Financial news

• Europe threatens tariffs on US peanut butter and orange juice as trade war looms - as it happened

  07-03-2018 22:13 via theguardian.com
  The EC has drawn up a list of American products to target if Donald Trump doesn’t back down over steel tariffsLatest: EC says it’ll hit back against AmericaPeanut butter, orange juice and bourbon on provisional tariffs listEC: Trump’s proposed tariffs are deeply unfairUS dollar hits two-week lowAnalysts fear trade warFull story: Gary Cohn quits as Trump’s top economic adviser9.13pm GMT And finally, the US stock market has closed....after recovering from its lows.Shares sc
  
  Read more

• Worsening life expectancy drives Legal & General profit rise

  07-03-2018 20:56 via theguardian.com
  Insurers need to set aside less cash for pension payments as century-long rise in UK life expectancy stalls due to bad diet, stress and austerityA slowdown in improvements in life expectancy in Britain has driven a sharp rise in annual profits at the insurance and pensions firm Legal & General.
  Worsening life expectancy means insurers need to set aside less cash for pension payments and allowed L&G to release £332m of reserves last year it had previously held back to pay customers.
  
  Read more

• Ofgem's muscular image jolted by an obstinate 'no'

  07-03-2018 20:15 via theguardian.com
  Energy watchdog is reduced to penning pleading opinion pieces in the pressNaming and shaming is a lesser-used implement in the energy regulator’s tool box but Ofgem chief executive Dermot Nolan seems to have concluded that nothing else has worked with Cheung Kong Infrastructure, or CKI.What is CKI? It’s a big Hong Kong-based investment fund with a surprisingly large collection of stakes in UK infrastructure – Northumbrian Water, Southern Water, one of the three big train rollin
  
  Read more

• UK's Hammond: Brexit deal must include financial services - Reuters.com

  07-03-2018 19:49
  Reuters.com
  UK's Hammond: Brexit deal must include financial services
  Reuters.com
  British finance minister Philip Hammond has said that financial services should be at the heart of a new trade deal and the EU should drop its tough stance on limiting the sector's market access after Brexit. As Laura Frykberg reports, his comments ...
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Airbus production cuts put 3,700 jobs at risk

  07-03-2018 19:28 via theguardian.com
  Scaling back of A380 and A400M planes could hit staff in UK, France, Germany and SpainAirbus has confirmed itis cutting production of two aircraft in a move that will put up to 3,700 jobs at risk in France, Germany, Spain and at Filton, near Bristol.The double-decker A380 superjumbo and the A400M military plane would be scaled back, the aerospace company said.Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Fracking delayed at North Yorkshire site until autumn

  07-03-2018 19:26 via theguardian.com
  Third Energy to halt shale gas project in Kirby Misperton until completion of approval processThird Energy has postponed plans to frack for shale gas at a site in North Yorkshire until the autumn. Related: The village that took on the frackersContinue reading...
  
  Read more

• EU: We will retaliate to protection with tariffs on US imports

  07-03-2018 19:17 via theguardian.com
  Commissioner says ‘a trade war has no winners’ but if it happens, ‘we will have to take measures’The European Union has responded to Donald Trump’s threat of a trade war by warning that it will retaliate with tariffs on a range of US imports including peanut butter, cranberries and orange juice. Reacting to the threat from the US president of 25% tariffs on steel imports and 10% on aluminium, European commissioner for trade Cecilia Malmström said on Wednesday t
  
  Read more

• Airbus production cuts puts 3,700 jobs at risk

  07-03-2018 19:01 via theguardian.com
  Scaling back of A380 and A400M planes could hit staff in UK, France, Germany and SpainAirbus has is cutting production of two aircraft in a move that will put at risk up to 3,700 jobs in France, Germany, Spain and at Filton, near Bristol.The double-decker A380 superjumbo and the A400M military plane would be scaled back, the aerospace company said.Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Hammond: UK could reject any Brexit deal excluding financial services

  07-03-2018 18:47 via theguardian.com
  Chancellor warns the EU that a ‘fair and balanced’ deal must include financial servicesPhilip Hammond has put Britain on a fresh collision course with Brussels after he warned the government could reject any Brexit trade deal not including financial services.
  Speaking in Canary Wharf at the headquarters of HSBC on Wednesday afternoon, the chancellor said a trade deal would only happen if it balanced the interests of both the UK and the EU.Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• This year, let’s make International Women’s Day really count | Letters

