Financial news

• Billionaire founder of opioid firm guilty of bribing doctors to prescribe drug

  02-05-2019 21:17 via theguardian.com
  John Kapoor, 75, also guilty of defrauding insurance companiesProsecutors say fentanyl drug Subsys fuelled opioid epidemicThe head of a leading drug manufacturer has been found guilty of bribing doctors to prescribe a dangerous painkiller to patients who did not need it, in the first criminal conviction of a pharma chief over the opioid epidemic.A Boston jury also found John Kapoor, the 75-year-old billionaire founder of Insys Theraputics, guilty of defrauding insurance companies in the push to
  
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• Barclays wins battle with Bramson, but why did he bother with it? | Nils Pratley

  02-05-2019 20:14 via theguardian.com
  ‘Disruptive’ figure had bank rattled for a while but attention must now turn to miserable share priceEdward Bramson’s defeat at Barclays was heavy. Only 13% of voting shareholders thought the activist deserved a seat on the board. At 25% or so, Bramson would have been able to claim a moral victory of sorts. Instead, the City establishment rallied round the board of an establishment bank. It was the way to bet.But let’s give Bramson his due: he had Barclays rattled for a w
  
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• Stephen Moore: Trump's Federal Reserve pick withdraws nomination

  02-05-2019 19:36 via theguardian.com
  President said on Twitter Moore ‘decided to withdraw’ just hours after Moore insisted he was ‘all in’Follow the latest US politics news liveStephen Moore, the conservative economics commentator, will no longer be nominated to the Federal Reserve by Donald Trump, the president said on Thursday.Trump said on Twitter that Moore had “decided to withdraw from the Fed process” just hours after Moore insisted in an interview that he and the White House were “al
  
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• Watches of Switzerland considers stock market listing

  02-05-2019 19:32 via theguardian.com
  UK’s biggest seller of Rolexes could be valued at up to £800m, if plan goes aheadThe UK’s biggest seller of Rolex watches is working on plans for a stock market listing, which could value the luxury retail group at up to £800m.On Thursday, Watches of Switzerland, which also owns the Goldsmiths and Mappin & Webb brands, said it was looking to raise cash by selling new shares and would use the proceeds to slash its £260m debt pile. Its American private equity owne
  
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• British teenagers able to apply for free EU rail passes despite Brexit

  02-05-2019 18:59
  Those born from 2 July 2000 to 1 July 2001 are eligible to enter DiscoverEU competitionBritish 18-year-olds can apply for a free rail pass awarded by the European Union despite the looming Brexit deadline.The European commission announced on Thursday that 18-year-olds in the EU could apply for 20,000 “DiscoverEU” passes that allow travel to one or more countries, a repeat of the oversubscribed ticket giveaway launched last year. Continue reading...
  
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• Tesla seeks to raise $2.3bn after concerns it is running out of money

  02-05-2019 18:43 via theguardian.com
  Company announced last week it had lost $702m in the first three months of the year and sold 31% fewer vehicles in the first quarterTesla is seeking to raise $2.3bn after its latest results heightened concerns that the troubled car company is running out of cash.Last week, Tesla announced it had lost $702m in the first three months of the year and had sold 31% fewer vehicles in the first quarter than in the fourth quarter of 2018. The company had $2.2bn of cash at the end of the quarter, down 40
  
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• Bank of England warns of interest rate rise over next three years

  02-05-2019 17:40 via theguardian.com
  A rise in growth above 1.5% in 2020 and 2021 would be enough for the economy to begin overheatingBank of England governor Mark Carney has warned that a modest recovery over the next three years will warrant higher interest rates than financial markets currently expect as inflationary pressures force the central bank to act.Unlike the European Central Bank and and the US Federal Reserve, which have signalled a significant easing of monetary policy in recent weeks, Carney said investors were under
  
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• Scottish government to rethink plan to cut air travel taxes

  02-05-2019 16:59
  Nicola Sturgeon signals willingness to step up efforts to reduce carbon emissionsNicola Sturgeon has confirmed the Scottish government will rethink plans to cut air travel taxes after agreeing to reduce carbon emissions to zero by 2045.The first minister said Scotland needed to dramatically step up its efforts after she accepted a target from the UK Committee on Climate Change (CCC) to set a tougher goal of net-zero emissions over the next 25 years. Continue reading...
  
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• Thousands of UK shops left empty as high street crisis deepens

  02-05-2019 15:42 via theguardian.com
  Data suggests closures of banks, pubs, estate agents and fashion stores is biggest rise in five yearsThe number of shops lying empty soared by more than 7,500 last year, according to new data that lays bare the crisis on the high street.A rapid rise in the number of barbers, beauty salons, vaping stores, cafes and restaurants or bars was offset by the closure of hundreds of banks, pubs, estate agents and fashion shops, analysis of the UK’s top 650 shopping locations has revealed. Continue
  
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• Bombardier puts Belfast wing-making plant up for sale

