Financial news

• Tory donor questioned by SFO over corruption claims at Petrofac

  12-05-2017 18:47 via theguardian.com
  
  Prime minister’s business ambassador Ayman Asfari, who runs oilfield services provider, interviewed under cautionThe Serious Fraud Office has launched an investigation into a company run by a major Conservative donor who is one of the prime minister’s business ambassadors. Petrofac, which provides services to the oil and gas industry, is being investigated by the SFO over suspected bribery, corruption and money laundering.Continue reading...
  
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• Theresa May is creating an epidemic of poverty. Don’t give her a free hand | Gordon Brown

  12-05-2017 18:42 via theguardian.com
  
  Under the Tories, by 2022 there will be a million more children denied the necessities of life. May wants to rule without accountability: only Labour can stop thisIn 1974, when Edward Heath attempted a single-issue election, he put a simple question to the voters: “Who governs Britain?” The answer he got was equally simple: “Not you.” Heath was reminded of an age-old lesson of politics: that British elections are always about jobs, the NHS, tax, public spending, fairness
  
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• UK needs to show the world it is open for business - Financial Director

  12-05-2017 18:40
  UK needs to show the world it is open for business
  Financial Director
  Thursday 23 June 2016 will be etched in the UK's history as the day the country voted to leave the EU. To say the result was unexpected is an understatement, but it was just the beginning of a number of political shocks. But as the saying goes – we are ...
  
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• Fresh warning to holidaymakers about bogus food complaints

  12-05-2017 17:48 via theguardian.com
  
  Portugal joins countries clamping down on fake food poisoning claims prompted by no-win, no-fee law firmsBritish holidaymakers in Portugal have been told they face prosecution if they lodge bogus food poisoning claims against hotels. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has updated its travel advice to urge visitors to only pursue genuine complaints. It said fake cases could lead to legal action in the UK or Portugal.Continue reading...
  
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• Holy guacamole! Avocado fans in UK face further price rises

  12-05-2017 17:45 via theguardian.com
  
  Demand from China and harvest problems in Mexico, Peru and US has led to wholesale prices of fruit surging by more than 50%Hold the guacamole. Hipsters and Mexican food fans will have to dig deep for their smashed avocados this summer because poor harvests and soaring demand from China have sent prices soaring.After the great lettuce and courgette shortage of January, which was caused by rain and snow in Spain, there is now an upheaval underway in avocados for British consumers. Wholesale prices
  
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• Germany accelerates with 0.6% growth; US consumer confidence rallies – as it happened

  12-05-2017 17:42 via theguardian.com
  
  All the day’s economic and financial news, as Germany posts strong growth figures at the start of 2017US consumer confidence rises againGermany grew by 0.6% in Q1
  Business investment and domestic spending drive growthUK, US and France all lag behindThe agenda: US-China trade deal, US data 4.41pm BSTThat’s all for today. Here’s a quick closing summary.Economists have hailed Germany’s economic resilience after it grew by 0.6% in the first quarter of the year, twice as fast
  
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• Let’s move to… Thetford, Norfolk: ‘A rum old mix’

  12-05-2017 17:30 via theguardian.com
  
  The streetscape fuses Stevenage surreally with Burnham Market – flinty cuteness jumpcut with 50s council houseWhat’s going for it? We’ve had Essex Man, Worcester Woman and the Man on the Clapham Omnibus. But these days, if editors of newspapers and broadcast news programmes want to hear “the voice of the people”, deepest, darkest Thetford seems to be where they dispatch their journalists. This microcosm is seen to somehow embody the state of the nation, a bundle of
  
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• Number of second charge mortgages leaps to nine-year high

  12-05-2017 17:10 via theguardian.com
  
  Debt charity sounds alarm after £93m worth of second mortgages were taken out in March
  The number of people opting to saddle themselves with a second mortgage has leapt to its highest level since 2008, according to new industry data that has alarmed debt charities.During March, £93m of second charge mortgages were taken out – up 22% on the previous month. The figures show that growing numbers of homeowners are deciding to cash in on the equity in their property by taking out a
  
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• Improbable sums? Cambridge graduates' tech firm raises $500m

  12-05-2017 15:59 via theguardian.com
  
  British virtual simulation startup launched just five years ago is valued at more than $1bn after funding from Japan’s SoftbankA five-year old British virtual simulation startup, co-founded by Cambridge computer science graduates, has been valued at more than $1bn after raising $502m (£390m) from Japan’s SoftBank.The investment in the London-based firm Improbable is thought to be the largest made in a fledgling European tech firm. Continue reading...
  
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• Papua's gold families – in pictures

  12-05-2017 14:47 via theguardian.com
  
  Around 13,000 people live off the tailings of the PT Freeport Indonesia goldmine in Papua. Photographer Vembri Waluyas visited the settlement on the Ajkwa river to document their livesContinue reading...
  
