Financial news

• UK finance watchdog sues airport car park scheme

  18-10-2019 20:12 via theguardian.com
  FCA hopes to reimburse thousands of small investors over scheme selling leases on airport parking spacesAn airport car park investment scheme which raised £230m from thousands of people who poured in their pensions and life savings is at the heart of two legal cases that accuse the directors of making false and misleading statements to attract investors.The Financial Conduct Authority announced on Thursday it had started proceedings against Park First Limited, its senior managers and other
  
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• Fashion chain Bonmarché calls in administrators

  18-10-2019 19:33 via theguardian.com
  Wakefield-based retailer to keep all 318 shops open for time being as buyer is soughtThe fashion chain Bonmarché has called in administrators, putting nearly 3,000 jobs at risk.The Wakefield-based retailer, which sells fashion for women over 50 and has 318 shops, said it had got into difficulties after a “sustained period of challenging trading conditions and cashflow pressure”. Continue reading...
  
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• Period of debt-fuelled expansion 'may have caused Thomas Cook collapse'

  18-10-2019 19:14 via theguardian.com
  Institute of Directors advises MPs investigating firm’s downfall to look at tenure of former CEO Manny Fontenla-NovoaThe debt-fuelled expansion of Thomas Cook between 2007 and 2011 may have caused its downfall, the Institute of Directors has said, as the tour operator’s former bosses prepare to give evidence to MPs investigating its implosion.The business, energy and industrial select committee will question former chief executives Manny Fontenla-Novoa and Harriet Green on Wednesday,
  
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• Manufacturers express deep misgivings over Johnson’s Brexit deal

  18-10-2019 18:47 via theguardian.com
  Lobby group calls for transition extension and loosening of migration rules on eve of voteLatest Brexit news – live updatesBritain’s manufacturers have responded to the prime minister’s Brexit deal with deep misgivings in the run-up to the vote in parliament on Saturday.The lobby group for the engineering and manufacturing industries, Make UK, said though it was relieved at the possibility of leaving the EU with a deal, the new agreement failed in several important ways to over
  
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• Johnson & Johnson recalls baby powder after asbestos found

  18-10-2019 18:39 via theguardian.com
  Company said 33,000 bottles will be recalled amid lawsuits alleging they knew the baby powder was contaminatedJohnson & Johnson has voluntarily recalled a single batch of its baby powder after US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulators found trace amounts of asbestos in the product. The company said 33,000 bottles of talcum powder will be recalled “out of an abundance of caution”.The recall comes amid thousands of lawsuits alleging the company knew its baby powder was conta
  
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• Let’s move to Dumfries, Dumfries & Galloway: could anywhere be more Scottish?

  18-10-2019 17:29 via theguardian.com
  It’s full of pinnacles, crow-stepped gables and baronial turrets as if Disney’s imagineers had sketched it themselvesWhat’s going for it? In the – almost – words of Chandler from Friends: “Could anywhere be more Scottish?” Don’t @ me. Don’t write in. Here’s my pitch, hear me out. Dumfries was the home of Robert Burns. Back of the net. You can pay your respects at his statue opposite Nationwide Building Society, at his little sandstone h
  
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• Energy watchdog accused of stalling electric vehicle rollout

  18-10-2019 17:22 via theguardian.com
  Scottish Power boss says UK regulator needs reform after refusing upgrades to cope with e-vehicle demandThe energy regulator has been accused by Scottish Power of hindering the UK’s electric vehicle rollout due to its “colossal disconnect” with Britain’s climate policies.Keith Anderson, the chief executive of the “big six” energy company, said businesses in the sector could do more to help the UK become a carbon neutral economy, but efforts are being held back
  
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• Pound US Dollar exchange rate: GBP/USD rangebound ahead of fourth “meaningful vote”

  18-10-2019 17:21 via feedproxy.google.com
  THE pound remained muted against the US dollar today, with the pairing currently trading around $1.287 as Boris Johnson races against the clock to get MPs to back his Brexit deal.
  
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• Pound euro exchange rate steady as Merkel says extension unavoidable if deal fails

  18-10-2019 17:07 via feedproxy.google.com
  THE pound euro exchange rate held steady today, with the pairing currently trading around €1.158 after German Chancellor Angela Merkel said a Brexit extension would be unavoidable if Boris Johnson’s deal fails to gain Parliamentary assent in Saturday’s decisive vote.
  
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• Pension UK: These divorcees face being £77,000 worse-off - what are you entitled to?

  18-10-2019 16:41 via feedproxy.google.com
  PENSION: The gap between median pension wealth for men and women in their 60s is £77,400. A third of Britons are unaware that married couples are entitled to a proportion of their spouse’s pension, new research has found.
  
