Financial news

• BT fined £42m in high-speed cables installation delay row

  27-03-2017 21:45 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  BT Group has been fined a record £42million and faces a £300million compensation bill over delays installing high-speed cables.
  
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• The Guardian view on house prices: the government lacks the political will to fix the broken market | Editorial

  27-03-2017 20:35
  
  It has taken only tentative steps towards reforming the land market and improving tenants’ rights. Young people without family wealth will pay the priceIf the price of milk had risen in line with average house prices over the past 40 years, consumers would now be shelling out more than £10 for a four-pint carton: a sobering reminder of just how broken Britain’s housing market is. With price increases like these, it is little surprise the number of first-time buyers relying on f
  
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• Is being fined 1% of its profits just a mild irritation for BT? It looks like it | Stefan Stern

  27-03-2017 19:04 via theguardian.com
  
  Watchdogs’ failure to punish businesses effectively has created moral confusion among some executives. But surely, regulation is the government’s jobIs £42m a lot of money? To you and me, yes. And also to Ofcom, the telecoms regulator. The fine it has just imposed on BT is by far the largest in its history. But if you made £3.5bn in pre-tax profits in the last financial year, is it really such a large amount? It is just over 1% of those profits – a small price to pa
  
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• Major European banks routed more than £20billion through tax havens, says damning report

  27-03-2017 18:42 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  MAJOR European banks routed £21.6billion through tax havens in 2015, according to a report by Oxfam International.
  
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• ​Sweet Brexit: what sugar tells us about Britain’s future outside the EU

  27-03-2017 18:26 via theguardian.com
  
  The vote to leave the EU has sparked a clash between sugar-cane importers and farmers producing homegrown sugar beet. Is this bitter skirmish a microcosm of the big battles to come?Keeping Britain’s sweet tooth satisfied is big business. Great dunes of sand-coloured raw cane sugar from the tropics are piled to the rafters at Tate & Lyle’s processing warehouse in east London. The equivalent of eight days’ worth of national sugar consumption occupies a surprisingly large volu
  
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• Survey shows increasing focus on cybersecurity in UK financial services - Out-Law.com

  27-03-2017 15:26
  Herald Scotland
  Survey shows increasing focus on cybersecurity in UK financial services
  Out-Law.com
  The latest CBI/PwC financial services quarterly survey highlighted a number of measures being implemented by firms to tackle cyber crime. The survey, of 98 firms, charted the views of firms during the three months to March 2017. According to the newly ...
  UK financial services firms expand but signal cautionHerald Scotland
  UK Financial Service Sector Sentiment Stabilizes In Q1: CBI/PwCRTT Ne
  
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• UK urged to remain in single market after Brexit - Financial Express

  27-03-2017 15:19
  
  Financial Express
  UK urged to remain in single market after Brexit
  Financial Express
  The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) on Monday urged the UK to remain within the European single market and customs union after its exit from the European Union (EU) in order to safeguard the rights of both British and EU workers. By: IANS ...en meer »
  
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• Global Financial News: U.K. Stocks Hit by Falling Commodity Prices ... - TheStreet.com

  27-03-2017 14:58
  
  TheStreet.com
  Global Financial News: U.K. Stocks Hit by Falling Commodity Prices ...
  TheStreet.com
  European stocks fell sharply in early Monday trading as the U.S. dollar stumbled to a four-month low following President Donald Trump's failure to push through ...en meer »
  
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• Brexit trade boost: Sir James Dyson 'enormously optimistic' for UK business after EU split

  27-03-2017 14:11 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  BILLIONAIRE inventor Sir James Dyson has declared his confidence in British business and said trade is set to thrive after the UK breaks from the European Union .
  
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• MARKET PANIC: FTSE 100 sheds BILLIONS in response to collapse of Trump's healthcare bill

  27-03-2017 12:01 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  FEARS over Donald Trump's presidency has gripped global markets amid signs a huge stock bubble is about to burst and wreak financial chaos.
  
