Financial news

• Probate fees plan is daft as well as devious | Letters

  11-04-2017 19:52 via theguardian.com
  
  You report on a plan of dubious legality to impose enormous probate fees to fund the justice system, using a statutory instrument to avoid parliamentary scrutiny of this new taxation (Truss’s plan to increase probate fees may not be legally enforceable, 6 April).This plan is daft as well as devious. Probate fees are not, as you put it, “payable when claiming inheritances”. They are paid by executors, and in the case of intestacy, administrators, to obtain authority to administe
  
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• Student loan interest rate set to rise by a third after UK inflation surge

  11-04-2017 19:31 via theguardian.com
  
  Increase in inflation, driven by pound’s Brexit slide, means students will pay more as others benefit from low borrowing ratesStudents appear to be paying a heavy price for the UK’s inflation surge after the Brexit vote, which will drive the interest rate on their loans up by a third to 6.1%. The rise in inflation, driven by a decline in the value of the pound since June, means students will be charged substantially more interest on their loans, despite the fact that many other consu
  
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• Flyer beware: why the customer isn't always right at 40,000ft

  11-04-2017 19:03 via theguardian.com
  
  As a United Airlines passenger discovered recently, carriers have an extraordinary range of powers – including the right to stop you travelling by almost any meansWhat Ryanair can teach United about customer serviceAirline passengers beware: when you buy a ticket, you are not only subjecting yourself to the ordeals of security queues, baggage limits and turbulence. You are also signing a near-40,000-word contract with a carrier that, in the extreme case of a United Airlines passenger on 9
  
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• UK SMEs are confident about future financial performance - SmallBusiness.co.uk

  11-04-2017 17:41
  
  SmallBusiness.co.uk
  UK SMEs are confident about future financial performance
  SmallBusiness.co.uk
  Recent survey by American Express shows UK SMEs are optimistic and confident about future business and financial performance. COMMENT. A quarter of UK SMEs state that sustaining business for future generations is an important long-term goal.
  
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• Government launches ‘market-leading’ savings account

  11-04-2017 17:25 via theguardian.com
  
  National Savings & Investment bond will pay 2.2% interest so long as you are happy to lock your money away for three yearsFive months after it was first announced, a new “market-leading”, government-backed savings bond paying 2.2% interest has gone on sale.The new bond is likely to prove popular with savers desperate for a better return on their cash, but - in what appeared to be a slightly unfortunate bit of timing - the launch on Tuesday coincided with official confirmation tha
  
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• UK Loan Firm Wonga Suffers Financial Data Breach - Dark Reading

  11-04-2017 16:02
  
  UK Loan Firm Wonga Suffers Financial Data Breach
  Dark Reading
  British payday loan company Wonga has admitted to suffering a data breach affecting 245,000 customers in the UK and probably 25,000 in Poland, BBC News reports. The company is investigating what is "looking like one of the biggest" data breaches in the ...en meer »
  
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• Easter is an egg-cellent excuse to shop small

  11-04-2017 14:56 via theguardian.com
  
  The UK chocolate Easter egg market is worth around £200m, but it is competitive. So small business owners are getting creative to stand outContinue reading...
  
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• Trump is reckless – but he knows he can't afford to antagonise China | Barry Eichengreen

  11-04-2017 14:17 via theguardian.com
  
  His comments during the campaign didn’t bolster high hopes, but his summit with Xi Jinping showed he needs China’s businessDonald Trump’s comments about China during the US presidential campaign didn’t exactly bolster high hopes for Sino-American relations once he was elected. Trump denounced China for “taking our jobs” and “[stealing] hundreds of billions of dollars in our intellectual property”. He repeatedly accused China of manipulating its cur
  
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• Inflation is only going one way. Let's hope interest rates don't follow | Larry Elliott

  11-04-2017 13:01 via theguardian.com
  
  The question is not whether inflation will continue rising in 2017 but how high it will go. At least 3%, maybe even higher …It seems so obvious. The Bank of England sets interest rates to hit the government’s 2% inflation target. Inflation is currently 2.3% and – despite holding steady in March – is certain to go higher over the coming months. Higher borrowing costs choke off inflationary pressure. Therefore interest rates should now be going up.In reality, it is a bit m
  
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• UK's pensions taskmaster takes a new posting - Financial News - Financial News (subscription)

  11-04-2017 12:38
  
  Financial News (subscription)
  UK's pensions taskmaster takes a new posting - Financial News
  Financial News (subscription)
  As the man in charge of the UK's pensions auto-enrolment drive moves on, new firms are signing up at the rate of more than one a minute.en meer »
  
