Financial news

• Liverpool landlord with 18 houses on one street investigated by council

  24-10-2018 20:57 via theguardian.com
  Local authority trying to determine if owner broke law by not having correct licences Liverpool city council is investigating a landlord who bought 18 houses on a single street in February to determine whether his firm has broken housing law by renting them out without the correct licences.The investigation into the licensing of the properties, which were acquired for a combined price of £702,000 eight months ago and are now on the market again, was triggered after a resident complained to
  
  Read more

• Debenhams to close up to 50 stores in further blow to high streets

  24-10-2018 20:42 via theguardian.com
  Struggling department store chain also expected to unveil £500m annual lossDebenhams will on Thursday confirm plans to shut up to 50 stores, nearly a third of the UK-wide chain, putting up to 5,000 jobs at risk. The struggling department store is also expected to unveil a £500m annual loss as it writes off the value of its brand and the cost of unwanted shop leases and IT systems.Debenhams, which currently has 165 stores and employs 27,000 people, is struggling to adapt as shoppers s
  
  Read more

• Cathay Pacific hit by data leak affecting up to 9.4m passengers

  24-10-2018 20:17 via theguardian.com
  Airline confirms passport numbers, email addresses and credit card data were accessedThe airline Cathay Pacific has announced that it has suffered a major data leak affecting up to 9.4 million passengers.The Hong Kong flag carrier admitted that personal information including passport numbers, identity card numbers, email addresses and credit card details had been accessed. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• 'Clean results' are a weak boast, but Barclays' overhaul deserves time to work

  24-10-2018 20:04 via theguardian.com
  Jes Staley crowed over not very much, but activist Edward Bramson may struggle to stir a shareholder rebellionOne can understand why Jes Staley’s self-satisfied tone might irritate your average activist investor. Barclays’ chief executive unveiled the third-quarter update with a very weak boast. It was the second quarter in a row of “clean results” for Barclays, said Staley proudly. Clean, in this context, means the absence of big bills to cover past bad behaviour or to s
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Animatronic Arnie has helped public pursue PPI claims, says FCA

  24-10-2018 20:00 via theguardian.com
  Publicity campaign led to fewer people needing help from claims management firmsA PPI awareness campaign featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger’s animatronic head has been a success, with more people now complaining themselves, according to the City regulator.In a progress update, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said there has been a clear increase in consumer action and people’s awareness of the deadline for making a complaint on 29 August 2019 has been raised. It said the campaign h
  
  Read more

• Tenants will get access to rogue landlord database, says PM

  24-10-2018 19:31 via theguardian.com
  Official U-turn after revelation that database is empty and would be secret anywayTheresa May has pledged to give tenants access to the government’s new rogue landlord database after a Guardian and ITV News investigation revealed that not a single name had been entered into the system in more than six months since its launch – and that even when landlords’ names were listed, the public would not be allowed to see them.In a swift U-turn, the prime minister’s official spoke
  
  Read more

• The Guardian view on slumland Britain: a housing market failure | Editorial

  24-10-2018 19:29 via theguardian.com
  Ministers need to come up with their own ideas to tackle the housing crisis rather than just pinching Labour ones they have previously mocked. That means ditching indifference for interventionThe shocking joint investigation by the Guardian and ITV News into the emergence of slum-like housing conditions in England exposes the seamy underbelly of modern prosperity: convicted rogue landlords are allowed to continue renting out homes, and tower blocks owned by foreign owners rake in profits from pu
  
  Read more

• Convicted former UBS trader faces imminent deportation

  24-10-2018 19:23 via theguardian.com
  Kweku Adoboli, who was born in Ghana but has lived in UK since he was 12, loses appealThe convicted former UBS trader Kweku Adoboli faces imminent deportation to Ghana after a judge rejected his latest appeal to remain in the UK.Adoboli sought permission in the immigration court to judicially review the refusal of his latest application to remain in the UK. But judge Mark Ockelton rejected his claim in the strongest possible terms. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• No-deal Brexit would halt most UK-Spain flights, industry says

  24-10-2018 19:08 via theguardian.com
  Busy route particularly exposed to lack of safety regulation frameworkThe number of flights between the UK and Spain could collapse by 95% if no Brexit deal is agreed, the air travel industry’s global trade body has warned.Travel for tourists, business and cargo will all be significantly affected in a “no deal” scenario, according to a report prepared for the International Air Transport Association (Iata), which represents 290 airlines around the world. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Bahrain in GLOBAL PLAYER bid as Crown Prince vows to RESTRUCTURE economy by doing THIS

  24-10-2018 19:01 via feedproxy.google.com
  THE Crown Prince of Bahrain has vowed to transform his nation "from an oil economy to a smart oil economy” after admitting current levels of government revenue raked in from barrels are unsustainable. Bahrain currently pumps out around 200,000 barrels per day, with Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa claiming oil counts toward a massive 75 percent of money coming into the Arabian Gulf nation.
  
