Financial news

• HSBC chair Mark Turner's decision to oust CEO may lead to backlash

  05-08-2019 20:15
  Expelling popular insider John Flint might have shaken up bank’s cosy atmosphereMark Tucker, chairman of HSBC, has a reputation for moving quickly and being a plain speaker. In ousting chief executive John Flint, who only got the job 18 months ago, he has lived up to the speed part. But what happened to the famed blunt rhetoric?Shareholders deserved better than a statement that said nothing of substance to explain the cull. A change of boss is needed “in the increasingly complex and
  
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• Latest Heathrow strike off after talks between airport and union

  05-08-2019 19:46
  Unite suspends 48-hour stoppage and will consult members over new offer A strike by more than 4,000 Heathrow staff that was expected to cause widespread disruption for air passengers on Tuesday has been called off, after the airport made a new offer to security guards, firefighters, engineers and passenger service workers.Trade unions have been locked in talks with the airport over pay and had warned that up to 88,000 passengers could be affected by a 48-hour stoppage on Monday and Tuesday. Cont
  
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• The Guardian view on the end of Harland and Wolff: closed for business | Editorial

  05-08-2019 19:29
  The Belfast shipyard was a sectarian icon. But its closure now speaks to Britain’s historic failure to adapt manufacturing to new marketsMany of the names will still resonate for older readers. All too few of them can have any associations for younger ones. They were the shipbuilding firms of Britain, the companies that, until the first world war and beyond, made the majority of the world’s ships. They were still big manufacturing concerns in the post-1945 era. They were firms like J
  
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• Monzo urges 480,000 customers to change their pin numbers

  05-08-2019 18:10
  Digital bank says ‘bug’ meant unauthorised staff had access to numbers for six monthsThe digital bank Monzo has urged nearly 480,000 customers to change their pins after it left banking information exposed to unauthorised staff for six months.The bank, which is now valued at £2bn, said it usually stored pin records in a “particularly secure” part of its internal system where it could tightly control which staff members could access them. But on Friday, the bank disc
  
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• EasyHotel founder tells shareholders to reject £138.7m takeover bid

  05-08-2019 15:27
  Stelios Haji-Ioannou believes offer from Ivanhoé Cambridge and Icamap is too lowSir Stelios Haji-Ioannou has urged easyHotel shareholders to reject a near-£139m offer for the budget hotel chain he founded because he says the bid is too low.EasyHotel’s board has accepted a cash offer for the company from Ivanhoé Cambridge, a Canadian real estate investor, and Icamap, a property fund. The 95p-a-share offer is worth about 35% more than easyHotel’s closing price on Fr
  
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• Cuadrilla seeks extension to drill for shale gas until 2021

  05-08-2019 15:07
  The fracking company will ask Lancashire council to change its licence, which ends in November UK shale gas company Cuadrilla will ask for extra time to drill for shale gas at its Lancashire fracking site after its November deadline.Within the next month the fracking pioneer will ask Lancashire county council for permission to continue its drilling campaign until at least the spring of 2021. Continue reading...
  
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• HSBC boss John Flint resigns 'by mutual agreement'

  05-08-2019 12:50
  Bank warns of weaker outlook and says it plans to cut nearly 5,000 jobs
  HSBC has unexpectedly parted ways with its chief executive, John Flint, less than 18 months after his appointment and said it could cut nearly 5,000 jobs due to a weaker outlook.The bank, which has its headquarters in the UK, was vague over the cause of Flint’s departure, saying only that the decision was “mutual” and that its board believed a change was needed to meet the challenges it faced. Continue read
  
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• Reaching the end of the line with ScotRail as we try to buy advance tickets

  05-08-2019 08:00
  We have had endless excuses for them not being available for our journey through GlasgowI have been trying in vain to buy advance tickets from ScotRail for a journey between Edinburgh and Mallaig on 19 September. We bought the outward and return tickets from London to Edinburgh with no trouble.Customer service staff give various excuses, from engineering to rolling stock issues, for the tickets not being available. I have received an email from ScotRail saying the problem is because of ongoing b
  
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• I want to buy a home – can I get a mortgage now I'm freelance?

  05-08-2019 08:00
  I’m wondering if I should wait until I have two full years of business accountsQ My wife and I are planning to buy our first home some time towards the end of next year. At the beginning of this year (January 2019) I went freelance and while I expect to make more than my previous salary this year and next, I am concerned that this will compromise our ability to get a mortgage. By the time we are ready to apply for a mortgage I will have two years of tax returns, and about 20 months of busi
  
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• The new IMF chief should not be chosen by Europe alone | Amanda Khozi Mukwashi

  05-08-2019 07:00
  The financial institution has the power to tackle the climate crisis yet it excludes applicants from the global southIt may not be widely known, but the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has always been headed by a European, and the World Bank by a US citizen. This is the unwritten convention, or gentlemen’s agreement, that has held since these twin global financial institutions were established in the aftermath of the second world war.Yet those with an interest in how, and for whom, the g
  
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• Hargreaves Lansdown faces questions over Neil Woodford fund

  05-08-2019 07:00
  Firm, which reports results this week, recommended fund until block on withdrawals in JuneHargreaves Lansdown will face questions about its backing for Neil Woodford’s stricken flagship fund when the investment group reports its annual results on Thursday.The company has been in the spotlight for continuing to recommend Woodford’s equity income fund until he blocked withdrawals on 3 June. The suspension of the fund affected more than 290,000 Hargreaves customers, about a quarter of t
  
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• Pensions industry making 'fat living' from charging savers, MPs claim

  05-08-2019 01:51
  MPs call for greater scrutiny of pensions to prevent misinformation and overcharging Parts of the pension industry are making a “fat living” from people’s savings and should come under tougher scrutiny, MPs have said.In a damning Commons report, the work and pensions committee called for the government to take urgent action against pension funds that fail to disclose how much they charge savers, saying it is “unconvinced” that the industry will act voluntarily on pr
  
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• Low-income Britons 'more vulnerable to recession than in 2008'

  05-08-2019 01:01
  Weak wage growth and years of austerity mean Brexit downturn will be harder for poor Low-income households in Britain are more vulnerable to recession than they were before the financial crisis, the Resolution Foundation has warned, amid the mounting risks of a Brexit downturn.According to the thinktank, a decade of weak wage growth has left the poorest UK households and middle-income families less prepared for another downturn. It also warned the gradual dismantling of the benefits system under
  
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• John McDonnell questions chancellor's suitability for office

  05-08-2019 01:01
  Letter to PM cites Sajid Javid’s career selling CDOs and alleged links to tax avoidance schemeJohn McDonnell has accused Sajid Javid of profiting from the greed that fuelled the financial crisis, in a stinging attack on the chancellor’s former City career before his move into politics.In an explosive letter to Boris Johnson, the shadow chancellor questioned whether Javid was suitable for high public office given his time at Deutsche Bank. Javid held several senior executive positions
  
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