  02-05-2019 15:12 via theguardian.com
  MPs and unions demand assurances as 4,000 skilled jobs put at risk in Northern IrelandNearly 4,000 highly skilled workers in Northern Ireland face an uncertain future after the Canadian aerospace company Bombardier put its wing-making operation up for sale.A spokesman for Theresa May said the government did not expect jobs to be affected, but MPs demanded assurances about the long-term future of one of Northern Ireland’s biggest employers, while one trade union official vowed to “cau
  
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• Six people who prove capitalism is broken in America

  02-05-2019 14:21 via theguardian.com
  Over the last few years, the Guardian talked to many people for whom capitalism isn’t working – here are a few of their storiesWork hard, get paid, thrive. That’s the way the system is supposed to work. If you’re not thriving, according to this logic, you’re simply not working hard enough.But that’s not the reality many people live, even in wealthy, industrialized nations like the United States. For many Americans, long hours and unrelenting dedication to thei
  
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• Investor Edward Bramson concedes early defeat for seat on Barclays board

  02-05-2019 14:05 via theguardian.com
  US-based activist investor says he expects ‘fairly heavy vote’ against his resolutionActivist investor Edward Bramson has vowed to continue his battle with Barclays despite losing a contentious bid for a seat on the board of the UK bank.Shareholders at Barclays annual general meeting in London on Thursday voted down his proposal to be installed as a director of the lender, with fewer than 13% of votes cast in favour of his resolution. The New York-based investor has criticised Barcla
  
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• Interest rates: welcome to UK plc, an economy in limbo | Larry Elliott

  02-05-2019 13:45 via theguardian.com
  With Brexit making the economy ‘unusually volatile’ the Bank of England thinks it best to leave rates well aloneWelcome to limbo land. That was the message from the Bank of England as it once again decided that Britain’s delay at the EU departure gate meant the wisest course of action was to leave interest rates well alone.But only for now, because it was also clear from Threadneedle Street’s quarterly update on the economy that the wait-and-see approach will only last fo
  
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• Andy Hornby: how the former HBOS boss bounced back

  02-05-2019 13:02 via theguardian.com
  Ex-banker appointed as Restaurant Group CEO despite infamous role in the banking crisisAndy Hornby may have held senior positions at some of the UK’s biggest companies but his name will forever be synonymous with the banking crisis.He was at the helm of HBOS in 2008 when it became one of the most high-profile victims of the crash. The bank had to be rescued by Lloyds as it faced total collapse, during a period so fraught with dangers that the deal had to be brokered by the then prime minis
  
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• Metro Bank profits plunge drags shares to all-time low

  02-05-2019 12:18 via theguardian.com
  ‘Awful quarter’ for challenger bank as pre-tax profits halve and customer deposits fallMetro Bank shares plunged to all-time lows on Thursday after it revealed an accounting error contributed to a 50% drop in quarterly profits and the loss of some of its bigger customers.The challenger bank’s share price fell as much as 21% in reaction to a first-quarter earnings report published late on Wednesday. It detailed the fallout from the accountingblunder centred on how it classifies
  
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• What’s not on the cards is charging an ‘airline card fee’

  02-05-2019 08:00
  It’s illegal to add surcharges to credit card payments but £21 was added to my Finnair bookingI used Expedia to book a flight with Finnair. At the end of the payment page I noted a £21 “airline card fee” had been charged. I contacted Expedia and, after a six-week wait, it said it would refund the charge and raise it with the airline.I just wonder how much money is being collected from people who don’t notice, don’t realise it’s illegal, or don&rsqu
  
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• Signs of the times: America's fading shopfronts – in pictures

  02-05-2019 08:00 via theguardian.com
  John Lehr trains his lens on the shabby facades lining Main Street USA, from payday loan outfits to hair salons and pawn shops. Devoid of people, these images advertise a bleak outlook for small bricks-and-mortar businesses Continue reading...
  
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• Government failure has landed thousands of carers in debt. Where is its compassion? | Frances Ryan

  02-05-2019 08:00
  The DWP should find ways to ease the burden on vulnerable families who are struggling to pay back overpaymentsPity the poor social care system. Its place as one of the most integral parts of civilised society has done nothing to win it the government’s attention; while the green paper (first due two years ago) is still MIA, a former minister is left to field his own ideas to the press. The result is prolonged suffering for huge swathes of disabled and older people, no less so for the carer
  
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• Railway arches sold off with no thought for tenants, says watchdog

  02-05-2019 01:01
  National Audit Office says Chris Grayling’s department ignored businesses based in archesA £1.46bn sale of Network Rail’s property portfolio to private sector buyers was carried out without consideration of the impact on the lives and livelihoods of thousands of sitting tenants, Whitehall’s spending watchdog has found.The National Audit Office (NAO) also found that the rent charged for 5,261 properties sold to Telereal Trillium and Blackstone Property Partners could incre
  
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• Pret to list ingredients on fresh food after customer deaths

  02-05-2019 01:01
  Rollout of lists at chain of 400 sandwich shops in UK to be completed by end of summer Pret a Manger is to begin a national rollout of full lists of ingredients on freshly-made products from Thursday to fulfil a pledge to improve labelling after the deaths of two customers who suffered allergic reactions to its sandwiches.A five-point plan being unveiled by the chain will also include the launch of tablet computers in every shop, containing detailed information about ingredients, and a commitmen
  
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