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• £1,200 cost for unfair dismissal claims is challenged in UK's highest court

  27-03-2017 11:40
  
  Unison claims high cost of claims against employers is discriminatory because it prevents low-income workers from obtaining justiceSteep rises in fees for bringing unfair dismissal claims at employment tribunals – which have led to a 70% fall in the number of cases – are to be challenged at the UK’s highest court.The supreme court on Monday will hear a final appeal brought by Unison, which says that costs of up to £1,200 are preventing many mistreated workers – part
  
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• UK banks asked to draw up plans to show they are prepared for Brexit

  27-03-2017 11:26 via theguardian.com
  
  Bank of England says City institutions need to reassure regulators that they are ready for a ‘range of possible outcomes’The Bank of England has asked UK banks, insurers and other financial institutions to draw up comprehensive plans for how they will deal with Britain’s exit from the European Union.Two days before Theresa May’s government plans to trigger article 50 and begin two years of negotiation over the UK’s departure, the Bank said City institutions would ha
  
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• UK nuclear decommissioning debacle costs government £100m

  27-03-2017 11:22 via theguardian.com
  
  Business secretary orders inquiry into flawed tendering process for dismantling old reactors at 12 sites as US firms get paid for out of court settlement
  The government has been forced to pay nearly £100m in a settlement with two US energy companies for mishandling the way it awarded a £6.1bn nuclear decommissioning deal.Ministers have ordered an inquiry headed by the former boss of National Grid to find out why the procurement process was so flawed.Continue reading...
  
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• Shares slide and pound rallies as Trump's healthcare failure rattles markets - business live

  27-03-2017 11:11 via theguardian.com
  
  All the day’s economic and financial news, as Republican failure to overhaul US healthcare system sends the dollar reeling Introduction: Markets hit by Trump’s healthcare debacle
  Shares and dollar down, gold and sterling upInvestors concerned that Republicans couldn’t get their AHCA bill through
  Full story: Trump blames everyone but himself for failure of GOP healthcare legislation 10.11am BSTWall Street is expected to suffer losses when the market opens in four hours time.The
  
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• BOE Cites Brexit Among Financial Stability Risks for U.K. - Bloomberg

  27-03-2017 10:45
  
  Bloomberg
  BOE Cites Brexit Among Financial Stability Risks for U.K.
  Bloomberg
  The Bank of England said Brexit, along with household debt and China's economy, is among the main risks to U.K. financial stability, though it's no longer the top threat. In an assessment that comes two days before Prime Minister Theresa May triggers ...
  UK banks face tougher financial testsMoneywise Magazine
  UK banks face tougher stress testingFinancial News (subscription)
  BoE: Brexit, Household Indebtedness Main Ris
  
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• Chinese firm MTR to help operate UK's South West trains franchise

  27-03-2017 09:52 via theguardian.com
  
  Union says Hong Kong metro operator will ‘make a killing at taxpayers’ expense’ after surprise announcement by UK governmentThe UK government has handed a Chinese state transport and property company a seven-year deal to run one of the Britain’s biggest rail franchises in a controversial deal that brings together train and track operations.MTR, which operates the Hong Kong metro, will run South West Trains (SWT) with FirstGroup from August, on a promise of delivering fast
  
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• All systems are no go when it comes to getting my Allsave childcare vouchers

  27-03-2017 09:00 via theguardian.com
  
  After it was taken over by Sodexo it seems there have been IT problemsI am a parent still waiting for my Allsave childcare vouchers from February to be credited to my account. I understand there have been various IT systems issues since they were taken over by Sodexo at the end of last year. I am owed £243 in vouchers. Ten or so of my colleagues are all also affected, and from the sounds of it many other parents, too.Continue reading...
  
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• Meet the entrepreneurs shaking up the art world

  27-03-2017 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  SMEs are taking advantage of a flourishing online art market and opening up the industry to a new generation of collectors
  Another year, another record-breaking art auction. Just this month, Klimt’s Bauerngarten sold for £48m, making it the third most expensive painting ever to be sold in Europe. In 2016, a Picasso sold for £43.2m, the highest price ever paid for a Cubist work, and in 2015, Gerhart Richter’s Abstraktes Bild sold for £30.4m, a record for a living art
  
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• I have won my dream job and discovered I'm pregnant again – what should I do?

