Financial news

• UBS ordered to pay £3.9bn by French court over raft of violations

  20-02-2019 20:46
  Swiss bank found guilty of illegal solicitation and laundering proceeds of tax fraudUBS has been ordered to pay €4.5bn (£3.9bn) by a French court for helping wealthy clients dodge tax, adding to a raft of violations that stand to leave the Swiss bank almost £8bn out of pocket.The lender was found guilty on Wednesday of illegal solicitation and laundering proceeds of tax fraud, a ruling which came with a €3.7bn fine and €800m in civil damages. The total penalty is said
  
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• Sainsbury's must accept its Asda merger has been canned | Phillip Inman

  20-02-2019 19:53
  Chief executive Mike Coupe’s strategy shows he is lost in the retail jungle and lacks a plan BSainsbury’s boss Mike Coupe said he will keep banging the drum for its merger with Asda, despite a damning report from the competition regulator that effectively rules it out.It’s a strategy that shows Coupe is lost in the retail jungle without Asda holding his hand. It also reveals he lacks a plan B. Continue reading...
  
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• Seeking value for money on the UK’s railways | Letters

  20-02-2019 19:39
  Paul Plummer, CEO of the Rail Delivery Group, says its proposals would enable radical simplification of fares. Plus Alan Whitehouse points out that the taxpayer subsidy has soared since privatisationPatrick Collinson’s interpretation of our proposals to reform the regulations underpinning Britain’s fares system (New proposal to simplify our crazy rail fares would be like Ryanair on steroids, 19 February) is in stark contrast to those of numerous passenger groups, fares experts and po
  
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• ETI THERMAPEN: New BABY food thermometer offers safe haven for parents

  20-02-2019 19:21 via feedproxy.google.com
  Thermapen, Britain’s best-selling food thermometer brand and TV cooking show staple, is moving into the baby market with a model designed to safeguard infants and combat parents’ heat safety and weaning worries. 
  
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• To brie or not to brie: can vegan 'cheese' taste as good as dairy?

  20-02-2019 18:59
  Britain’s first ‘plant-based cheesemonger’ has outraged the traditional food industry. But can something made from nuts and coconut oil ever rival cheddar or camembert?Dairy is torture for animals, disastrous for the environment and only questionably vital for good health – but the arguments increasingly piling up in favour of veganism are, for many, still amply dismissed by one straight from the heart: “I could never give up cheese.” The cheese on toast of ch
  
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• SIS PITCHES: UK sports surfaces supplier moves into premier league

  20-02-2019 17:43 via feedproxy.google.com
  UK sports surfaces supplier SIS Pitches is heading for a £55 million plus turnover this year after a string of stellar World Cup appearances and international contract wins for its ground-breaking turf technology.
  
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• What are Brexit contingency plans for retailers and farmers?

  20-02-2019 17:13 via theguardian.com
  With fears over long delays, high trade tariffs and a lack of migrant workers, here’s what firms are doingWelsh farmers brace themselves for Brexit
  Irish milk firm fears ‘lights out’
  The UK food industry has begged the government to avoid a no-deal Brexit, warning it could lead to food shortages and price rises. Nearly a third of the food Britons eat comes from the EU.In March, when the UK is set to exit the trading bloc, the proportion is far higher because most British crops
  
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• Bitcoin’s next move will be a gamechanger

  20-02-2019 15:51 via feedproxy.google.com
  No one really knows what the driving forces behind bitcoin’s recent surge are. At best, they’re a combination of the sudden announcement by JP Morgan that the 124-year-old establishment is finally embracing cryptocurrency or that the latest Samsung phone comes complete with a crypto wallet.
  
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• EU raids salmon farmers in Scotland in price-fixing inquiry

  20-02-2019 14:22
  Anti-cartel investigation into Norwegian producers also sees raids in the Netherlands and other EU member states European commission investigators have raided salmon farming businesses in Scotland and other European countries in an inquiry into suspected price-fixing by Norwegian producers.The anti-cartel investigators raided sales offices owned by Mowi, formerly Marine Harvest, in Rosyth in Fife, a Scottish Sea Farms site and a salmon farm operated by Grieg in Shetland on Tuesday, as well as si
  
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• Glencore to limit coal production after pressure from investors

  20-02-2019 13:59
  Church of England and large Australian superannuation funds among shareholders who pushed for environmental decisionThe commodities trader Glencore has bowed to pressure from shareholders to limit coal production for environmental reasons – days after reporting that it produced nearly 130m tonnes of the fossil fuel last year.The Switzerland-based firm, whose oil-trading operation is based in London, laid out plans to improve its environmental record, including a review of its membership of
  
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• Brexit BONUS: Are there any advantages to Brexit? The SHOCKING travel boost

  20-02-2019 13:43 via feedproxy.google.com
  THE UK is set to leave the European Union in just over a month and with Brexit D-Day approaching, we take a look at if there are any advantages to the withdrawal from the EU.
  
