Financial news

• The Pensions Regulator: a deficit of credibility

  29-01-2018 19:45 via theguardian.com
  The regulator may need more powers to intervene – but first it must use what capabilities it has“A tentative and apologetic approach that does not cut the mustard”: Frank Field’s description of the performance of the Pensions Regulator (TPR) at Carillion is merited. This line alone from the regulator’s response to MPs’ inquiries tells you why: “TPR has launched an investigation to determine if there is information that suggests we should use our anti-avo
  
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• The Guardian view on the Brexit transition: wanted – a Labour alternative | Editorial

  29-01-2018 19:07 via theguardian.com
  Theresa May’s weakness fuels Conservative recklessness on Europe. Labour needs to set out a clear alternative on the transition period and beyondAt its core, Brexit is a formal process of laws, treaties, timetables and deadlines. But this formal process is a bit like a medieval castle surrounded by a shanty town of often raucous informal pressures from politics, the media, interest groups and civil society. This week there is a classic illustration of the dangerous disconnection between th
  
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• Squalid homes: Corbyn says government ‘in pockets of landlords’

  29-01-2018 18:57
  Labour leader says Tories can’t fix housing crisis after revelations that thousands live in hazardous conditionsJeremy Corbyn has accused the government of being “in the pockets of rogue landlords” and unable to fix what he called a “crisis level” of squalor at the bottom of the rented housing market.More than half a million people aged under 35 are estimated to be living in rented properties so hazardous they are likely to lead to residents needing medical attentio
  
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• VW condemned for testing diesel fumes on humans and monkeys

  29-01-2018 16:21 via theguardian.com
  Experiments involved monkeys and humans breathing in exhaust fumes for hours at a timeVolkswagen, the world’s biggest carmaker, is under fire globally from politicians and environmentalists following revelations it helped to fund experiments in which monkeys and humans breathed in car fumes for hours at a time.Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, said there was an urgent need for the company to reveal the true extent of the experiments, which were commissioned by the European Research Gro
  
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• New easyJet boss takes salary cut as airline faces gender pay gap

  29-01-2018 15:47 via theguardian.com
  Johan Lundgren voluntarily reduces salary to that of his predecessor, Carolyn McCallThe new easyJet chief executive, Johan Lundgren, has voluntarily taken a £34,000 pay cut to match the salary of his predecessor, Carolyn McCall.
  The budget airline said Lundgren took the helm on 1 December on an annual salary of £740,000, but is now reducing it to the £706,000 McCall was on when she left last summer to take up the top job at ITV. Lungren’s bonus and other elements of his r
  
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• Pound slips amid renewed Brexit fears and dollar recovery - as it happened

  29-01-2018 15:40 via theguardian.com
  US currency regains some ground after being hit by fears of trade war, while sterling hit by renewed political uncertainty2.40pm GMT With the dollar recovering from its recent weakness, and continuing uncertainty over Brexit, the pound has come under pressure today and is currently 0.63% lower at $1.4080.Meanwhile bonds prices are falling and yields rising, as central banks increasingly look to move away from their low interest rate and QE programmes which have supported markets for several year
  
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• Meatball mania: the top 10 Ikea products of all time – rated

  29-01-2018 15:33 via theguardian.com
  In 1987, Ikea hit Britain and changed its homes for ever. As founder Ingvar Kamprad dies, we look at how his domestic stagecraft sparked a revolution – and assess the top sellersThree decades after Ikea first arrived in the UK, urging its population to chuck out their chintz, there are now few homes left without a birch veneered side table, a blue plastic laundry bag, or a shaky shelving system. Ingvar Kamprad, the Swedish company’s founder who has died at the age of 91, leaves behin
  
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• KPMG to be investigated over Carillion auditing

  29-01-2018 14:26 via theguardian.com
  Watchdog opens inquiry into accountancy firm’s role in collapse of construction giantThe accountancy firm KPMG is to be investigated by the UK’s Financial Reporting Council over its role in the collapse of constrution firm Carillion.The business secretary, Greg Clark, welcomed the investigation, which the accounting watchdog said followed inquiries made since Carillion’s shock profit warning in July. The FRC said it would conduct the investigation, which will cover 2014 to 2016
  