  27-03-2017 08:00
  
  I was unaware of my pregnancy at the time of interview. Should I quit and look for a more family-friendly career?Twice a week we publish problems that will feature in a forthcoming Dear Jeremy advice column in the Saturday Guardian so that readers can offer their own advice and suggestions. We then print the best of your comments alongside Jeremy’s own insights.I’m in a dilemma. I work for a reputable NHS organisation and was interviewed for my dream job in December. Out of sheer luc
  
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• Aircraft orders increase tenfold in a year in boost for UK manufacturing

  27-03-2017 07:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Aerospace industry delivered 100 aircraft in February, worth £2bn to UK, with orders up to 43, but uncertainty rises over Brexit The global aerospace industry enjoyed a surge in aircraft orders in February, putting it on track for another record year of deliveries and boosting the UK economy.The number of commercial aircraft ordered by airlines jumped to 43 last month from just four in February 2016, according to ADS, the industry trade association. Continue reading...
  
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• UK manufacturers tell May no EU deal is 'simply unacceptable'

  27-03-2017 07:01 via theguardian.com
  
  EEF warns the government it needs to work with the industry to mitigate Brexit’s implications amid shifting public sentiment about its impact on the economy Failing to secure a Brexit trading deal with the EU would be disastrous for Britain’s manufacturers and Theresa May’s claim that no deal would be better than a bad deal is “simply unacceptable”, industry leaders have warned.
  As the prime minister prepares to trigger article 50 on Wednesday, the EEF, the trade bo
  
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• ONS looks to big data as it explores new ways to measure UK economy

  27-03-2017 07:01 via theguardian.com
  
  Office for National Statistics to harvest data from traffic sensors, mobile phones and satellite images at new campus in WalesThe UK’s official statistics office is looking into using traffic sensors, mobile photo data and satellite images as new ways of measuring the shape of the economy.The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is opening a new data science campus at its headquarters in Newport, south Wales, on Monday as part of a £17m investment in the way the UK collects and prese
  
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• Dyson plays down hard Brexit concerns as company posts £2.5bn record sales

  27-03-2017 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  WTO tariffs not a barrier to financial success or trading with Europe, says billionaire founderSir James Dyson, the billionaire investor, has played down concerns that a “hard Brexit” could harm the UK economy by claiming that World Trade Organisation tariffs have not prevented his technology company from achieving record financial results. Dyson said that WTO tariffs – which range from 5% to 10% – had “not held us back at all” and were a “tiny penalty t
  
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• Women make up less than a quarter of UK boardrooms

  27-03-2017 06:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The number of female boards members is on the rise but still a long way from achieving equality with menDespite the fears of Tesco chair John Allan that men are becoming an “endangered species” in boardrooms, the majority of UK company directors are still male and pale.
  And while women’s presence in the boardroom has grown over the past four years, according to our research at the Directory of Social Change, their positions tend to be non-executive and it’s still a rare c
  
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• BT fined £42m over delays to high-speed cable installation

  27-03-2017 05:54 via theguardian.com
  
  The telecoms company failed to compensate rivals when equipment critical to broadband was not provided in time BT has been fined £42m by the telecoms watchdog and is expected to pay out £300m in compensation to rivals over delayed high-speed cable installations.
  Ofcom said BT Openreach, the telecom company’s infrastructure arm, committed a “serious breach” of its rules for reducing payments to other providers between January 2013 and December 2014. Continue reading.
  
