Financial news

• Confidential report into RBS small business scandal 'to be published'

  12-02-2018 20:52 via theguardian.com
  MPs minded to publish widely leaked FCA report which details banks ‘endemic’ mistreatment of customersA confidential report into Royal Bank of Scotland is set to be published by MPs after it was widely leaked, revealing details of the bank’s treatment of nearly 6,000 struggling small businesses in the aftermath of the 2008 banking crash.The Commons Treasury select committee has been locked in a stand-off with the Financial Conduct Authority, which wrote the report, after giving
  
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• Are Barclays’ branches at risk over $3bn Qatar loan? | Larry Elliott

  12-02-2018 19:56 via theguardian.com
  SFO charge against retail division could mean loss of licence but it is the nuclear optionIn October 2008, almost a decade ago, the British banking system stood on the brink of collapse. Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group were rescued by a government bailout, while a third bank – Barclays – avoided the need to take taxpayers’ money through its own fundraising efforts in the UAE and Singapore.Part of that arrangement – a $3bn loan the UK bank made to Qatar &nd
  
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• Unilever threat 'is #MeToo moment for digital advertising'

  12-02-2018 19:38 via theguardian.com
  Former UK boss of ad giant says anti-digital platform sentiment ‘has stepped up a gear’The former UK boss of one of the world’s biggest advertising groups has said that Unilever’s threat to boycott Google and Facebook could be a pivotal moment for digital advertising, likening it to the momentum of the #MeToo movement that has put a spotlight on sexual harassment and assault.Paul Frampton, the former head of the UK division of French marketing services group Havas, said t
  
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• Carillion: 11,800 wait to learn their fate as 4,400 more jobs are saved

  12-02-2018 19:32 via theguardian.com
  Employees transferred in prison and defence contracts – but more than 1,000 ex-staff have lost jobsMore than 4,400 staff who worked for collapsed government contractor Carillion will keep their jobs, the Insolvency Service has said, after new companies were found to provide prison maintenance and services for military bases.The latest update takes the total number of Carillion jobs that have been saved since the company’s failure last month to 6,668, more than a third of its 19,500-s
  
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• The Guardian view on George Soros: the best of the 1% | Editorial

  12-02-2018 19:18 via theguardian.com
  Many billionaires try to influence the politics of countries that aren’t their own. Most do so by stealth but George Soros is open – and usually rightGeorge Soros is hardly the first billionaire to spend some of his money trying to influence the policies of countries where he does not live or have a vote: the papers that have led the charge against his funding of anti-Brexit organisations are all owned by such men even if none is as rich as he is. And his decision to spend money camp
  
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• Trump pledges to fix infrastructure but $200bn plan falls well short

  12-02-2018 19:08 via theguardian.com
  Funds represent a fraction of the trillions engineers say is neededTrump likely to face opposition from Democrats and RepublicansDonald Trump unveiled a $200bn plan to fix America’s crumbling infrastructure – a plan that falls woefully short of the trillions civil engineers say is needed to rebuild the country’s tattered backbone and is likely to face intense opposition from Democrats and Republicans.Trump said in a statement: “We will build gleaming new roads, bridges, h
  
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• A reminder not to take true love lightly | Brief letters

  12-02-2018 19:06
  When Valentine’s Day and Ash Wednesday clash | Nationwide | Ladies’ swimming places | Staples in compost | MarmaladeValentine’s Day and Ash Wednesday only occasionally clash, as Rhik Samadder rightly points out (G2, 12 February). But it’s a great opportunity to smuggle heart-shaped crosses of ash on to the foreheads of the faithful; a reminder that true love is costly, painful and usually entails sacrifice.
  Fr Alec Mitchell
  Manchester• When Joe Garner, Nationwide&rsq
  
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• Network Rail to install drinking fountains in majority of its train stations this year

  12-02-2018 18:30 via theguardian.com
  Company pledges to introduce free drinking water facilities in many of nation’s busiest stationsNetwork Rail has pledged to install water fountains in the majority of its 17 managed UK stations by the end of the year. Related: Bottled water is a nonsense. Just ban it and fill our towns with drinking fountains | Sonia SodhaContinue reading...
  
