Financial news

• Rihanna's empire: empowering women and making lots of money

  11-05-2018 19:05 via theguardian.com
  The singer’s new lingerie brand has been met with fanfare and lengthy online queuesOnline queues and “sold out” signs greeted UK shoppers hoping to purchase items from Rihanna’s lingerie collection, Savage x Fenty, as it launched on the brand’s website on Friday morning. Hype had been building steadily since April, when the singer, whose albums include Anti, confirmed its inception to her 62.5 million Instagram followers.The collection – which became available
  
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• Npower price rise sparks widespread criticism

  11-05-2018 18:53 via theguardian.com
  Politicians and consumer groups condemn decision to increase standard variable tariff price by 5.3%Npower has been roundly condemned by politicians, consumer groups and comparison sites after it became the fifth of the big six energy suppliers to raise prices.About 1 million customers on the firm’s standard variable tariff will be hit by a 5.3%, or £64, increase per year from 17 June, taking a typical annual dual-fuel bill to £1,230. Continue reading...
  
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• Ex-Deutsche Bank broker told to pay £1m over insider dealing

  11-05-2018 18:49 via theguardian.com
  FCA issues confiscation order against Martyn Dodgson, with Andrew Hind ordered to pay £625,000The City watchdog is set to confiscate £1.7m from a former investment banker and his close friend nearly two years after they were convicted of insider dealing. The bulk of the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) confiscation order is aimed at Martyn Dodgson, whose former roles include a managing director at Deutsche Bank, an executive director at Lehman Brothers and a vice-president a
  
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• Markle Sparkle, anyone? Royal wedding bar pops up in Washington

  11-05-2018 18:21 via theguardian.com
  A pop-up bar is offering ‘Markle Sparkle’ cocktails and a mock-up of the Buckingham Palace throne room for anglophiles and wannabe princessesThe Beatles are being blasted over the pub’s loudspeaker, and the boisterous bar crowd are enjoying “Markle Sparkle” cocktails. The walls are adorned with pink and white floral arrangements – and the kitchen is being guarded by a statue of a Beefeater, the ceremonial guards more often spotted protecting the Tower of Londo
  
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• Npower price hike sparks widespread criticism

  11-05-2018 18:17 via theguardian.com
  Politicians and consumer groups condemn decision to increase standard variable tariff price by 5.3%Npower has been roundly condemned by politicians, consumer groups and comparison sites after it became the fifth of the big six energy suppliers to raise prices.Around a million customers on the firm’s standard variable tariff will be hit by a 5.3%, or £64, increase per year from 17 June, taking a typical annual dual-fuel bill to £1,230. Continue reading...
  
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• Barclays boss Jes Staley fined £642,000 over whistleblower scandal

  11-05-2018 18:04 via theguardian.com
  FCA says chief, who will also repay £500,00 of bonus, ‘breached standard of care required’The Barclays chief executive, Jes Staley, has been ordered to hand over more than £1.1m out of his own pocket as punishment for attempting to unmask a whistleblower. Staley has been fined a total of £642,430 by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority, and Barclays has clawed back £500,000 of his bonus over the matter. Continue reading...
  
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• Open up rail ticket booking to third parties | Letters

  11-05-2018 18:01 via theguardian.com
  Dave Ashton of Loco2 calls for access to data for comparison sites, while Sheila Cross thinks only nationalisation can create harmonisation of faresModernising the rail ticketing system is a positive step (Rail industry prepares for season ticket cull in fares shake-up, 8 May), but it won’t help UK rail appeal to passengers choosing to drive or fly to locations already well-served by rail.There is a larger problem: rail’s relative lack of third-party booking services. Few travel comp
  
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• FCA to confiscate £1.7m from pair convicted of insider dealing

  11-05-2018 17:58 via theguardian.com
  Order must be paid within three months or Martyn Dodgson and Andrew Hind will face longer prison sentencesThe City watchdog is set to confiscate £1.7m from a former investment banker and his close friend nearly two years after they were convicted of insider dealing. The bulk of the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) confiscation order is aimed at Martyn Dodgson, whose former roles include a managing director at Deutsche Bank, an executive director at Lehman Brothers and a vice-presi
  
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• Let’s move to Truro, Cornwall: it has moments of magnificence

  11-05-2018 17:30 via theguardian.com
  People lust after the Cornish coast, forgetting there are perfectly smashing spots like Truro a short drive from sandy covesWhat’s going for it? It’s very nice, Truro. That sounds like damning with faint praise, but it’s not. In this age of Twitter trolls and sharpened elbows, niceness is an underrated virtue. Truro has its moments of magnificence – its neo-gothic Victorian cathedral, perhaps, three spires stretched to the clouds. But its real virtue lies in gentler pleas
  
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• Embarrassed AT&T says hiring Trump fixer Michael Cohen was 'big mistake'

  11-05-2018 16:40 via theguardian.com
  Telecoms giant says it made a ‘serious misjudgment’ in its relationship with Cohen and admits ‘our reputation has been damaged’Hiring president Donald Trump’s personal attorney, Michael Cohen, was a “big mistake,” AT&T’s chief executive officer, Randall Stephenson, said in an employee memo, reviewed by Reuters, that went out on Friday morning.AT&T’s head lobbyist, Bob Quinn, who oversaw the hiring of Cohen, is retiring, according to t
  
