Financial news

• Might, not right: betting firms get their due on fixed-odds machines

  13-09-2017 20:27 via theguardian.com
  Gambling companies could have spent less energy on belligerent lobbying and more on containing the dangers of FOBTsGambling companies’ defence of fixed-odds betting terminals has failed. It is now odds-on that the government will cut the maximum stake from £100. How did this happen to an industry that, despite compelling evidence of social harm done by these machines, seemed to have might on its side?The bookies were able to point to the substantial sums of tax they pay the Treasury.
  
  Read more

• Amazon and eBay turning blind eye to VAT evasion, say MPs

  13-09-2017 20:10 via theguardian.com
  Online marketplaces face criticism from public accounts committee over foreign sellers misusing their platformsAmazon and eBay have been accused by MPs of profiting from VAT evasion at the expense of taxpayers and UK businesses.Executives representing the ecommerce groups were told that their firms were “turning a blind eye” as organised criminals in the UK and China handle undervalued or misclassified goods for the British market.Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• G4S may make more profit than allowed from removal centres, figures suggest

  13-09-2017 19:36 via theguardian.com
  Outline of financial performance at Brook House and Tinsley House seems to show margins in excess of contractual limitThe security firm G4S appears to have been making more profit than its contract allows from the immigration removal centres (IRCs) it runs for the government, according to an internal document seen by the Guardian.According to an outline of G4S’s financial performance at the two IRCs it ran in 2016, the company’s margin on its trading profit at Brook House was 20.7%.
  
  Read more

• Darling: Brexit would not have happened without banking crisis

  13-09-2017 19:12 via theguardian.com
  Former chancellor admits government lost control for a few days 10 years ago and says people have felt ‘badly treated’ sinceThe UK would not have voted for Brexit had it not been for the banking crisis that began 10 years ago with the run on Northern Rock, according to the former chancellor Alistair Darling.Lord Darling admitted the Labour government “lost control” for a few days around this time 10 years ago when customers were queuing outside branches of the lender to w
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• The power pose is dead – here’s how to really stand strong

  13-09-2017 19:10 via theguardian.com
  Eleven new studies have further discredited the theory that taking a physically dominant stance will make you appear more powerful. So what can you do instead?“Feeling powerful may feel good, but on its own does not translate into powerful or effective behaviours.” Thus concludes Joseph Cesario, associate professor of psychology at Michigan State University, which has generated no fewer than 11 studies of the “power stance”.Pre-2010, that wouldn’t need to be said, a
  
  Read more

• Tobacco company launches foundation to stub out smoking

  13-09-2017 18:12 via theguardian.com
  Philip Morris International say their Foundation for a Smoke-Free World aims to accelerate the end of smoking, but anti-tobacco campaigners are sceptical
  One of the world’s biggest tobacco companies has launched the Foundation for a Smoke-Free World, claiming that it wants to see a future in which people will stop smoking its cigarettes. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Sky chief executive's pay quadruples to £16m

  13-09-2017 17:44 via theguardian.com
  Jeremy Darroch received nearly £12m from Sky’s long-term incentive plan and a near maximum bonus of £1.9mSky’s chief executive, Jeremy Darroch, was paid more than £16m in the year to the end of June, despite a hefty fall in annual profits at the broadcaster’s UK and Ireland business.Darroch’s total remuneration almost quadrupled year-on-year, from £4.6m in 2016 to £16.3m last year, thanks to a payout of nearly £12m under Sky’s lon
  
  Read more

• Vijay Mallya set to return to court in UK - Financial Express

  13-09-2017 17:38
  Financial Express
  Vijay Mallya set to return to court in UK
  Financial Express
  The 61-year-old businessman is out on bail on an extradition warrant executed by Scotland Yard on behalf of the Indian authorities in April. By: PTI | London | Published: September 13, 2017 9:08 PM. 18. Shares. Facebook · Twitter · Google Plus · Whatsapp.en meer »
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Hang on to your cash. This dash to digitise payments is dangerous | Brett Scott

  13-09-2017 17:20 via theguardian.com
  Banknotes and coins are a public utility, and companies make no profit from their use. Hence the drive for cashlessness – and with it, greater surveillanceSweden leads the world in cashlessness. In doing so it also leads the world in opening its citizens up to fine-grained financial surveillance. “Cashless society” is a euphemism for a “bank payments society”, in which every transaction must be passed through a complex of banks, card companies, phone providers and p
  
  Read more

• Bell Pottinger unlikely to honour payments to co-founder Tim Bell

  13-09-2017 15:42 via theguardian.com
  Administrator is not expected to pay Lord Bell £300,000 owed as part of his multimillion-pound deal to leave the agencyThe co-founder of Bell Pottinger, Tim Bell, has emerged as one of the creditors the firm’s administrators are unlikely to be able to pay back, with a £300,000 bill outstanding from his multimillion-pound deal to leave the disgraced City PR firm last year.Lord Bell left the agency last summer in a deal thought to be worth as much as £2.5m that included the
  
  Read more

• Squeeze on UK households continues as wages grow slowly - Financial Post

  13-09-2017 14:14
  Financial Tribune
  Squeeze on UK households continues as wages grow slowly
  Financial Post
  LONDON — In spite of what looks like a buoyant labour market, household incomes in Britain are being squeezed by a combination of weak wage growth and high inflation that is expected to prevent the Bank of England from raising interest rates imminently.
  UK Jobless Rate Sinks to 42-Year LowFinancial Tribune
  UK inflation rises further above Bank of England's targetFinancial Expressalle 267 nieuwsartikel
  