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• Superannuation reflect the gender pay gap | Greg Jericho

  12-02-2018 18:00 via theguardian.com
  If we want to make sure women have enough to retire on, we have to focus on how much they’re paid while they’re workingRetirement income is one of the most discussed economic topics in Australian life, and one of the biggest issues is that women generally have much less to retire on. A paper delivered to the Australian Gender Economics Workshop in Perth on Friday by the Grattan Institute’s Brendan Coates asked about the best way to close the gender gap in retirement incomes. Hi
  
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• TfL facing near £1bn deficit next year after journey numbers fall

  12-02-2018 17:57 via theguardian.com
  Fewer passengers forces London transport authority to ditch some of its tube upgrade plansTransport for London (TfL) has insisted it is not facing a financial crisis despite planning for a near £1bn deficit next year after a surprise fall in passenger numbers.The capital’s transport authority has shelved some tube upgrade plans, with its finances under pressure since the axing of a grant from the UK government worth £700m a year. Continue reading...
  
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• Minister promoting shared parental leave says he can’t take shared leave

  12-02-2018 17:56
  Andrew Griffiths is set to become a father but MPs do not qualify for standard parental leaveThe minister responsible for encouraging couples to share their parental leave has said he is not allowed to take up the scheme he is championing.Andrew Griffiths, the small business minister at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, will become a father in April but said on Monday that as an “office holder rather than an employee” he was ineligible for shared leave. Con
  
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• Digital frustra-scriptor – what's your Victorian job title?

  12-02-2018 17:44
  Victorians were the masters of inventing pretentious job positions to make their roles seem more impressive. Can you recognise these modern-age professions from our souped-up titles?If LinkedIn has made you feel as if you’re living in the golden age of self-regarding professional chest-puffery, then think again. Essex University’s Alun Withey has discovered that Victorians were the masters of pretentious job titles, scouring periodicals to discover booksellers describing themselves a
  
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• Should I use Spotify for streaming or sign up to another service?

  12-02-2018 16:14
  My brother’s a keen fan of their ad-free service – but what Amazon, Apple and Deezer?Every week a Guardian Money reader submits a question, and it’s up to you to help him or her out – a selection of the best answers will appear in next Saturday’s paper.This week’s question: Continue reading...
  
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• Should I keep my flat on an interest-only mortgage when I move city?

  12-02-2018 16:11
  I’m planning to leave London and I’m thinking about renting out my property Q My family and I are planning to leave London and move north. Ultimately we want to own a house in the place we move to, but we are planning on renting for the first year whilst we get established.Ten years ago we bought a two-bedroom flat in East Dulwich on part-rent part-buy scheme for key workers. At the time we could afford to buy a 25% share of the flat which was valued at £240,000. Later on, we p
  
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• FTSE 100 moves higher as Dow recovery continues but investors remain cautious - as it happened

  12-02-2018 15:57 via theguardian.com
  Wall Street follows European markets higher after worst week for two years 2.57pm GMT After a week which saw some $4tn wiped off the value of global stock markets, there is a better mood among investors at the moment.European markets have moved higher, with the FTSE 100 up 1.3% , Germany’s Dax 1.7% higher and France’s Cac climbing 1.5%. 2.33pm GMT The recovery in US markets seen late on Friday is continuing as Wall Street opens, despite the continuing strength of US bond yields.The D
  
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• Ripple price news LIVE: XRP steadies above $1 as crypto prices SURGE today

  12-02-2018 15:35 via feedproxy.google.com
  RIPPLE prices have steadied in the past few days after a dramatic crash that saw the values plunge last week. But now XRP is on its way back up, here are the latest updates on Ripple prices and cryptocurrency news.
  
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• Rupert Murdoch pledges to keep Sky News independent

  12-02-2018 15:16 via theguardian.com
  Move comes as Fox seeks to allay media plurality concerns in £11.7bn takeover of SkyRupert Murdoch has pledged not to meddle in editorial decision-making at Sky News but says he will not guarantee funding the service for more than five years, as 21st Century Fox seeks clearance for its £11.7bn takeover of Sky.The Competition and Markets Authority said in its provisional findings last month that Murdoch’s bid raised media plurality concerns because the deal would give his family
  
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• Bitcoin price: Wolf of Wall Street reveals cryptocurrency secret: 'illusion of prosperity'

  12-02-2018 15:12 via feedproxy.google.com
  THE real Wolf of Wall Street, Jordan Belfort, has revealed bitcoin price is an “illusion of prosperity” used by “scamsters” to make a profit from newly created cryptocurrencies.
  