  Read more

• Inheritance tax capital of the UK MAPPED – is death tax capital where YOU live?

  24-10-2018 18:29 via feedproxy.google.com
  GUILDFORD has been named as the inheritance tax capital of the UK, with as many as 658 families having forked out on death tax in a single year, according to new research. More households in the Surrey town paid inheritance tax than anywhere else in the UK, generating a total of £152 million, or £231,000 per family on average, in the tax year 2015/16.
  
  Read more

• Freezing UK tower block was cash cow for foreign investors

  24-10-2018 18:00 via theguardian.com
  Agents at Liverpool flats faced 13 prosecutions last year as housing benefit flowed abroadA Liverpool tower block that had more housing prosecutions in 2017 than any other building was 80% owned by international investors, some of whom were banking publicly funded rents while subjecting tenants to potential danger from hazardously low temperatures.Mill View tower, a 16-storey former council-owned high rise in Toxteth, attracted 13 prosecutions last year for Elite Property Management and Lettings
  
  Read more

• How has Brexit vote affected UK economy? October verdict

  24-10-2018 16:40 via theguardian.com
  Each month we look at key indicators to see what effect the Brexit process has on growth, prosperity and tradeBritain’s last budget before Brexit needs to be bold
  UK goes it alone just as world faces tough times Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Britain's last budget before Brexit needs to be bold: experts debate data

  24-10-2018 16:40 via theguardian.com
  With optimism low and investment very weak, Philip Hammond faces a difficult taskUK goes it alone just as world faces tough times
  How has Brexit vote affected UK economy? October verdict
  Senior economic adviser at the accountancy group PwC and member of the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee (MPC), 2006-2011 Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Brexit economy: UK goes it alone just as world faces tough times

  24-10-2018 16:40 via theguardian.com
  Ahead of probably the UK’s last budget as a member of the EU, storm clouds are gatheringBritain’s last budget before Brexit needs to be bold
  How has Brexit vote affected UK economy? October verdictPhilip Hammond is coming under increasing pressure to raise public spending in the budget on Monday to protect the British economy against Brexit, against a backdrop of mixed economic developments over the past month.Ahead of what will probably be the last UK budget in more than 40 years of
  
  Read more

• English winemakers raise a glass to bumper grape harvest

  24-10-2018 16:09 via theguardian.com
  Chancellor may cut short celebrations though by raising duty in budget, trade body saysEnglish winemakers are raising a glass to a bumper harvest on course to be the best in history in terms of both quality and quantity, after a long, hot summer provided unparalleled conditions for viticulture.The wine and spirits trade body said, however, that any celebrations could be short-lived, cut short by rises in duty expected in next week’s budget. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• 'NOT clear yet' India rupee set for 'DIFFICULT' six months DESPITE boost against US dollar

  24-10-2018 15:14 via feedproxy.google.com
  INDIA could see a “difficult” next six months for the rupee, according to a financial strategist, despite the currency clawing back gains against the US dollar this week. The rupee has plummeted in value versus the American greenback this year, losing around 15 percent of its worth off the back of soaring interest rates in the US and sky-high oil prices.
  
  Read more

• China yuan 'could fall FURTHER against US dollar within the next SIX MONTHS'

  24-10-2018 14:52 via feedproxy.google.com
  CHINA could be set to see its yuan crippled further within the next six months, after a year which has seen the Chinese currency lose around 6 percent already against the US dollar. The gloomy prediction came from a Goldman Saches analyst, who told CNBC a decline against the American greenback is looking more likely after a turbulent few months for the yuan.
  
