Financial news

• Regulator asked by MPs to reveal details of contact with Neil Woodford

  10-06-2019 19:14 via theguardian.com
  Concerns raised that FCA may have been asleep at wheel as fund manager slipped into crisisMPs have asked the City regulator to publish details of its contact with Neil Woodford and raised concerns that the Financial Conduct Authority may have been asleep at the wheel as the fund manager tumbled into crisis. The Treasury select committee wants the Financial Conduct Authority to “set out the detail of its supervisory contact” with the Woodford Equity Income Fund. It also wants to know
  
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• Brexit hangover leaves UK nursing worst monthly contraction since 2016 - business live

  10-06-2019 14:39 via theguardian.com
  Britain’s economy shrank by 0.4% in April as car factories shut down in case of a hard Brexit, and stockpiling boost fadedLatest: UK economy shrank 0.4% in AprilONS: Brexit uncertainty hit growthBiggest fall in monthly GDP since 2016Car production plunged amid Brexit shutdownsFactory output contracted sharplyServices stalled; construction also down 1.39pm BST Economist Josie Dent of the CEBR thinktank fears that the unwinding of Brexit stockpiling will weigh on growth for some time:Today&r
  
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• NHS data is worth billions – but who should have access to it?

  10-06-2019 14:17 via theguardian.com
  Tech and drug firms including Google parent Alphabet want to use records of 65 million people The NHS is a valuable national asset – and not just in terms of the lives it saves.Last week the tensions between the health service’s role as a collective national endeavour and its potential as a source of private sector profit flared again, following a characteristically blunt intervention from the US president. Donald Trump’s claim, later retracted, that the NHS would be “on
  
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• Scottish Power to build vast battery to improve wind energy supply

  10-06-2019 13:54 via theguardian.com
  Energy firm says project will be big step towards continuous renewable power for UKScottish Power is to undertake the most ambitious battery power project in Europe in an attempt to unlock the potential of the UK’s wind and solar farms.The company will connect an industrial-scale battery to the Whitelee onshore windfarm early next year to capture more power from its 214 turbines. Continue reading...
  
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• Greenpeace activists board BP oil rig as it is towed out to sea

  10-06-2019 13:35 via theguardian.com
  Campaigners call on firm to abandon plans for new oil wells in face of climate emergencyGreenpeace activists have boarded an oil rig in the Cromarty Firth in protest at plans by BP to drill new oil wells in the North Sea.Two protesters climbed on to the 27,000-tonne platform as it was being towed out of the firth, which lies north of Inverness, to the Vorlich field at about 6.30pm on Sunday. They unfurled a banner bearing the words “climate emergency”. Continue reading...
  
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• UK and South Korea agree to sign post-Brexit trade deal

  10-06-2019 11:49 via theguardian.com
  Agreement is Britain’s first major trade deal in Asia since the vote to leave the EUThe UK has reached a preliminary trade deal with South Korea to avoid disruption if Britain leaves the EU without an agreement.The two countries have agreed in principle a free trade agreementthat will allow businesses to continue trading freely after Brexit, including in a no-deal scenario. Continue reading...
  
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• Thomas Cook in talks with Club Med owner to sell tour operator business

  10-06-2019 11:36 via theguardian.com
  UK travel company poised for breakup as China’s Fosun makes approachThe breakup of the troubled travel company Thomas Cook has moved a step closer after it said it was in talks with the Chinese conglomerate Fosun International over selling its tour operator business.Following media reports, the 178-year-old travel company, which is fighting for survival under the weight of a £1.25bn debt burden, confirmed it was in “discussions with Fosun following receipt of a preliminary appr
  
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• Neil Woodford’s listed fund falls despite attempt to reassure investors

  10-06-2019 09:35 via theguardian.com
  Shares in Patient Capital Trust Fund hit fresh lows as Equity Income Fund stays suspendedNeil Woodford’s listed fund has sought to reassure investors after its share price ended a turbulent week for the renowned asset manager at a record low.Woodford Patient Capital Trust Fund told the City on Monday that it was “pleased” with the performance of its investments – but this did not prevent its shares hitting fresh lows in early trading. Continue reading...
  
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• My daughter is helping us buy our retirement home – what if we go into care?

  10-06-2019 08:48
  I’m worried she won’t get her contribution back if the property is sold to pay for our careQ Our daughter is contributing 25% of the price of our new retirement home. This enables us to buy it yet allows us to keep some savings in our own bank account. If one or both of us needs to go into a care home at some point will her contribution be safeguarded?
  SVA I assume that you are worried that if your home had to be sold to produce the cash needed to pay the cost of going into a care ho
  
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• Ikea’s 25-year kitchen warranty branded ‘worthless’ after doors develop fault

  10-06-2019 08:00
  The MDF doors expanded along the moulded edge but a technician has put it down to wear and tearWe had an Ikea kitchen installed in March 2014 carrying a 25-year guarantee. Some of the MDF doors started to expand along the same moulded edge and need to be replaced. The rest of the units are unmarked.We first noticed one door in December last year and reported it. We had the obligatory visit from Ecomaster and its report evidently considered it to be a manufacturing defect. Other doors have develo
  
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• Payday lenders being 'bombarded' by spurious claims

  10-06-2019 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Compensation firms said to be looking for next big earner after PPI claims expireCompensation claims management firms looking for the next big earner after the PPI scandal have been accused of bombarding the much-criticised payday lending sector with complaints that are often spurious and sometimes without the knowledge of borrowers.In some cases the claims could breach strict data protection laws, while success fees charged by the claims companies threaten to add to the financial pressure on pe
  
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• More than a third of Europe's fastest-growing tech firms are in UK – study

  10-06-2019 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Government research suggests British tech ‘unicorns’ are only surpassed by US and ChinaBritain is creating more technology companies worth at least $1bn (£786m) than any other company in Europe, according to government research.It found that UK-based entrepreneurs have built 72 such businesses in the past 20 years, including 13 in the past year, with only the US and China surpassing that number. Germany has 29 and India has 26. Continue reading...
  
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• Boris Johnson promises tax cut for 3m higher earners

  10-06-2019 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Former foreign secretary says he will raise the 40p threshold from £50,000 to £80,000 if he becomes prime minister
  Boris Johnson has promised to cut taxes for around 3 million higher earners by raising the 40p threshold from £50,000 to £80,000 if he becomes prime minister, in a move condemned by senior Labour figures.The Tory leadership hopeful used the Telegraph to make the case for the cut, saying, “We should be raising thresholds of income tax – so that we
  
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• Government 'funding fossil fuel-burning plants abroad'

  10-06-2019 01:01 via theguardian.com
  Environment committee says UK is sabotaging its green credentials with overseas aidThe government has been taken to task by its own MPs for sending billions of pounds overseas to help build power plants that burn fossil fuels while claiming a climate victory on home soil.The environmental audit committee said the UK is sabotaging its climate credentials by paying out “unacceptably high” fossil fuel subsidies to developing nations, while claiming to lead world in tackling the climate
  
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