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• Savings boost as Bank of England reveals interest rates could rise further

  12-02-2018 15:05 via feedproxy.google.com
  THE Bank of England’s policymaker has said a further rise in interest rates was likely to be appropriate if a strong global economy and a labour market pick-up continued to offset Brexit uncertainty, after holding interest rates fixed at 0.5 percent last week.
  
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• Barclays Bank charged again by SFO over Qatar loan

  12-02-2018 14:24 via theguardian.com
  Charges relating to emergency fundraising in 2008 follow case against parent company last year
  The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has charged Barclays for a second time over a $3bn loan the bank made to Qatar when Middle East investors bought shares in the bank to prop it up at the peak of the financial crisis. The SFO has extended its case against Barclays’ holding company to Barclays Bank plc, the lender’s operating company. The decision raises the pressure on Barclays because banking
  
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• Lloyds becomes first FTSE 100 firm to set ethnic diversity target

  12-02-2018 13:47 via theguardian.com
  Bank aims to have 8% of senior management from a black, Asian or minority ethnic background by 2020Lloyds Banking Group plans to raise the proportion of staff from black, Asian or minority ethnic backgrounds to 8% of senior management by 2020.
  The bank, Britain’s biggest high street lender, is the first FTSE 100 company to set a formal target to improve ethnic diversity among its top executives. It also aims to increase the proportion of non-white staff to 10% of its total workforce by the
  
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• Your pension at risk: Firms warn savers against raiding their pensions for quick cash

  12-02-2018 13:02 via feedproxy.google.com
  BRITISH savers will be warned against withdrawing from their pensions as fears mount that the Cameron Government's pension freedoms could lead to a spell of irresponsible spending that could affect their ability to live comfortably later in life.
  
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• Cryptocurrency miners hijack NHS computers to create bitcoin-style money using malware

  12-02-2018 12:51 via feedproxy.google.com
  HACKERS have brazenly attacked thousands of websites, including those run by the Government and NHS, to hijack their visitors’ computer power and mine more of a cryptocurrency similar to bitcoin, it has been revealed.
  
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• World markets facing era of chaos as complacency means ‘bigger shakeout coming’

  12-02-2018 12:27 via feedproxy.google.com
  GLOBAL financial markets will face a new era of volatility as higher interest rates bring a new dawn of “chaos” to markets, a hedge fund boss has warned.
  
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• Pound v US dollar: GBP inches ahead as DUP and Sinn Fein close in on a deal

  12-02-2018 11:50 via feedproxy.google.com
  THE pound US dollar exchange rate inched ahead on Monday morning as Theresa May travelled to Belfast in a last-minute push to restore power-sharing government.
  
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• Pound V euro: GBP exchange rate muted after Michel Barnier comments on Brexit

  12-02-2018 11:44 via feedproxy.google.com
  The pound remains subdued against the euro this morning after falling around a cent at the end of last week’s session following comments from EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier.
  
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• UK financial watchdogs launch coordinated push on algorithmic trading - Financial Times

  12-02-2018 11:37
  Yahoo Finance UK
  UK financial watchdogs launch coordinated push on algorithmic trading
  Financial Times
  UK authorities have published plans to toughen financial institutions' accountability for the algorithms they use to trade on global markets. The Bank of England's prudential regulatory arm, and the Financial Conduct Authority, the markets regulator ...
  UK's Financial Conduct Authority Publishes Report On The Supervision Of ...Exchange News Directalle 17 nieuwsartikelen »
  
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• Pound LIVE: FTSE on the UP but world’s biggest hedge fund warns 'big shakeout' is coming

  12-02-2018 11:11 via feedproxy.google.com
  THE POUND is on a steady footing as the stock markets opened with a bang today. The FTSE 100 has opened 0.9 percent higher at 7,157 points, almost erasing Friday's 1.1 percent decline. Germany’s Dax also added 1 percent and France’s Cac climbed 0.9 percent at open.
  
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• Why did easyJet cancel our booking … but fail to tell us?

