Financial news

• All hail British banks: self-absorbed, short-termist and spivvy

  28-10-2017 18:00 via theguardian.com
  The banks are obsessed with lending to property owners and developers, at the expense of other businesses – and the government gives them its full backingWhen everyone around you sits on their hands, it’s tempting to take control. While companies refuse to invest and Whitehall is paralysed by Brexit, why not legislate and nationalise to get something done?Britain is in the midst of an investment crisis, a productivity crisis, an income crisis and an inequality crisis – and all
  
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• iPhone X: most expensive Apple smartphone sells out in minutes

  28-10-2017 17:57 via theguardian.com
  Demand for new flagship iPhone causes month-long shipping delays, contrasting with muted iPhone 8 sales and reportedly causing Apple concern about supply Apple’s most expensive smartphone, the iPhone X, sold out in less than 10 minutes upon being made available for pre-order this morning.The iPhone X – officially pronounced “10” – costs from £999 with 64GB of storage, topping out at £1149 with 256GB of storage, which is higher than the starting cost of t
  
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• Twist or stick: two sides of the vital interest rate decision facing UK

  28-10-2017 17:00 via theguardian.com
  After a decade of ultra-low rates, many predict a rise this week. Vital for controlling inflation and saving Bank chief Mark Carney’s face, say the hawks. A terrible idea in a weak economy, argue dovesMarkets have a tendency to panic when central banks threaten to raise interest rates. In 2014, the US Federal Reserve and its then boss, Ben Bernanke, sent traders across the world into a spin when he merely hinted that the era of almost zero rates might be ending.It’s been a decade sin
  
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• Alex Mahon must hit the ground running at Channel 4

  28-10-2017 17:00 via theguardian.com
  Problems facing new chief executive include stopping its young audience from switching to Netflix, and pressure from government for a move out of LondonIf timing is everything, then Alex Mahon’s arrival in her new job as chief executive of Channel 4 on the eve of the final of The Great British Bake Off could not have been planned better. The new-look show’s critical and commercial success has more than justified the £75m spent taking it from the BBC.Mahon, who turns 44 this wee
  
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• British homeowners scramble to remortgage as interest rate rise looms

  28-10-2017 13:41 via theguardian.com
  Rush for dwindling supply of fixed-rate deals as Bank of England is expected to increase base rate this weekHouseholders have been scrambling to grab fixed-rate mortgages before Thursday’s expected interest rate rise, which would lead to the first increase in monthly loan payments in a decade.Staff at the big mortgage brokers have reported a “busy last few days”, and say they are expecting more calls this week as householders with base-rate-linked loans try to insulate themselv
  
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• Merkel faces CARNAGE: Deutsche Bank CRISIS as revenues SINK with NO IDEA of recovery time

  28-10-2017 09:16 via feedproxy.google.com
  DEUTSCHE Bank stocks tumbled today after it reported a 10 per cent drop in revenue, with bosses clueless as to when results will improve.
  
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• Meet the millennial millionaires: Coutts embraces video gamers

  28-10-2017 09:00 via theguardian.com
  Venerable bank moves beyond royals and aristocrats to target twentysomething eSport players raking in a fortuneThe impeccably turned out doormen at 440 Strand are used to welcoming royals, aristocrats and billionaires to the headquarters of Coutts, the 325-year-old bank famous for serving only millionaires.But on Monday the suited and booted doormen will be opening the doors to some perhaps unexpected faces. The bank, which has served the Queen and every member of the royal family since George I
  
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• ‘It was like a bereavement’: life after leaving a big job

  28-10-2017 09:00
  They used to be MPs, senior partners and surgeons, expert at dealing with pressure. So how do those who once had top jobs adjust to life in the slow lane?Leaving a top position can be tough. Your diary clears, your retinue of staff vaporises. Suddenly, no one is listening any more. Ego, hubris, whatever you call it, as we rise to positions of power, we too often come to “believe our own hype”. The inevitable fall can be bruising.This is especially true if you are an MP. Until June th
  
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• How Deliveroo's 'dark kitchens' are catering from car parks

  28-10-2017 09:00 via theguardian.com
  As appetite grows for upmarket takeaways, delivery service is setting restaurants up with satellite kitchens inside metal boxes
  A tatty car park under a railway line is squeezed between a busy road, an industrial site and a semi-derelict pub covered in graffiti. It’s one of the grittiest parts of east London and probably the last place you would imagine some of the trendiest eateries in the country to be preparing meals.But the grimy spot is just a short moped ride from the gleaming office
  
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• Why we don’t need an interest rate rise (yet)

  28-10-2017 08:01 via theguardian.com
  The economy is weak and the impact of higher rates on consumer behaviour is arguableIt has been a grim week for economic news. High street stores reported rapidly falling sales – the worst since 2009. Output from Britain’s car factories tumbled, shrinking by 4.1% in September, with demand from UK car buyers plummeting by 14.2%. Meanwhile, official figures revealed the average pay for full-time workers crept up to £550 a week, but in real terms have fallen as they have been outs
  
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• At last, it’s payback time for BrightHouse

  28-10-2017 08:01 via theguardian.com
  A £600 computer can cost £2,000. But now the rent-to-own retailer has to repay £14.8m to customersFor hard-pressed families wanting household goods, the monthly payments at electricals store BrightHouse can be tempting. But extraordinary interest payments can mean a £600 computer at Currys costs more than £2,000 at BrightHouse, while an easy-looking £7.50-a-month TV spirals into a bill of £1,100.Lisa Brady, 30, who lives in Hamilton, Scotland, and has fo
  
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• UK pensions among the worst in the developed world, study finds

  28-10-2017 08:00
  Britain relies heavily on private schemes, while Australia’s state system is one of the most sustainableBritish workers can expect among the worst pensions in the developed world, according to a report from investment bank UBS, which compared the retirement outlook for a 50-year-old woman in major cities across the globe.UBS calculated how much a country’s basic state pension, plus “mandated” pensions such as the UK’s automatic enrolment scheme and Australia’s
  
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• The looming interest rate rise: how it will affect you

  28-10-2017 08:00 via theguardian.com
  On 2 November, the Bank of England is expected to increase the base rate after a decade. We explore what impact it will have on homeowners and saversThe longest period in living memory without a Bank of England rate rise is expected to end on Thursday, when the base rate is likely to increase by 0.25% to 0.5%. The percentage rise is small, but the worry for homebuyers with jumbo mortgages is that it could be the start of a number of increases that could make their loans unaffordable. However, fo
  
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• Former HSBC employees fight clawback of pension income

  28-10-2017 08:00
  Bank retirees can end up losing as much as £2,500 every year in a practice that’s legalHSBC announced profits of almost £8bn for the first half of 2017, so why is it penalising former employees by taking away some of their pension cash?That is what thousands of the bank’s former workers are asking after it emerged some are having as much as £2,500 a year – money they say is rightfully theirs – lopped off their company pension payouts. Continue reading...
  
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• Customers call for crackdown on Green Motion after repairs dispute

  28-10-2017 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Disgruntled drivers accuse car rental firm of charging them for damage they did not causeA businessman who spent his career promoting American business investment into Scotland has called on the authorities to take action against the car hire firm Green Motion. He was charged £366 for damage to a vehicle he rented at Glasgow airport – damage he claims he did not do, and that was levied because the company knew he would struggle to fight it from the other side of the Atlantic.David Ch
  
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