delivery firms DPD and Parcelforce Worldwide could be called before a parliamentary committee to answer questions about the working conditions faced by their self-employed couriers.Frank Field, the Labour MP who chairs the work and pensions select committee, has written to the bosses of both companies asking them to contribute to an ongoing inquiry into the
  
  Read more

• Whirlpool left my elderly in-laws afraid to use their dryer for 14 months

  09-03-2017 08:00
  
  After offering a new one for £49.99, it then upped the price to £99.99Over a year ago, Whirlpool informed my parents-in-law that their tumble dryer was a potential fire hazard and required a safety modification. Since then they have been waiting for a technician. They are both in their late 90s and were frightened to use it in the meantime, so this has caused considerable inconvenience.When an appointment was finally made, the technician said the machine needed to be replaced but we
  
  Read more

• Should we hand all our house money to our conveyancer?

  09-03-2017 08:00
  
  We are buying a home for £305,000 in cash and want to know if it would be better to pay directly to the seller’s solicitorQ We are using a conveyancer to do our legal work when we buy a house for £305,000 in cash, but are concerned about the security of the funds for the purchase while they are with the firm before we complete the sale.
  Is there a way we can send the funds directly to the seller’s solicitor to avoid this difficulty? I don’t like to ask the conveyanc
  
  Read more

• Brexit, airlines' worst fear, has become their preoccupation

  09-03-2017 07:29 via theguardian.com
  
  Operators flying in and out of UK are pursuing a legal framework to replace EU-wide agreements currently in placeThere is no shortage of metaphors for what airlines expect from Brexit: analysts talk of crosswinds, executives fear turbulence. For some, it is simply flying into thick fog with no idea where they are going to land.No airline wanted Britain to vote leave in last year’s referendum; easyJet and Ryanair campaigned against it. A single European market in aviation brought cheap flig
  
  Read more

• Cruise holidays: who is leading the fleet for sustainable sea travel?

  09-03-2017 06:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Environmental standards for shipping are so low, cruise companies have a huge opportunity to improve their policiesNot many of the 25 million people enjoying the sea breeze on a cruise ship this year are likely to think about the air pollutants being emitted from the vessel. Mostly running on heavy fuel oil, a medium-sized cruise ship produces around the same volume of air pollutants – including greenhouse gases, sulphur, nitric oxides and particulate matter – as 5m cars going the sa
  
  Read more

• 'Sprint King' David Nicholls quits training due to financial reasons - Racinguk.com - pure racing entertainment

  09-03-2017 01:27
  Racinguk.com - pure racing entertainment
  'Sprint King' David Nicholls quits training due to financial reasons
  Racinguk.com - pure racing entertainment
  David 'Dandy' Nicholls, best known for his training of a raft of top-class sprinters, has announced he has left the training ranks. Nicholls - a former jockey, riding over 400 winners including the flying filly Soba - won the Nunthorpe Stakes, July Cup ...en meer »
  
  Read more

• Rents are 'out of step' with incomes, housing body warns

  09-03-2017 01:01
  
  Rics says vulnerable tenants are being pushed out of the housing market as benefit cuts and rising costs make rents unaffordableVulnerable tenants are being pushed out of the housing market as cuts to benefits and rising costs mean rents are “increasingly out of step” with household incomes, a leading industry body has warned.The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) said those on low incomes faced further difficulties as its members were predicting that rents would rise by
  
  Read more

Follow @financialnwsUK on Twitter!