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• UK's Financial Conduct Authority: Financial Advice Market Review - Exchange News Direct

  11-04-2017 12:37
  UK's Financial Conduct Authority: Financial Advice Market Review
  Exchange News Direct
  The Financial Advice Market Review was launched in August 2015 to explore ways in which government, industry and regulators can take individual and collective steps to stimulate the development of a market to deliver affordable and accessible financial ...en meer »
  
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• NatWest banking chief executive Les Matheson – post your questions

  11-04-2017 11:11 via theguardian.com
  
  Ever wanted to grill a banking boss? Les Matheson is in charge of personal and business banking at NatWest parent company RBS, and he’ll be here to answer as many of your questions on Wednesday morning as he can. So ask away … 10.11am BSTWant to know why your local NatWest bank branch is closing? How you can possibly be charged so much when you go overdrawn? Or why your savings account is paying so little interest? Or maybe you have advice for NatWest on how it can run things better
  
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• UK inflation steady at 2.3% in March - business live

  11-04-2017 11:07 via theguardian.com
  
  UK consumer price index above Bank of England’s 2% target again and puts continuing pressure on real incomes 10.07am BSTMore reaction: 10.01am BSTAnd here’s the TUC on the inflation figures. General Secretary Frances O’Grady said:Rising prices and sluggish pay increases mean that real earnings growth has now ground to a halt. Without government action, another living standards crisis is on the cards.We urgently need more investment in skills and infrastructure to build strong f
  
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• 'The journey is nothing but extraordinary' – Confessions of a Startup

  11-04-2017 11:00 via theguardian.com
  
  In our last podcast of the series, entrepreneurs at our Confessions of a Startup seminar shared their tales of overcoming obstacles while starting a business. They agreed it’s important to have people around who support your visionSubscribe and review on iTunes, Soundcloud & Mixcloud and join the discussion on Facebook and Twitter.On 6 March, 50 entrepreneurs attended a seminar hosted by the Guardian Small Business Network to discuss pushing through the challenges that come with starti
  
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• Secret aid worker: what I wish I could say to the people back home

  11-04-2017 10:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Humanitarians are flawed individuals just like professionals in every other industry – stop treating us like we’re the embodiment of altruism
  Few things elicit greater dread in an aid worker than conversations that begin with: “Wow, you’re such an amazing person”. Like an outed spy or a burglar caught in the act, hearing this phrase triggers a sense of panic that sends us scanning for exits.Please don't equate my character with my job Continue reading...
  
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• It was DFS customer service that didn’t measure up

  11-04-2017 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  We agreed a restock fee, but when the sofa didn’t fit and we needed help it ignored usWe read the case you covered in June 2016 whereby a furniture retailer’s promise of a “restock” charge at an agreed amount was rescinded after the furniture didn’t fit into the house. In January we bought a sofa from the Tottenham Court Road branch of DFS in London. It was agreed with the assistant sales manager that a restock fee of £90, paid in the form of a deposit, would
  
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• Australia must legislate to prevent modern slavery in our supply chains | Amy Sinclair and Felicitas Weber

  11-04-2017 04:18 via theguardian.com
  
  The UK Modern Slavery Act has created momentum – now it’s time for Australia to lead the way in our region to make a difference to supply chainsIn Australia, workers on farms, in restaurants and shops are often exploited in conditions akin to modern slavery. Modern slavery also permeates the global supply chains of Australian businesses supplying goods to the Australian market from overseas. Major retailers, including Rip Curl, Woolworths, Coles and Aldi, have all been implicated in
  
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• Under-fire Barclays chief is probably guilty of behaving like a chump

  11-04-2017 01:01 via theguardian.com
  
  Poor Jes Staley will have to get by on just his £10,000 a day basic salary after trying to unmask a whistleblowerWe know that Barclays chief executive Jes Staley committed a “serious offence” when he tried to unmask a whistleblower, and that the poor thing will now have to get by on just his basic salary of nearly £10,000 a day when his bonus is slashed as punishment. What we don’t know is if the Financial Conduct Authority and the Bank of England’s Prudential
  
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• UK retail sales fall again as rising living costs bite

  11-04-2017 01:01 via theguardian.com
  
  Takings tumble for third successive month as inflation figures expected to show sharp rise in price of household essentialsBritain’s retailers suffered a third consecutive month of falling sales in March, according to industry figures that add to evidence that a post-referendum rise in living costs is denting consumer spending.In advance of official inflation figures on Tuesday, expected to confirm sharper price rises in the shops, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) said takings were down
  
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