  07-03-2018 18:16
  Paula James and Alison Penn say women have been robbed of a secure retirement, Sue Ferns says joining a union is a woman’s best route to fighting for gender equality, and Anne Quesney agrees that ‘catcalling’ should be made a hate crimeThe mainstream media is celebrating the centenary of women’s partial suffrage, granted in 1918. No doubt there will be limited coverage of International Women’s Day on Thursday 8 March. And yet women continue to suffer the harsh effec
  
  Read more

• Renting need not be the second-best option | Letters

  07-03-2018 18:09
  As long as renters are subject to such poor security, excessive rents and lack of control on conditions, it is hardly surprising that ownership seems a nirvanaDawn Foster’s article (Renters could redraw the political map, 6 March) promises much in its title, but fails to deliver anything of substance to move this forward.There has been a huge loss of affordable council homes for rent since the introduction of right to buy in 1980. This is because money has been lost through selling homes a
  
  Read more

• Ofgem seeks tougher price controls on energy firms

  07-03-2018 17:56
  Plan would hit gas and electricity networks’ returns and save £5bn for consumers, says watchdogOfgem has signalled tougher price controls for energy firms that could knock up to £25 a year off the average household gas and electricity bill.Under the proposed new rules, due to come into force in April 2021, companies that run Britain’s gas and electricity networks would face a “significantly lower range of returns”, the regulator said. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• House price growth at lowest level for five years

  07-03-2018 17:51
  Halifax data comes days after Nationwide reported that UK house prices fell in FebruaryThe annual rate of house price growth has fallen to 1.8%, its lowest level for almost five years, according to the Halifax.With the most recent official data showing earnings growth averaging 2.5%, that means that unusually, wages are currently outpacing house prices.Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Wolf of Wall Street producers to pay $60m to US government

  07-03-2018 17:29 via theguardian.com
  Red Granite Pictures has been implicated in a scandal involving the Malaysian prime ministerThe producers of hit Hollywood film The Wolf of Wall Street have agreed to pay back $60m to the US government after allegations the film was funded with money stolen from a Malaysian state investment fund. Last year, Red Granite Pictures was implicated in the scandal, in which $3.5bn (£2.5bn) from the government-run 1MDB fund is alleged to have found its way into the bank accounts of associates of M
  
  Read more

• New Look considers shutting 60 UK stores – 1,000 jobs at risk

  07-03-2018 17:06 via theguardian.com
  Fashion chain confirms plans for company voluntary arrangement as ‘tough but necessary action’New Look is considering closing as many as 60 stores putting up to 980 jobs at risk.The struggling fashion chain on Wednesday confirmed plans for a restructuring process called company voluntary arrangement (CVA), which could involve the closure of more than a tenth of its 593 stores while a further six sites have been sublet to third parties. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Carillion bosses prioritised pay over company affairs, MPs hear

  07-03-2018 16:19 via theguardian.com
  Directors focused on bonuses rather than what was going on at the business, says BlackRock Former Carillion directors appeared to be more concerned about their pay deals than the operation of the company in the year leading up to its collapse, according to evidence given to MPs by City investment firm BlackRock.The allegation came during the latest hearing of a joint inquiry by two Commons select committees, in which investment fund Aberdeen Standard Investments appeared to back calls for the Bi
  
  Read more

• Coca-Cola to launch its first alcoholic drink

  07-03-2018 16:14 via theguardian.com
  Soft drink company to part with tradition by launching version of ‘Chu-Hi’ alcopop in JapanCoca-Cola is to produce the first alcoholic drink in its 132-year-history, with plans to launch an alcopop in Japan.The world’s biggest soft drinks company said it would start making a version of “Chu-Hi” – canned sparkling flavoured drinks that include a local spirit called shochu. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• NME to close print edition after 66 years

  07-03-2018 14:22 via theguardian.com
  Publisher of music magazine consulting about redundancies, while title will continue online Tell us about your favourite edition of NME The NME is to cease publication in print after 66 years, the weekly music title joining a growing list of once mighty magazine brands that now only exist online.The NME.com website will continue, replacing the print edition’s cover star interview with a new weekly digital franchise, the Big Read. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• 'We said it wasn't acceptable': how Bristol is standing up to developers