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• The generational wealth gap – Politics Weekly podcast

  11-05-2018 16:29 via theguardian.com
  Heather Stewart is joined by Torsten Bell, Iman Amrani and Sonia Sodha to discuss proposals for addressing the growing wealth gap between Britain’s young and older generations. Also this week: Anand Menon rounds up another frantic week of Brexit newsLeave.EU has been fined and its staff could face prosecution over breaches to spending rules during the referendum. Meanwhile, the House of Lords delivered another Brexit bombshell this week when it reopened the debate on the single market. The
  
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• EU crisis: Draghi calls for ‘fiscal instrument’ to stop eurozone being pulled apart

  11-05-2018 16:29 via feedproxy.google.com
  EUROPEAN banking chief Mario Draghi has called for a new, eurozone “fiscal instrument” to stop the bloc disintegrating after another economic shock.
  
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• Will we fall apart when the robots take our jobs? | Christina Patterson

  11-05-2018 16:20 via theguardian.com
  People have to deal with adversity in their personal lives. The skills for dealing with societal change are much the sameFive years ago, I lost the thing that mattered to me most. I received a letter about “synergies” and “integration”, and was told that the “synergies” would “reduce costs”. I didn’t like the sound of “synergies”. But the worst moment was when an executive looked out of a window and told me that he wanted to
  
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• Greece given ‘green light’ to END bailout with €332 billion left to pay

  11-05-2018 16:09 via feedproxy.google.com
  GREECE will been given the green light to finally exit from the stringent bailout program according to Luxembourg finance minister Pierre Gramegna. However, sounding a note of caution, the EU is already planning a so-called “enhanced surveillance” tool for Greece to “ensure a successful exit”.
  
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• Bitcoin price: Bullish expert explains why he thinks bitcoin will go 'HIGHER from here'

  11-05-2018 16:00 via feedproxy.google.com
  BITCOIN price has historically risen every year for three years following an annual blockchain technology summit, according to cryptocurrency expert Robert Sluymer – who thinks this year will be no different.
  
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• Barclays boss fined £642,430 over whistleblower incident - as it happened

  11-05-2018 16:00 via theguardian.com
  Jes Staley has been fined by UK regulators for a breach of conduct after he tried to uncover the identity of whistleblowerBarclays will also claw back £500,000 of Staley’s bonusBank of England’s Broadbent: we never promised a May rate riseZoopla owner to be sold for £2.2bn to US private equity firmPound recovers some ground after Bank of England held rates 3.00pm BST Before we close up for the day, here is a summary of the main developments: 2.36pm BST Over in France, Pre
  
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• Chocolate wars: Waitrose faces copycat claim from Hotel Chocolat

  11-05-2018 15:50 via theguardian.com
  Chocolatier’s bosses write to supermarket over range of bars they say bear an uncanny resemblance to their ownWaitrose is battling allegations of chocolate plagiarism in a hot-tempered dispute between rival factions of posh chocolatiers.The bosses of upmarket Hotel Chocolat have written to the supermarket’s chief executive in fury after it launched a range of bars they claim bear an uncanny resemblance to their own. Continue reading...
  
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• Sunday Times Rich List: UK's wealthiest hedge fund manager now worth £3bn

  11-05-2018 14:55 via theguardian.com
  Tory donor and art collector Mike Platt has boosted his fortune by £600m in a yearMike Platt, a Preston-born financier who started investing at the age of 14 with a £500 gift from his grandmother, has been named Britain’s richest hedge fund manager with a £3bn fortune.Platt, 49, the co-founder and chief executive of Belgravia-based BlueCrest capital management, has increased his wealth by £600m over the past year to retain his crown as the richest hedge fund manager
  
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• The man who dressed the mods: ‘They were jumping up and down for my shirts!'

  11-05-2018 14:24 via theguardian.com
  His shops triggered a British style explosion – and he’s idolised by sharp-dressed superstars like Martin Freeman and Paul Weller. Meet John Simons, whose windows are ‘like theatre’‘Absolutely not,” says John Simons when asked if he can remove his cap for a photograph. He insists he’s not being stubborn or difficult, though. It’s just that this would ruin his look. “It’s part of my outfit. I can’t take it off,” he says. By w
  
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• Nude Modigliani painting expected to fetch $150m at auction

  11-05-2018 13:36 via theguardian.com
  Nu couché (sur le côté gauche) is due to become one of the most expensive artworks ever when it goes on sale in New York When it was first exhibited in Paris in 1917, Amedeo Modigliani’s female nude Nu couché (sur le côté gauche) caused such a stir that the police were called and the gallerist was accused of outraging public decency. On Monday it is expected to sell for more than $150m (£111m), becoming one of the most expensive paintings ever
  
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• EU facing crisis: Italy could cost Brussels €20BN as parties RIP UP austerity rules

  11-05-2018 13:35 via feedproxy.google.com
  ITALY is sending shivers through the EU as its two anti-establishment parties make “significant steps” towards forming a government that could cost the bloc billions.
  