  Read more

• Mortgage approvals by British banks fall to seven-month low

  24-10-2018 13:52 via theguardian.com
  Housing market affected by affordability, Brexit and uncertainty over interest rates The number of mortgages approved by Britain’s high street banks fell to a seven-month low in September, a month after the Bank of England raised interest rates.Big British lenders approved 37,352 mortgages for house purchases last month, down from 42,581 in August, according to figures from UK Finance, the banking trade body. It was the lowest level since February this year and a 10% fall compared with Sep
  
  Read more

• Pound US dollar exchange rate: GBP drops as UK mortgage approvals fall

  24-10-2018 12:01 via feedproxy.google.com
  THE pound is trading at a rate of $1.293 against the dollar this morning – down about 0.4 per cent on its opening levels. Sterling rallied against most currencies yesterday, but was left out in the cold against the dollar which benefitted from its safe haven status as global stock markets panicked and Italy’s budget scandal threatened to get out of control.
  
  Read more

• I paid $7,348 for healthcare last week – so Trump's law changes are personal

  24-10-2018 12:00 via theguardian.com
  For those of use with imperfect health, survival now seems to require throwing ourselves at the feet of elected officials, pleading to be treated with compassionI woke up on a Monday with tingling hands and numb feet, my legs too weak to climb stairs without a struggle. I spent most of Tuesday in a red recliner with a plastic tube stuck inside a vein in the back of my hand, waiting while a drug made from other people’s blood plasma dripped into my body.On Wednesday, nauseous from the chemi
  
  Read more

• Deutsche Bank profits DOWN 65 percent in Q3 – but CEO says bank STILL on track

  24-10-2018 11:44 via feedproxy.google.com
  DEUTSCHE BANK profits plunged by 65 percent in the third quarter, down £370 million compared to a year ago. Germany’s biggest bank noted net profit of £202 million , a decline from the £572 million seen in the same period in 2017.
  
  Read more

• Who will protect tenants from rogue landlords? Certainly not the Tories | Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett

  24-10-2018 11:42 via theguardian.com
  The government has abandoned private renters to poor living conditions, revenge evictions and sky-high rentsThis government is failing tenants. From an investigation by this newspaper the Guardian and ITV News into how rogue landlords continue to operate despite being deemed unfit to rent, that much is clear. Vermin, mould, dodgy wiring, bullying eviction tactics – it seems that you can get away with all of it, if you’re rich enough to regard the fines as merely a business expense. A
  
  Read more

• Pound euro exchange rate: GBP trading in narrow range on Brexit border control warning

  24-10-2018 11:24 via feedproxy.google.com
  THE pound is trading in a narrow range against the euro today, remaining near the week’s worst pound euro exchange rate of €1.132. This limited Sterling movement comes after a warning about the effects of Brexit by the National Audit Office .
  
  Read more

• Airbnb can’t go on unregulated – it does too much damage to cities | Steven Poole

  24-10-2018 10:30 via theguardian.com
  Barcelona is an extreme case, but certainly the law needs to catch up so Airbnb doesn’t price locals out of their communityRemember the “sharing economy”? That rhetoric looks more comically disingenuous than ever in light of the news that a single Airbnb user in Barcelona is managing a portfolio of properties that brings in an eye-watering £33,000 a day in high season. Old neighbourhoods are being overrun with short-term tourists and shops selling souvenir tat. Rents for
  
  Read more

• Pound LIVE: Sterling trading lower against euro as May set for Brexit Westminster SHOWDOWN

  24-10-2018 09:41 via feedproxy.google.com
  THE pound is trading lower against the euro this morning as “heightened uncertainty” over Brexit continues to weigh on the exchange rate. Theresa May is braced for a showdown in Westminster today as she faces critics who have been raised concerns over EU divorce negotiations.
  
  Read more

• ‘Money is going to CHANGE’ Bitcoin could pave way for NEW FINANCIAL ORDER, expert predicts

  24-10-2018 08:15 via feedproxy.google.com
  BITCOIN and other cryptocurrencies could be the catalyst for a new financial order that will topple existing systems, as the world cries out for far-reaching economic change, a cryptocurrency specialist has suggested.
  
  Read more

• I got a £50 ticket for driving into a car park after an accident

  24-10-2018 08:00 via theguardian.com
  I pulled into the nearest place to recover from the shock, but was slapped with a parking fineI was hit from behind by a car on a windy, rainy day as I was waiting to turn left on a roundabout. Because of the location I had to move away once we had exchanged details. A pub car park was the nearest area I could pull in to. It allowed me to check for damage, ring the dealer as the car was under a personal contract purchase, and recover from the shock. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

Follow @financialnwsUK on Twitter!