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• Payday loan industry using former Labor shadow minister as lobbyist

  27-03-2017 05:41 via theguardian.com
  
  Bernie Ripoll helping National Credit Providers Association argue against stronger protections for borrowers
  The payday loan industry is using Labor’s former shadow financial services minister to lobby against stronger protections for vulnerable and low-income borrowers.Consumer advocates have put pressure on the government to act on a promise to tighten regulation of the controversial sector, following repeated accusations that unscrupulous lenders are giving high-fee loans to borrowers w
  
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• Third of Australian youth have no job or are underemployed, report finds

  27-03-2017 04:33 via theguardian.com
  
  Youth jobless rate rises to 13.5% and underemployment to 18%, hitting highest level in 40 yearsAlmost one-third of Australian young people are unemployed or underemployed, the highest level in 40 years, according to a report released on Monday.The rate of underemployment – now at 18% – has become an entrenched feature of the youth labour market, according to the Generation Stalled report, commissioned by the Brotherhood of St Laurence. Continue reading...
  
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• Parts of UK that voted for Brexit may be hardest hit, study finds

  27-03-2017 01:01 via theguardian.com
  
  Researchers say Wales and north-east are among areas most vulnerable to loss of funding, tariffs on exports and shortage of European workers
  Several parts of Britain that voted to leave the European Union are among the most vulnerable to the economic impact of Brexit, according to new research published as the government prepares to trigger article 50.
  Researchers at the thinktank Demos studied regional differences in the reliance on exports to the EU, use of European workers and receipt of supp
  
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• New pound coin: £1 would be worth more than THREE times as much as original counterpart

  27-03-2017 01:01 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  FROM today there will be a new pound in our pockets but it would be worth more than three times as much as its original counterpart if inflation was taken into account.
  
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• Half-in, half-out of customs union would be worst Brexit option, says thinktank

  27-03-2017 01:01 via theguardian.com
  
  Open Europe suggests the UK should leave the EU customs union altogether to ensure it is free to strike the best global trade dealsOpen Europe, the leading Eurosceptic thinktank, has urged the prime minister to leave the European customs union entirely, arguing that a half-in, half-out option would be the worst of all worlds for the UK.In one of the most detailed reports yet on the implications of leaving the customs union, Open Europe pointed out that Theresa May had suggested in January she is
  
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• Council tax bills to rise in nine out of 10 English local authorities

  27-03-2017 01:01 via theguardian.com
  
  Figures are in stark contrast to five years ago when 90% of local authorities froze or cut council taxHouseholds across the country are facing inflation-busting council tax hikes with nine out of 10 local authorities in England expected to increase rates from April.Residents in some areas will see their bills go up by as much as 5%, with councils taking full advantage of new powers to top up their charges with fees ringfenced for social care. Continue reading...
  
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• 'Bank of mum and dad' making housing market more unfair, study finds

  27-03-2017 01:01 via theguardian.com
  
  More first-time buyers than ever are using family money, exacerbating inequality, says Social Mobility CommissionThe number of first-time buyers relying on family loans from the “bank of mum and dad” to fund their deposits is exacerbating inequality and impeding social mobility, a government-backed study has warned. The Social Mobility Commission found the percentage of first-time buyers turning to family for financial help had increased from 20% in 2010 to a historic high of 34%. Th
  
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• Apprenticeship levy will deepen north-south divide, IPPR says

  27-03-2017 01:01 via theguardian.com
  
  Thinktank’s analysis suggests new £3bn levy on larger employers will raise less money and have smaller impact on areas that need it mostThe government’s new £3bn apprenticeship levy threatens to deepen Britain’s north-south divide, according to a new analysis, with London and the south-east benefiting most from the government’s shakeup of staff training.The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) has warned that the apprenticeship levy, which comes into fo
  
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• New cars much less fuel efficient than manufacturers claim, research finds

  27-03-2017 00:31 via theguardian.com
  
  Australian Automobile Association finds fuel use on average 25% higher than claimed on consumption label displayed on new carsNew cars are using vastly more fuel on the road than in laboratory tests, raising further questions about the veracity of car manufacturers’ claims in the wake of the Volkswagen emissions scandal.The Australian Automobile Association-commissioned research found fuel use was on average 25% higher than claimed on the government-mandated fuel consumption label displaye
  
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