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• Gas-fired plants to reap huge subsidies despite uncertain future

  29-01-2018 13:59 via theguardian.com
  Fossil fuel faces stiff competition from nuclear, renewables and European importsGas power plant operators will scoop millions of pounds in state subsidies in coming days to go on standby next winter, but the owner of the UK’s largest gas fleet has warned the fossil fuel faces an uncertain future as a cornerstone of UK energy.Auctions starting on Tuesday for contracts in the capacity market, the government’s insurance policy for ensuring reliable electricity supplies, are crucial to
  
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• The Carillion pension bungle raises this question: where was the oversight? | Simon Jenkins

  29-01-2018 13:03 via theguardian.com
  There’s something amiss when a firm £5bn in debt, owing almost £1bn to its pensioners, and with just £29m in the bank is given a clean bill of healthThe stain of Carillion continues to spread – and smell. As desperate efforts are made to salvage the contracts and jobs of the bankrupt firm, the focus now turns on its pensioners, and on the “defined-benefits” schemes under the company’s umbrella. They cover 28,000 past and present workers.Last year t
  
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• Towel wars over? Thomas Cook offers sunbed booking for £22

  29-01-2018 12:19 via theguardian.com
  Customers will be able to choose their preferred spot from a map giving details of sun and shadeIs this the end of the battle for the sunbed? Thomas Cook is offering holidaymakers the chance to pre-book sun loungers, eliminating the need for the dawn dash to the pool to bag one with a towel. For €25 (£22), customers will be able to book a specific sun lounger for their entire holiday. The Anglo-German company says it is the UK’s first package holiday firm to offer this service,
  
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• Why not regulate social media like tobacco or alcohol? | Roger McNamee

  29-01-2018 10:32 via theguardian.com
  Facebook, Google and others can foster addiction – and can be used to undermine democracyWe were warned. The venture capitalist and Netscape founder Marc Andreessen wrote a widely read essay in 2011 titled “Why Software Is Eating the World”. But we didn’t take Andreessen seriously; we thought it was only a metaphor. Now we face the challenge of extracting the world from the jaws of internet platform monopolies.I used to be a technology optimist. During a 35-year career in
  
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• How McMafia and other shows turned homes into nice little earners

  29-01-2018 09:58 via theguardian.com
  TV crews and film-makers have been paying handsomely to shoot in interesting homesTrudie Procter’s nine-bedroom estate in Bletchingley, Surrey has been the venue for many interesting sights. Her music room was once used as the backdrop for a fancy-dress party when a group of people dressed as nursery-rhyme characters, while on a different occasion the whole house and gardens were transformed into the home of a cheating politician.For the last 25 years Procter has hired out the large Georgi
  
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• My Uber account was hacked – and I was refunded in rouble credits

  29-01-2018 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Money was deducted from my PayPal account – and I couldn’t get my cash backIn September my Uber account was hacked and three trips were taken by the fraudsters in Russia, which resulted in my account being charged 16,000 roubles. Although I was demonstrably nowhere near Moscow at the time, £229 was taken from my PayPal account, details of which I had given to Uber to pay for trips. Continue reading...
  
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• Can you really save for a deposit by ditching coffee and avocado toast? I tried to find out​

  29-01-2018 07:20 via theguardian.com
  For many young people, cutting back on little luxuries will not make property ownership a reality. But what can a spending diary – and advice from Britain’s most famous money-saving expert – reveal about one millennial renter’s life choices?At 26 years and 10 months old, I am squarely a millennial. I have had four jobs in five years. I am flummoxed by fabric softener. I sometimes take my phone into the bathroom. And I doubt I will ever own my own home. Not because I want
  
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• Business survey says Brexit biggest threat to UK financial centre - Reuters

  29-01-2018 01:12
  Reuters
  Business survey says Brexit biggest threat to UK financial centre
  Reuters
  Uncertainty over Britain's future trading relations with the European Union after Brexit is the most serious threat to London as the world's top financial centre, a business survey showed on Monday.
  Firms warn of Brexit threat to UK's status as financial centreJersey Evening Post
  Brexit Biggest Threat To UK's Financial Centre Status, Survey FindsMarkets Insideralle 15 nieuwsartikelen »
  
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