Financial news

• UK official in charge of Brexit border plans resigns

  06-06-2019 20:55 via theguardian.com
  Karen Wheeler’s resignation stokes fears the UK will not be ready for a no-deal Brexit by OctoberThe government official in charge of delivering “frictionless” Brexit border arrangements, including emergency plans for Dover and Ireland in the event of no deal, has quit just two years into her job.Karen Wheeler, director general of Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs Brexit border delivery group, was the lead official coordinating a cross-Whitehall response involving polic
  
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• Nicky Morgan must ask questions of regulator after Neil Woodford saga

  06-06-2019 20:54 via theguardian.com
  Was Financial Conduct Authority asleep or merely powerless to act under EU rules? Neil Woodford looked to be in shock in his brief video message to his dwindling band of followers earlier this week, but he needs to wake up. You can’t expect to charge management fees at the old rate while the customers are not able to redeem their investments.On that score, Nicky Morgan, chair of the Treasury select committee, is correct. Woodford Capital, the management company 65%-owned by Woodford, colle
  
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• What Sir Philip Green needs to do to save Arcadia Group

  06-06-2019 20:09 via theguardian.com
  After vote on rescue plan is delayed, the retail company’s landlords must be won overSir Philip Green’s Arcadia Group could take up to two weeks to win over landlords who spurned a planned rescue restructure and stave off the collapse of the business, which employs 18,000 people.The group, which agreed a week-long adjournment of a vote on its rescue plan on Wednesday, is allowed to delay for up to another week under insolvency rules as it battles to win over detractors, including maj
  
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• Monsoon delays CVA procedure after Philip Green's for Arcadia fails

  06-06-2019 20:08 via theguardian.com
  Owner Peter Simon ‘taking extra precautions’ before negotiating with landlordsThe owner of the Monsoon and Accessorize retail chains has delayed plans for a restructuring to rescue the business after landlords failed to back similar plans by Philip Green’s retail empire.Peter Simon had planned to launch an insolvency procedure known as a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) as early as Friday, which would enable him to reduce the size of his stores and pay less rent. Continue re
  
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• No duty of fairness to women hit by pension age rise, court told

  06-06-2019 19:33
  Government lawyer also says those affected had no right to expect notification of changesNearly 4 million women who lost up to £47,000 each when their retirement age was increased from 60 to 66 have no right to expect fairness from the government, according to a lawyer representing the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).On the second day of a judicial review at the high court brought by the campaign group Back to 60, many of whose members received little or no notice that their pension
  
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• UCL profits from outsourced workers | Letter

  06-06-2019 18:58
  The university’s sound financial footing is built on the back of discrimination against its cleaners, caterers and security guards, writes Danny MillumMichael Arthur may reflect “with pride that the university is now on a sound financial footing, with borrowing as a percentage of turnover below the Russell Group average” (The profile: The UCL provost who ‘doesn’t shirk the need for change’, 4 June), but what your article does not mention is that this achieveme
  
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• Philip Hammond won’t tackle the climate crisis. But a Green New Deal would | Molly Scott Cato

  06-06-2019 18:51 via theguardian.com
  The chancellor says we can’t afford to save ourselves. Let’s leave such absurd thinking behind – and invest in green policies• Molly Scott Cato is the Green MEP for the South West of EnglandI’m surprised I can still be shocked at the incompetence and shortsightedness of this government. But then along comes the chancellor, Philip Hammond, expressing his inane and irresponsible view that we can’t afford to tackle the climate crisis. He has warned that Theresa Ma
  
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• 'Body blow for area': Bridgend devastated by Ford factory closure

  06-06-2019 18:47 via theguardian.com
  Plant workers and locals warn carmaker’s decision to shut site in 2020 will hit other businessesFord to close Bridgend factory by September 2020Workers at Ford’s sprawling Bridgend engine factory expressed anger at their employer and voiced fears for the impact on their local community on Thursday as they absorbed the news that the plant is to close.Many were tearful as they streamed out of the 60-acre plant in south Wales and prepared to tell loved ones. Some of the 1,700 workers af
  
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• Sharon White leaves Ofcom to join John Lewis Partnership

  06-06-2019 18:42 via theguardian.com
  Retail group appoints the 52-year-old as chairman on near-£1m salary John Lewis has appointed the chief executive of Ofcom as its new chairman, on a near-£1m salary.Sharon White, 52, joined the communications regulator in March 2015 from the Treasury, where she was a senior civil servant in charge of public finances. She is moving to one of the most high-profile jobs in British retail, overseeing the John Lewis department stores and the Waitrose supermarket chain at a time when tradi
  
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• IMF tells US record growth is costing average citizens dear

  06-06-2019 16:00 via theguardian.com
  Fund says economic benefits of decade-long expansion have not been widely sharedThe increasingly polarised US economy has meant that a record-breaking period of growth has been accompanied by falling life expectancy, high levels of poverty and stagnant living standards for average Americans, the International Monetary Fund has said.In its annual health check on the world’s biggest economy, the IMF highlighted a range of “troubling” social indicators marring a decade-long expans
  
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• Tax HIKE or ‘radical reform’ needed amid demand on health and pension systems expert says

  06-06-2019 15:58 via feedproxy.google.com
  TAX HIKES or major reforms are required in order to meet the rising cost of the ageing population, the head of the Institute for Fiscal Studies will warn in a speech expected today.
  
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• Mortgage UK: Who pays the mortgage after separation? Divorce and joint mortgages explained

  06-06-2019 15:58 via feedproxy.google.com
  MORTGAGES can last for a lengthy period of time, with the average repayment of mortgage standing at 25 years. Some people may take out a joint mortgage, but later split or divorce. Who pays the mortgage after separation?
  