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• Britons may need £52 visa to visit mainland Europe after Brexit

  20-02-2019 13:22 via theguardian.com
  Visa-free travel plan derailed again by Spanish demands over status of GibraltarBritish tourists travelling to continental Europe may need to pay £52 for a visa in a few weeks after Spanish demands over the status of Gibraltar again derailed Brussels’ preparations for Brexit.Agreement on legislation exempting UK nationals from requiring the travel permit is mired in a dispute over whether the British overseas territory should be described as a “colony” in the EU’s s
  
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• Pound Euro exchange rate: Pound down as Theresa May returns to Brussels

  20-02-2019 13:04 via feedproxy.google.com
  While the pound advanced to a two-week high against the euro yesterday, GBP/EUR has since fallen below €1.150 to trade in the region of €1.149. Yesterday Sterling was buoyed by sturdy UK wage growth and unemployment figures and Brexit speculation. The euro, meanwhile, came under pressure as data continued painting a gloomy picture of the Eurozone economy.
  
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• Government should butt out of a business's dress code | Gene Marks

  20-02-2019 13:00
  A court is reviewing whether a city’s dress codes for baristas and its definition of ‘anal cleft’ violate their civil rightsThere aren’t many places to find a definition of anal cleft. I’ve tried. So I’ll have to rely on this description in Wikipedia which says that the anal cleft – otherwise known as the intergluteal cleft – is “the groove between the buttocks that runs from just below the sacrum to the perineum, so named because it forms th
  
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• Lloyds bullish over Brexit as £4bn payout to investors unveiled

  20-02-2019 12:44
  Bank set aside £750m in 2018 for further PPI claims, taking total provision pot to £19.4bnLloyds Banking Group has shrugged off growing fears over Brexit as it unveiled a £4bn payout to shareholders, despite reporting smaller-than-expected annual profits.Britain’s biggest high street bank, which operates one out of five of the country’s branches, reported a 24% rise in net profits to £4.4bn for 2018, below the £4.6bn forecast by analysts. Statutory profi
  
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• Pound US dollar exchange rate: GBP/USD falls as no confirmation for US-China trade deal

  20-02-2019 12:02 via feedproxy.google.com
  The pound US dollar exchange rate advanced to an almost two-week high yesterday, but the pairing has given up some of those gains today and is currently trading in the region of $1.303. GBP/USD has drifted lower despite President Donald Trump dispelling some of the recent optimism about a US/China trade deal.
  
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• How to cure the shopping addiction that’s destroying our planet | Radhika Sanghani

  20-02-2019 09:00 via theguardian.com
  I went cold turkey on buying clothes – and learned that it will take more than taxes to slow the march of fast fashionI’ve always thought of myself as someone who cares about the environment. I’ve recycled for as long as I can remember, I’m on my way to having a plastic-free kitchen and I always try to take public transport instead of driving. But until last year I was guilty of unknowingly contributing to 1m tonnes of waste a year, more carbon emissions than the shipping
  
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• Ten months of pleading to get our flood-hit home repaired

  20-02-2019 08:00 via theguardian.com
  A burst pipe caused catastrophic damage and we need a surveyor to identify all the problemsIn March last year, a pipe burst in our loft as a result of the “beast from the east” cold snap. The consequence was catastrophic with every ceiling, wall and floor ruined. Since then, our insurance company, Legal & General, has sent several builders to look at the damage but we feel the proposed repairs address only the superficial damage and have significant omissions.Continue reading...
  
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• Avoiding a no-deal crash-out won’t stop Brexit wrecking our economy | Peter Mandelson

  20-02-2019 07:00
  Leaving the EU is costing us billions – and this drain will continue until business gets some clarity on trading conditionsThe news from Honda that it will be closing its Swindon factory in 2022 with the loss of 3,500 jobs follows a warning by Airbus that it could slash investment in the UK, and an announcement by Nissan that it is abandoning its commitment to make the X-Trail SUV in Sunderland. We all have to wake up to what’s happening in our country. Britain is losing billions eve
  
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