  12-02-2018 09:40
  If we had turned up we would have been denied boarding – I’d like to know if I can make a claimIn December I booked an easyJet flight for my girlfriend from Agadir, Morocco back to London (Gatwick) and, because it was less than 30 days before departure, we checked her in and printed the boarding pass. The day before her travel I noticed, by chance, that the money had been refunded to the credit card and I became suspicious. The easyJet website showed no booking. Continue reading...
  
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• Mersey Gateway toll fines prompt string of appeals

  12-02-2018 08:23
  Drivers ‘wrongly penalised’ by same ANPR technology used at Dartford CrossingIt was hailed as a liberation. Surveillance cameras that record vehicle registration plates replaced the toll booths at one of the UK’s most notorious bottlenecks, the Dartford Crossing, east of London. Three years later, they have been installed at the new Mersey Gateway toll bridge which opened last October.But although it is aimed at easing congestion and speeding up journeys, technical inadequacies
  
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• Warren Evans jobs at risk as bedmaker calls in administrators

  12-02-2018 08:08 via theguardian.com
  Award-winning company renowned for green credentials struggles to find buyer Staff at the ethical bedmaker Warren Evans will be hoping to learn more about their fate this week as administrators continue to seek a buyer for the London-based firm. The company, which employs 287 staff and has 14 showrooms across the capital and the south-east, appointed administrators Duff & Phelps late last week, despite claiming strong pre-Christmas sales.Continue reading...
  
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• How do I find time for my family?

  12-02-2018 08:00
  Don’t attempt to have your mind on work and children at the same time, says Sharmadean ReidWhen my son, Roman, was born, I was a stylist, and I’d take him to meetings in a sling, schedule my work around his naps, and just carry on. When he was tiny, this was pretty easy; as he got older, it became less so. So my first piece of advice is don’t attempt to have your mind on work and children at the same time: it soon gets tough.Instead, I decided to carve out dedicated family
  
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• Interest rate rise would hit millions in UK who depend on cheap credit

  12-02-2018 07:01 via theguardian.com
  Almost half of low-income families are believed to be in debt distress alreadyThe Bank of England’s warning that it plans to raise interest rates from as early as May will hit millions of low-income families who have only survived financially for a decade by using cheap credit.The Resolution Foundation said almost half of low-income families were in debt distress before Threadneedle Street said last week that it needed to increase the base rate at an accelerated pace over the next two year
  
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• Aldi usurps upmarket rival Waitrose as UK's favourite supermarket

  12-02-2018 07:01 via theguardian.com
  Which? survey finds shoppers seduced by quality and price of store’s fresh and own-label food
  •Tesco plans discount chain to take on Aldi and LidlDiscount grocer Aldi has taken over from upmarket rival Waitrose as Britain’s favourite supermarket according to an influential shopper survey.The fast-growing German discounter has impressed shoppers with the quality of its fresh and own-label food as well as its special offers, according to the annual best and worst supermarket satis
  
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• UK tenants paid record £50bn in rents in 2017

  12-02-2018 07:00
  Rents double in a decade and could eclipse entire sum paid for mortgages by homeownersThe total amount of rent paid by tenants in Britain soared to more than £50bn in 2017, more than double the level of a decade ago, and may soon eclipse the entire sum paid out by homeowners for their mortgages.The figures, compiled by the UK’s biggest estate agency and mortgage broker, Countrywide, reveal the dramatic reshaping of the property market in recent years as home ownership levels have gon
  
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• 'Big shakeout coming': markets stem losses as hedge fund sounds warning

  12-02-2018 06:34 via theguardian.com
  After $4 trn losses last week, Australian shares fall 0.4% on Monday as US investor says markets have become ‘complacent’ Financial markets are braced for more volatility this week amid predictions from the world’s biggest hedge fund that a “big shakeout” is coming.The Australian stock market was the first to test the water on Monday morning and one point was down 0.7%.Continue reading...
  
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• Dump tariffs to boost consumer confidence and strengthen Brexit

  12-02-2018 01:00 via feedproxy.google.com
  BRITAIN should unilaterally abolish tariffs to give it an edge in Brexit talks and drive down prices for consumers, a new report states. Such a move would make the UK a champion of free trade and strengthen the country's negotiating hand with the EU, according to the Policy Exchange think tank.
  
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