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• Universal Credit UK: Poorest families '£580 worse-off' after freeze - will amount rise?

  18-10-2019 16:40 via feedproxy.google.com
  UNIVERSAL CREDIT and other state benefits have undergone a four-year freeze, which began in 2016. A new analysis suggests a lower income couple with children are an estimated £580 per year worse-off, due to the freeze.
  
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• Tax allowance: ‘Free money from the Government’ - could you get a £900 tax boost?

  18-10-2019 16:40 via feedproxy.google.com
  TAX ALLOWANCES and reliefs may apply to some people, affecting how much Income Tax is payable. Some people may be able to claim a backdated allowance - but there’s a limit when it comes to the number of years.
  
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• Text scam warning: Worrying message could cost you £20 - have you had the suspicious text?

  18-10-2019 16:39 via feedproxy.google.com
  TEXT messages are something which many people will send and receive on a regular basis. However a warning has been issued after an SMS message has been sent to some people by scammers.
  
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• How the wheels came off Facebook's Libra project

  18-10-2019 15:42 via theguardian.com
  Support for Mark Zuckerberg’s mission to reshape global finance is slipping away slowly but surely When Facebook announced plans to launch a digital currency earlier this summer, it added a full-blown revolution in global finance to its typically vaulting Silicon Valley mission statement: to create a digital currency alongside its efforts to bring the world closer together through networks.Over the past month, that mission has gone badly awry. The Libra cryptocurrency project now faces exi
  
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• ‘Golden age of TV’ gives boost to music industry

  18-10-2019 13:37 via theguardian.com
  Proliferation of hit TV has led fans to stream soundtracks of their favourite Netflix and Amazon Prime shows‘We’re in a Robin Hood position’: how TV music supervisors boost new artistsAt a time when many critics believe we are living through a golden age of TV, it seems no new drama with aspirations to credibility is complete without a soundtrack to match.As content on on-demand platforms such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video has proliferated, and shows such as Stranger Things
  
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• Luke Johnson in line for £12m from £100m sale of Elegant Hotels to Marriott

  18-10-2019 13:36 via theguardian.com
  Biggest shareholder and former Pizza Express and Patisserie Valerie boss cashes inLuke Johnson is in line for a £12.2m payout from the sale of Elegant Hotels, the owner of seven luxury resorts in the Caribbean.The former Pizza Express and Patisserie Valerie boss is cashing in after Marriott International, the hotel group that owns the Sheraton, Westin and Renaissance brands, announced a deal to buy Elegant Hotels, which is listed on the UK’s junior Aim market, for £100.8m. Cont
  
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• Eurozone slump: Exports down, prices up - all indicators point to economic downturn

  18-10-2019 10:18 via feedproxy.google.com
  EUROZONE inflation has slumped to its slowest pace in three years sparking fears over the future of the single currency economy.
  
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• Premium Bonds unclaimed prizes: Is there a time limit? How to check if you've won a prize

  18-10-2019 08:29 via feedproxy.google.com
  PREMIUM BONDS are entered into a monthly prize draw. What does NS&I say about unclaimed prizes? There are ways to check to see whether one has been selected as a winner in the monthly prize draw.
  
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• State pension age changes: ‘We are not going away’ WASPI urges Government to 'act now'

  18-10-2019 08:19 via feedproxy.google.com
  STATE PENSION age for women has increased in recent years. Women from the campaign group Women Against State Pension Inequality travelled to Westminster yesterday, as they continued their efforts to seek transitional arrangements for the 1950s-born women affected by the changes.
  
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• Homes with political links – in pictures

  18-10-2019 08:00 via theguardian.com
  These properties with influential former owners might just get your vote Continue reading...
  
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• China's quarterly economic growth sinks to 26-year low amid US trade war

  18-10-2019 07:20 via theguardian.com
  World’s second-largest economy expanded by 6% in three months ending in SeptemberThe Chinese economy is growing at its slowest pace in nearly 30 years as Beijing struggles to manage the impact of a punishing trade war with the US, raising concerns about the impact on the rest of the world.The world’s second largest economy grew by 6% in the three months ending in September, compared with the same period last year. That was down from 6.2% in the preceding quarter, and was the weakest
  
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• Pound/Euro Exchange: GBP/EUR falls as Juncker proclaims “no need” for Article 50 extension

  18-10-2019 01:01 via feedproxy.google.com
  The pound slumped against the euro this afternoon, with the pairing currently trading at around €1.153 as a volatile GBP/EUR exchange rate saw the pairing fluctuate wildly on announcements that the UK and EU had secured a Brexit deal.
  
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