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• Sellafield faces huge fine over worker's exposure to radiation

  11-05-2018 13:00 via theguardian.com
  Nuclear regulator prosecutes waste firm after injury leaves employee open to exposure
  Britain’s biggest nuclear waste storage and reprocessing site is facing a potential multimillion-pound fine after an employee was exposed to dangerously high levels of radiation.The nuclear regulator said its investigation had led it to prosecute Cumbria-based Sellafield Ltd, which handles the waste from the UK’s nuclear power stations as well as spent fuel from Japan and the US. Continue reading...
  
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• BITCOIN PRICE: Ethereum and Bitcoin Cash investors at WAR

  11-05-2018 12:45 via feedproxy.google.com
  ETHEREUM’S rise from $400 in April to over $800 in May has led to definite escalation of the rivalry between two rising cryptocurrency tribes. Bitcoin Cash believers say that there was an organised attempt to label their coin a "scam", while Ethereum holders say the debate is, “like being attacked by scientologists”.
  
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• Zoopla, PrimeLocation and uSwitch owner ZPG sold for £2.2bn

  11-05-2018 12:35 via theguardian.com
  Daily Mail parent company DMGT in line for £640m windfall from sale to Silver LakeThe company behind the UK property sites Zoopla and PrimeLocation and the price comparison service uSwitch is being bought by a US private equity firm in a £2.2bn deal.California-based tech investor Silver Lake, which has investments in companies including Alibaba, GoDaddy and Tesla, has agreed a 490p a share bid for parent company ZPG. The bid, which values the business at £2.2bn, is almost a thi
  
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• Next sales bask in April sunshine as Superdry suffers chilly March

  11-05-2018 12:32 via theguardian.com
  Clothing chain reports jump in profits but fashion brand says ‘beast from the east’ slowed salesUpdates from two major UK fashion retailers has one blaming a sharp downturn in sales on the “beast from the east” cold snap and another saying the recent hot weather had generated a jump in sales and profits.Next said the balmy spell, which included the warmest April day in the UK in almost 70 years, resulted in a £40m sales boost as Britons splashed out on summer dresse
  
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• Pound V euro: GBP exchange rate recovers after BoE-triggered crash

  11-05-2018 11:14 via feedproxy.google.com
  THE pound has risen against the euro today. It follows Thursday’s drop that was caused by the Bank of England leaving interest rates at 0.5 per cent.
  
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• Pound v US dollar: BoE rate decision prompts GBP to plunge

  11-05-2018 10:40 via feedproxy.google.com
  THE pound appears to be in a holding pattern against the US dollar this morning. The pairing are taking a breather after slumping on Thursday in the wake of the Bank of England’s latest policy meeting.
  
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• Venezuelan ELECTION: Maduro promises 'economic war' as 90% of voters SUFFER in poverty

  11-05-2018 09:15 via feedproxy.google.com
  VENEZUELA’S embattled President Nicolas Maduro has renewed his promise to defeat the “oligarchs” responsible for the country’s deep economic crisis.
  
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• City centre freehold homes for sale – in pictures

  11-05-2018 08:00 via theguardian.com
  You’re never far from the action in these central properties, from York to Exeter Continue reading...
  
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• Bill shock as airlines and banks split over card ticket sales

  11-05-2018 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Passing the buck after dividing return tickets into two paymentsA year ago you featured a letter from a reader who was charged twice after booking flights with Delta airlines. It is still happening. I bought a £2,367.82 return flight with Delta and my credit card has been charged for the outward and inward-bound tickets individually. The full sum for both has also been put on hold, meaning I’ve effectively paid twice.Continue reading...
  
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• Revolution in supermarket packaging – archive, 11 May 1959

  11-05-2018 06:30 via theguardian.com
  11 May 1959: How to prepack highly perishable foodstuffs in an attractive, modern pack is a difficult challenge for retailersPrepacked groceries have been known to us for a number of years, but I well remember, as a very young man in the food trade, their introduction! This brought an outcry, and the trade was told “You will never be successful; you will price yourself out of the market.” But they lived, became a success, and have increased their scope. With this success in mind and
  
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• Bitcoin set to be SURPASSED in the crypto realm? Expert predicts SHOCKING future for BTC

  11-05-2018 06:09 via feedproxy.google.com
  BITCOIN will be surpassed in the cryptocurrency realm by the end of 2018 according to an expert that predicted a shocking future for the virtual money during a period of BTC market gains.
  
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• Concerns after potentially lethal fault found in VW Polo and Seat seatbelts

  11-05-2018 01:33 via theguardian.com
  Rear-left seatbelts in cars could come unbuckled in certain situations, tests by Finnish magazine findSome of Britain’s top-selling cars may have faulty and potentially lethal seatbelts, the Volkswagen Group has admitted.The rear-left seatbelt in Volkswagen Polos as well as two Seat brands, has a potentially dangerous fault, tests carried out by a Finnish car magazine found. Continue reading...
  
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