  07-03-2018 14:04 via theguardian.com
  With little social housing and a property price explosion, campaigners and councillors are taking back controlHousing crisis: 15,000 new Manchester homes and not a single one ‘affordable’
  When former legal adviser Kerry Mead, 41, split from her partner and needed a home to rent with her two children, Sammy, 9, and Ruby, 6, she realised a seismic shift had occurred in Bristol’s housing market.She could no longer afford to live near her children’s school, despite earning a
  
  Read more

• Europe threatens tariffs on US peanut butter and orange juice as trade war looms - business live

  07-03-2018 12:59 via theguardian.com
  All the day’s economic and financial news, as commissioner Cecilia Malmström outlines how the EC will respond to tariffs on steel and aluminiumLatest: EC says it’ll hit back against AmericaPeanut butter, orange juice and bourbon on provisional tariffs listEC: Trump’s proposed tariffs are deeply unfairEarlier:European markets fall in early tradingUS dollar hits two-week low
  Analysts fear trade warFull story: Gary Cohn quits as Trump’s top economic adviser11.59am GMT Q
  
  Read more

• Weinstein Company buyers pull out after much more debt found

  07-03-2018 09:14 via theguardian.com
  Group led by Maria Contreras-Sweet and Ron Burkle uncovered $50m more debt than expectedThe eleventh-hour deal to save Harvey Weinstein’s TV and film company from going bankrupt has fallen through, after the buyers discovered tens of millions of dollars more in liabilities on the books than expected.
  Last week, a consortium of investors led by Maria Contreras-Sweet, a former senior official in Barack Obama’s administration, and US billionaire Ron Burkle, entered the final stage of a
  
  Read more

• Why did easyJet insist on a needless visa?

  07-03-2018 08:00 via theguardian.com
  The airline refused a refund for our tickets as it blamed us for not having the correct documentsMy two children and I hold British passports and my husband, who is from the Middle East, has a travel document issued by the Home Office. We booked an easyJet flight from Gatwick to Berlin and checked in at the airport without a problem. However, at the boarding gate, the easyJet rep insisted my husband needed a visa to travel. We then had to wait hours for our luggage to be retrieved. The following
  
  Read more

• Scan and go: Co-op shoppers to avoid tills with phone app

  07-03-2018 07:01 via theguardian.com
  Technology expected to be rolled out this summer raises fears for retail jobs
  The Co-op is set to roll out technology that allows shoppers to scan and pay for items on their smartphone while they shop, and then walk out of the store without visiting a till.The retailer’s “shop, scan and go” service follows Amazon’s experiment with an automated convenience store in the US. Such initiatives could spell the beginning of the end for the supermarket checkout – fuelling f
  
  Read more

• Ripple price LIVE updates: XRP falls after Coinbase announces new index fund

  07-03-2018 01:57 via feedproxy.google.com
  RIPPLE prices are back in the red after hours of rumours about crypto exchange giant Coinbase supporting XRP were finally put to rest with the announcement that Coinbase will be introducing a new index fund instead. Here are all the latest price updates on Ripple, bitcoin and Ethereum.
  
  Read more

• Advertising watchdog cracks down on ticket resale websites

  07-03-2018 01:01 via theguardian.com
  ASA bans misleading pricing practices by StubHub UK, Viagogo, Seatwave and GetMeIn!The Advertising Standards Authority has taken action against four large secondary ticketing sites over the misleading presentation of pricing information on their websites. After sector-wide investigations, the ASA found that StubHub UK, Viagogo, Seatwave and GetMeIn! were not clear with consumers about additional ticket fees and charges added at the end of the booking process. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• UK topped Canada as No. 1 cannabis producer in 2016: report - Financial Post

  07-03-2018 00:38
  Financial Post
  UK topped Canada as No. 1 cannabis producer in 2016: report
  Financial Post
  Canada fell to a surprise second place behind the United Kingdom in 2016 legal cannabis production, according to an International Narcotics Control Board report issued last week. Statistics collected by the INCB, a United Nations-affiliated ...en meer »
  
  Read more

• RBS to pay New York $500m for deceptions ahead of 2008 crash

  07-03-2018 00:15 via theguardian.com
  State attorney general says of agreement: ‘While the financial crisis may be behind us, New Yorkers are still feeling the effects’Royal Bank of Scotland on Tuesday agreed to pay $500m to settle charges of using deceptive practices while marketing and selling mortgage-backed securities before the 2008 financial crisis.Announcing the agreement, the New York attorney general, Eric Schneiderman, said: “While the financial crisis may be behind us, New Yorkers are still feeling the e
  
  Read more

Follow @financialnwsUK on Twitter!