Financial news

• Spotify touts future profitability as it announces trading to begin in April

  15-03-2018 20:34 via theguardian.com
  CEO Daniel Ek presents 3 April launch on New York stock exchange as bid to save music business from piracyThe music streaming service Spotify has told investors it can become profitable and fend off bigger rivals such as Apple and Amazon, as it announced its shares will begin trading on the New York stock exchange on 3 April. Executives of the 12-year-old company said it had a user base of more than 100 million, with a higher percentage of paid subscribers than “freemium” listeners,
  
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• HSBC pay gap reveals men being paid twice as much as women

  15-03-2018 18:12 via theguardian.com
  Bank’s gender pay disparity of 60% is largest reported by a major company in the UK Men are paid two and a half times more per hour than women on average at banking group HSBC, the largest gender pay gap reported to date by a major UK company.The gender pay report from the UK’s largest bank, published on Thursday, reveals that less than a quarter of its most senior staff are female, while more than two-thirds of those in junior roles are women.Continue reading...
  
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• Brexit to blame? Not in the case of Unilever | Nils Pratley

  15-03-2018 17:47 via theguardian.com
  Marmite maker’s choice of Rotterdam over London for HQ based on business, not politicsNothing to do with Brexit? Actually, one shouldn’t be too sceptical about chief executive Paul Polman’s “categorical” denial that Brexit shaped Unilever’s choice of Rotterdam over London. Leaving the EU plainly didn’t help the UK’s pitch, but one suspects the Netherlands got the nod for two unrelated reasons – one the company is happy to shout about, and one
  
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• New oil threat looms over England's national park land, campaigners warn

  15-03-2018 17:21 via theguardian.com
  More than 71,000 hectares of protected countryside in the south-east face risk of drilling
  More than 71,000 hectares (177,000 acres) of protected countryside, including national park land, in the south-east of England are at risk from a new wave of oil drilling, environmental campaigners have warned.Under threat are areas of outstanding natural beauty in the Weald, which runs between the north and south downs, and the South Downs national park, Greenpeace said. Continue reading...
  
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• From VR porn to Kidcoin: inside the cryptocurrency trade fair

  15-03-2018 16:44 via theguardian.com
  Crypto Investor Show highlights variety in sector as interest surges on the back of bitcoin“If you reach out your hand, you can touch her and direct her,” the female assistant says as she guides Steve, a potential investor, through the bold new world of the cryptocurrency-backed virtual reality adult entertainment industry. The assistant asks Steve to wear a VR headset, sit comfortably and hold a remote control in each hand. Steve does as he is instructed and extends his left arm tow
  
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• Trade war fears weigh on markets as Trump's new adviser blasts China - business live

  15-03-2018 15:41 via theguardian.com
  All the day’s economic and financial news, as investors worry that Donald Trump will launch a tit-for-tat trade battle with BeijingIntroduction: Larry Kudlow seeks ‘coalition’ to crack down on China
  Latest: China says Americans should work harderGermany worried about trade warExperts: Trade war would hurt growthUnilever picks Rotterdam over London 5.34pm GMT Newsflash: IMF managing director Christine Lagarde has urged countries to avoid being sucked into a global trade war in t
  
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• Almost £1bn lost to financial fraudsters in UK last year - Financial Times

  15-03-2018 15:15
  Financial Times
  Almost £1bn lost to financial fraudsters in UK last year
  Financial Times
  UK households and companies lost almost £1bn to financial fraudsters in 2017, according to data that reveal the extent of “authorised” payment scams which often leave victims unable to receive compensation. The figures, compiled by industry group UK ...en meer »
  
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• Experian acquires UK's ClearScore and its financial product matching engine for ... - TechCrunch

  15-03-2018 13:30
  TechCrunch
  Experian acquires UK's ClearScore and its financial product matching engine for ...
  TechCrunch
  While credit-scoring behemoth Equifax continues to work through the fallout from its massive security breach, one of its big competitors is snapping up a startup in the UK to diversify its business. Experian today announced that it is acquiring ...en meer »
  
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• Kremlin control of British Gas? It could have happened | Nils Pratley

  15-03-2018 13:23 via theguardian.com
  Back in 2006, the government of the day took the rumoured takeover lying downDo you remember 2006? The Queen turned 80, Steve McClaren became the manager of England’s football team and investors were obsessing over speculation that Gazprom, Russia’s state-controlled energy giant, was about to bid for Centrica, the owner of British Gas.The deal never happened, of course, but the tale wasn’t idle gossip. Gazprom executives created the excitement by saying an acquisition of Centri
  
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• Unilever picks Rotterdam as sole HQ but denies Brexit link

  15-03-2018 12:50 via theguardian.com
  Persil, Dove and Marmite maker’s decision not to choose London is a blow to UK’s status as financial centreUnilever, the Anglo-Dutch consumer goods giant, has picked Rotterdam over London as its sole headquarters but denied the move was related to the Brexit vote.Britain’s third-biggest company, which makes a number of well-known consumer brands including Marmite, Dove soap and Magnum ice-cream, has been based in London and Rotterdam for nearly a century.Continue reading...
  
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• Can I really be charged £297 for receiving texts?

  15-03-2018 12:27 via theguardian.com
  I’d assumed they were spam and I would only pay if I respondedI recently discovered a company called SB7 Mobile has charged me £4.50 a week for 66 weeks. It looks as though I’ve paid £297 for simply receiving texts. I realise I should have been more on top of my mobile bills, but I have no recollection of signing up to this. I’d assumed the texts were spam and that I would be charged £4.50 only if I responded. LG, London Continue reading...
  
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• When will the penny drop? We don’t need pennies any more

  15-03-2018 11:57 via theguardian.com
  The government shouldn’t have U-turned on scrapping copper coins means –no one would have missed themSkilfully guiding a 2p down the chute of a coin-pushing machine at a Clacton amusement arcade is an abiding childhood memory. So, too, is the high-stakes Christmas card game where we would bet with piles of 1p coins taken from my father’s Bell’s whisky bottle. And of course we should never have stuffed ourselves silly with 1p pink shrimp and 2p spongy banana sweets made fr
  
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• We know what’s wrong with the UK economy. Now it’s time to fix it | Larry Elliott

  15-03-2018 07:00 via theguardian.com
  A decade on from the crash and with the Brexit fog clearing, there’s an opportunity to make real and lasting changeOne of the many lessons learned since the world plunged into economic crisis a decade ago is that forecasts need to be taken with a large pinch of salt. Consider the evidence. As the biggest bubble in history was being pumped up, the International Monetary Fund said financial markets had never been safer. The Bank of England failed to recognise the possibility that there might
  
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• If we truly cared about poor people, low-wage Britain wouldn’t exist | James Bloodworth

  15-03-2018 07:00
  After six months spent in low-paid work, I think the biggest problem is the public mindset that allows exploitation to occurIn early 2016 I set out to spend six months working in low-paid jobs around the country. At that time, there was a great deal of optimism swilling around about Britain’s record employment levels. Yet trends such as the precipitous growth of zero-hours contracts after the 2008 recession suggested that much of the work being created was not on a par with what had existe
  
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