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• Universal Credit: Warning after scam emerges that could STOP your benefit payments

  06-06-2019 15:57 via feedproxy.google.com
  UNIVERSAL CREDIT has been rolled out across the country, replacing some other kinds of benefits. The Department for Work and Pensions are investigating a dangerous scam that signs people up for Universal Credit.
  
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• State pension age: Will state pension age rise again? The timetable of changes

  06-06-2019 15:55 via feedproxy.google.com
  STATE pension age has been rising recently, and is set to continue to do so. What changes to the state pension age are in store for the coming years? A look at the government's timetable.
  
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• Will life insurance pay for funerals? What does an Over 50s life insurance policy cover?

  06-06-2019 15:51 via feedproxy.google.com
  LIFE insurance is something which a person may take out for a whole host of reasons. The policy will vary from provider to provider, and that may include the payout and the policy's benefits. Will life insurance pay for funerals?
  
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• ‘Get a financial personal trainer’: the 10 new rules for money management

  06-06-2019 15:34
  Taking charge of your finances is central to gaining monetary freedom, but there’s a lot more to it than in the past – so what are the new rules for savers and investors?Today, money management goes beyond Charles Dickens’s much-quoted lesson, as set out in David Copperfield: “Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen and six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery.”So what simple r
  
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• ‘Deciding to invest actually feels like taking control’: how I took the reins on my finances

  06-06-2019 15:33
  Many of us have the sense that our money could be doing more than sitting in a savings account, albeit with some apprehension about what else to do with it. But for Danielle Graph, becoming a first-time investor was less scary than it seemedI’m a control freak. It isn’t my most endearing quality, but it does mean that when it comes to things such as life admin and money matters, I try to heed the girl scout motto and be prepared for every eventuality. But, for some reason, I’ve
  
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• PPI claim: Deadline to reclaim Payment Protection Insurance is in less than 12 weeks

  06-06-2019 15:12 via feedproxy.google.com
  PPI, which stands for Payment Protection Insurance, has been mis-sold to millions of people, but it is possible to reclaim it. How to claim PPI compensation ahead of the impending deadline.
  
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• One in 10 adults in UK have gone 'cashless', data shows

  06-06-2019 15:00
  More contactless payments mean one in six young people barely use notes and coinsOne in 10 adults in the UK are now choosing to live a largely cashless life as contactless and mobile payments explode in popularity, official data reveals.Among those aged 25 to 34, the figure rises to more than one in six (17%), said the banking body UK Finance. It defined an almost cashless existence as when people either make one cash payment per month or none at all. Continue reading...
  
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• Investment funds need closer Bank of England scrutiny, says Carney

  06-06-2019 13:03 via theguardian.com
  Governor announces stress tests in Tokyo speech after suspension of Woodford fundInvestment funds of the sort run by Neil Woodford need closer scrutiny to lessen the risk that fire sales of assets trigger a market-disrupting feedback loop, the governor of the Bank of England has said.Mark Carney used a speech in Tokyo to reveal that Threadneedle Street was to stress test the investment funds industry to reduce the threat of a system-wide financial crisis. Continue reading...
  
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• Have you been affected by what has happened with the Woodford fund?

  06-06-2019 12:44
  We’d like to hear from those who have invested in Neil Woodford’s fund and are affected by his decisionThe UK’s most renowned fund manager, Neil Woodford, has blocked investors from pulling money from his flagship fund.
  The move came after a rush of customer withdrawals following a series of bad market bets. Woodford has claimed that the move is in the best interests of investors, which range from large pension funds to small individual investors. Continue reading...
  
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• Pound euro exchange rate: GBP/EUR falls as ECB is ‘handcuffed’ ahead of interest rate call

  06-06-2019 11:31 via feedproxy.google.com
  The pound euro exchange rate is down today and is trading around €1.129 at the time of writing. The pairing has fallen as euro traders await the European Central Bank’s interest rate decision at a meeting in Vilnius, Lithuania, amid cooling inflation and rising trade tensions between the US and China.
  
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• Pound US dollar exchange rate: GBP/USD flat after yesterday’s rally on Fed rate cut fears

  06-06-2019 11:01 via feedproxy.google.com
  Today the pound remains flat against the US dollar and the pairing is currently trading at around $1.268. In a light day for UK data it has been US ecostats that have been driving the GBP/USD pairing, as the latest US services PMI revealed that new business expansion eased to its slowest since March 2016.
  
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• Got a Topshop or Miss Selfridge gift card? Then use it now

  06-06-2019 10:05
  Stores facing administration are no longer obliged to accept vouchers, experts sayConsumers holding gift cards or vouchers for Topshop, Topman, or Miss Selfridge have been advised to spend them over the next week as the fashion chains’ owner fights the the threat of collapse.In recent years, shoppers at HMV, House of Fraser, Maplin, Toys R Us and Evans Cycles and several other stores, all had problems using, or were left holding, worthless gift cards after those stores went into administra
  
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• Stark warning for crypto fans – ‘it’ll all be worth zero’

  06-06-2019 08:25 via feedproxy.google.com
  A FORMER high-flying US Government official has ripped into cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, warning they could all suddenly be worth nothing.
  
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• High rents in English cities forcing young to stay in small towns

  06-06-2019 01:01
  Young people can no longer afford to move to cities where wages are higher, says Resolution FoundationOne of the defining patterns of English life in which young people move from small towns with limited prospects to bigger cities to seek their fortune is in dramatic decline, research has revealed.More young people are getting stuck where they grew up or went to university because they cannot afford rents in places where they can earn more money, according to the Resolution Foundation thinktank.
  
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