  Read more

• Brexit is a great British bore. Europe has moved on, and the UK should be worried | Guntram Wolff

  13-09-2017 13:50 via theguardian.com
  Self-obsessed Brexiters would be shocked to realise just what a peripheral issue their sacred cause is, viewed from a European lens.It is official: Brexit is boring – at least on the continent. As the European commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker, delivered his “state of the union” address on Wednesday, setting the tone for the new political year, Brexit was relegated to a brief mention at the end. And even there, it was framed as a moment of sadness and regret, not horror
  
  Read more

• Bitcoin is a fraud that will blow up, says JP Morgan boss

  13-09-2017 12:26 via theguardian.com
  Jamie Dimon claims cryptocurrency is only fit for use by drug dealers, murderers and people living in North KoreaBitcoin is a fraud that will ultimately blow up, according to JP Morgan boss Jamie Dimon, who said the digital currency was only fit for use by drug dealers, murderers and people living in places such as North Korea.Speaking at a conference in New York, the boss of America’s biggest bank said he would fire “in a second” anyone at the investment bank found to be tradi
  
  Read more

• UK financial sector an 'accident waiting to happen' - Citywire.co.uk

  13-09-2017 11:57
  Citywire.co.uk
  UK financial sector an 'accident waiting to happen'
  Citywire.co.uk
  Ten years on from Northern Rock, the Bank of England's stress tests are 'worse than useless' according to a study by the Adam Smith Institute (ASI). The report, from one of the UK's leading exponents of classica liberalism, focused on the Bank of ...
  UK's banks ill-prepared for another financial crisis, warns think tankTelegraph.co.ukalle 17 nieuwsartikelen »
  
  Read more

• Thistle Finance: New UK packager launches | Financial Reporter - Financial Reporter

  13-09-2017 11:55
  Financial Reporter
  Thistle Finance: New UK packager launches | Financial Reporter
  Financial Reporter
  Thiststle Finance announced its launch this morning promising to support brokers around the UK with a 'grass-roots' proposition and restoring the sector's old ...en meer »
  
  Read more

• Superdry's co-founders to share wealth with 4,500 employees

  13-09-2017 08:35 via theguardian.com
  Julian Dunkerton and James Holder’s fashion brand to share 20% of SuperGroup share price gains above £18 targetThe multimillionaire co-founders of Superdry have launched an innovative bonus scheme to share a fifth of their share price gains with the fashion brand’s 4,500 employees.Julian Dunkerton and James Holder said they would share their share prices gains with all staff if and when the stock price hits a £18-per-share target. After that point they said they would tra
  
  Read more

• Unhappy at work? How to spread cheer in the office

  13-09-2017 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Over half of employees in the UK are not happy in their jobs. Here’s a guide for business owners who want to raise a smile from their staffThe average British workplace is not a cheery domain. Over 55% of UK workers are unhappy in their jobs, according to a recent survey by training course site Course Library. Related: Office too hot? Computer playing up? Go on, have a grumble, it’s good for you | Phil DaoustContinue reading...
  
  Read more

• Held in secure immigration as Ryanair fails to reunite me with ‘lost’ passport

  13-09-2017 08:00 via theguardian.com
  It was handed to a crew member before take-off, and was then removed from the aircraftThe saga of the easyJet passenger who dropped her passport on board a flight was remarkably similar to my experience with Ryanair, only this airline’s handling of it was more troubling. On a flight from Dublin to Mallorca I left my passport on another seat while putting my luggage into an overhead locker. The passenger handed it to a crew member before take-off but, when I asked for it back, I was to
  
  Read more

• Heavenly living in a former church – in pictures

  13-09-2017 08:00 via theguardian.com
  With halo lights, vaulted ceilings and stained glass windows, there’s a spiritual life awaiting you in Essex Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Vote to leave highlighted UK's financial fragility - Financial Times

  13-09-2017 01:30
  Financial Times
  Vote to leave highlighted UK's financial fragility
  Financial Times
  Sir, Graham Hacche (Letters, September 9) expresses the commonly held view that the recent weakness of sterling (FT View, August 26) against the euro is a result of the referendum to leave the EU and “there are reasons to fear that Brexit will damage ...
  
  Read more

• Number of people switching energy supplier up 30% in a year

  13-09-2017 01:01 via theguardian.com
  Price hikes, including 12.5% at British Gas starting this Friday, means 3.5m users have switched suppliers so far in 2017, says Energy UKThe number of people switching energy supplier has leapt by 30% in a year as consumers vote with their feet following high-profile price hikes. Related: Meet the UK energy company that will give profits back to customersContinue reading...
  
  Read more

• Houses more affordable across half of UK now than in 2007

  13-09-2017 01:01 via theguardian.com
  Despite London’s affordability crisis, gap between earnings and house prices has fallen in Birmingham, Glasgow and LeedsHomes across half of the UK are more affordable than before the financial crisis, with Birmingham, Glasgow and Leeds among the places where the gap between earnings and house prices has fallen, a study has found.Yorkshire Building Society research shows that with a continuing affordability crisis in London, popular destinations for people leaving the capital, such as Lewe
  
  Read more

Follow @financialnwsUK on Twitter!