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• Pricey goodbye? The cheapest and most expensive places to die revealed

  12-05-2017 13:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Some locations have seen hikes of almost 70% in burial and cremation fees, putting further pressure on bereaved families. But there are ways to saveThe “cost of dying” is rising faster than inflation, with typical cremation and burial fees jumping by at least 5% in a year, and some locations seeing increases of up to 68%. That’s just one of the findings of a study which also reveals that it’s not just houses and pints of beer that cost more in London than anywhere else in
  
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• UK and Hong Kong seal fintech accord - Financial News (subscription)

  12-05-2017 13:21
  
  International Adviser
  UK and Hong Kong seal fintech accord
  Financial News (subscription)
  Regulators in the UK and and Hong Kong have forged a co-operation agreement making it easier for fintech firms in the regions to access each another's markets. The agreement between the Financial Conduct Authority and the Securities and Futures ...
  Hong Kong's Securities And Futures Commission And UK's Financial Conduct ...Exchange News Directalle 10 nieuwsartikelen »
  
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• The German economy is unbalanced – but Trump has the wrong answer

  12-05-2017 11:22 via theguardian.com
  
  The US president thinks currency manipulation is behind Germany’s massive surplus – but the best way to tackle it isn’t the exchange rate or trade policyFor Donald Trump, the measure of a country’s economic strength is its current-account balance – its exports of goods and services minus its imports. This idea is of course the worst kind of economic nonsense. It underpins the doctrine known as mercantilism, which comprises a hoary set of beliefs discredited more tha
  
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• One in three tenants borrow money to pay rent, says Shelter

  12-05-2017 09:01 via theguardian.com
  
  Low earners have turned to credit cards, overdrafts or family and friends to keep the roof over their head in the past year
  More than half a million low earners have had to resort to borrowing money via credit cards, overdrafts and other sources to pay their rent during the past year, according to new figures.
  The data was published by housing charity Shelter, which said many private renters were having to take on “desperate or dangerous debts” to keep a roof over their head.Continue
  
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• Barclays boss Jes Staley fooled into email exchange with prankster

  12-05-2017 08:41 via theguardian.com
  
  CEO’s effusive replies suggest he failed to realise emails from ‘John McFarlane’ after bruising AGM were not from chairmanJust as Jes Staley, the embattled boss of Barclays, might have hoped to lie low after a gruelling confrontation with shareholders he is now facing fresh scrutiny. Email exchanges have emerged in which the American banker lavishes praise on the bank’s chairman, John McFarlane, and thanks him for his support at the annual general meeting on Wednesday. Co
  
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• France's Engie aims to restore trust in energy firms with tracker tariff

  12-05-2017 08:18 via theguardian.com
  
  Company promises ‘real price transparency’ with tracker tariff linked to wholesale cost of gas and electricityA French power company has promised to restore trust in the energy market with a new tracker tariff linked to wholesale prices, days after big suppliers were found to be making record profit margins from their customers.Engie, which describes itself as the biggest new entrant to the UK domestic energy market in 15 years, said it was the right time for the company to launch in
  
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• My boss messages me at all hours – what should I do?

  12-05-2017 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  I even get texts on the weekend and it’s stressing me out
  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 am a graduate and after two years of temping and hospitality roles, I’ve recently started a low-paying but promising job in a field I’m relatively inexperienced in.
  
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• I returned a bathroom sink to Aqva but it claims it arrived damaged

  12-05-2017 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  It delivered the wrong colour unit so I sent it back at my expense. Now it won’t refund my £600I bought a £600 bathroom sink unit from aqva.co.uk. The wrong colour item was delivered so I returned it at my expense.Aqva emailed to advise that it would not offer a refund as the product was damaged, but I have photos showing that it was in good condition when I returned it and the courier company has confirmed in writing to me that the retailer signed that it had been received in
  
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• How to Prepare for Personal Financial Disaster - Shout Out UK

  12-05-2017 08:00
  
  Shout Out UK
  How to Prepare for Personal Financial Disaster
  Shout Out UK
  In today's unstable economy where casual work is more prominent and people are less likely to have their jobs for life, the way they once did, personal financial disaster is something that keeps many of us awake at night. Rather than worrying however ...
  
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• How to manage stress and prevent burnout

  12-05-2017 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Entrepreneur Victoria Walford overcame PTSD and now helps other professionals avoid burnout. She shares her stress-busting tipsA cycling accident 11 years ago left me with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). I suffered flashbacks to my accident at work and at home. With the help of psychological treatment, I learned how to manage my condition and went on to launch my own bakery business.We can start learning how to deal with stress by understanding the situations that act as emotional trigge
  
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• A Grand Designs eco home for sale – in pictures

  12-05-2017 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  An 800-year-old tree trunk staircase is just one of the many unique features in this Cambridgeshire property that featured on the Channel 4 showContinue reading...
  
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• Lib Dems and Labour pledge to double length of paid paternity leave

  12-05-2017 01:01 via theguardian.com
  
  Both parties say increasing entitlement to at least a month would encourage greater sharing of parental responsibilitiesMen should be entitled to at least a month’s paid paternity leave to encourage greater sharing of parental responsibilities, both the Liberal Democrats and Labour will pledge in their manifestos.The Lib Dems’ policy has been drawn up by former MP Jo Swinson, who is hoping to win back her seat in East Dunbartonshire in June. While a coalition minster, Swinsondrew up
  
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• BT rings change as 4,000 jobs go

  12-05-2017 01:01 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  BT GROUP is axing 4,000 jobs, cutting its CEO’s pay and scaling back future dividend payouts after a year in which it was rocked by an accounting scandal at its Italian operations.
  
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