Financial news

• Electricity firms face penalties for ‘manipulating’ grid in Ofgem crackdown

  31-08-2023 19:49 via theguardian.com
  
  Regulator aims to stop power plants’ tactic that costs households hundreds of millions of poundsElectricity companies will no longer be able to deploy a controversial tactic that forces up bills at the expense of consumers, the energy watchdog has said as it unveiled rules designed to curb firms making “excessive” profits in the winter.Ofgem said electricity generators could face “stiff penalties” of up to 10% of their revenue for breaching the new regulations, whic
  
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• The Guardian view on extreme poverty: the law should make essentials affordable | Editorial

  31-08-2023 19:46 via theguardian.com
  
  Benefits are still too low and deep poverty is harmful. The idea of a new minimum standard of living is a good oneProof of the grave financial difficulty into which millions of households have been plunged by the high cost of living continues to mount. In a newly released survey, almost half of teachers in deprived parts of England reported that their schools regularly provide food to pupils and their families. Recent increases in rough sleeping in cities including London, and the huge number of
  
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• There’s no need to fear switching to an electric car | Letters

  31-08-2023 18:56 via theguardian.com
  
  Thea Galena says she has not had any trouble travelling around the country in her Corsa-e. Plus a letter from Ian Dawson on slowing downBrava, Charlotte Naughton – fearmongering is the right word regarding electric vehicles (I travelled the UK and Ireland in an electric car, and what a shocker: nothing went wrong, 23 August). Most of our charging is done at home, but on the beaten track around the country we have not, in 18 months, had any problem finding charging stations, nor spent more
  
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• Mothers should beware unethical marketing by formula firms | Letter

  31-08-2023 18:56 via theguardian.com
  
  Commercial milk formula advertising can frame normal behaviour as pathological, says Dr Tony WaterstonThe heading of Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett’s article (Formula milk advert restrictions are patronising – let parents decide what’s best, 25 August) will be music to the ears of the formula milk companies that, according to the Lancet, are spending between $2.6bn and $3.5bn a year globally on marketing, not including lobbying and social media. The Lancet showed that commercial milk f
  
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• Bank of England must ‘see job through’ on cost of living; eurozone inflation higher than expected – business live

  31-08-2023 13:19
  
  Live, rolling coverage of business, economics and financial markets with focus on whether price pressures will ease across big economiesEurozone unemployment stayed stable at 6.4%, so it is the inflation data that will be the focus for economists.Food, alcohol and tobacco was the main driver of inflationary pressure, Eurostat said.Looking at the main components of euro area inflation, food, alcohol & tobacco is expected to have the highest annual rate in August (9.8%, compared with 10.8% in
  
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• Wilko job cuts to begin this week after £90m bid falls through

  31-08-2023 12:57
  
  About a third of 1,400 staff at stricken retailer’s head office and warehouses expected to be made redundantBusiness live – latest updates Job cuts at Wilko’s head office and warehouses are expected to begin this week after a surprise £90m bid for the discount retailer fell through.It is understood that about a third of the 1,400 staff at the group’s headquarters and distribution centres are to be made redundant after talks with M2 Capital collapsed because a failur
  
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• Fortescue’s CFO Christine Morris departs days after chief executive walks

  31-08-2023 12:28
  
  Majority of executive team has left or shifted roles since 2021 with Morris’s resignation the 11th major change in less than three yearsGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastAnother senior executive has left Australian iron ore giant Fortescue just months into the job, adding to the rapid turnover of management in recent years.The departure of chief financial officer Christine Morris was announced to the Australian stock exchange on Thursday evening just
  
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• ‘I already work two jobs’: US graduates with kids grapple with student debt

  31-08-2023 12:00
  
  As the end of the student debt payment pause looms, many parents say they cannot afford to prioritize paying their loans backDivine Justice Hilliard, 24, was in college when she participated in a program designed for single parents. While the program provided assistance for campus housing and childcare for her now elementary-school-aged child, she graduated with almost $70,000 in student loan debt. As the end of the US student debt repayment pause looms, Hilliard wondered: “Am I going to d
  
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• US restricts exports of Nvidia AI chips to Middle East

  31-08-2023 11:47
  
  Controls apply to A100 and H100 chips, in escalation of US efforts to curb China’s access to productsBusiness live – latest updatesThe US has expanded the restriction of exports of Nvidia artificial intelligence chips beyond China to some countries in the Middle East.Nvidia, which is one of the world’s most valuable companies at $1.2tn, said in a regulatory filing this week the curbs affected its A100 and H100 chips, which are used to accelerate machine-learning tasks on major
  
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• ‘They were earning £10,000 more than me!’ What happens when colleagues come clean about pay

  31-08-2023 11:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Most employees don’t like to talk about how much they earn. Many are simply afraid to. But breaking that taboo can transform life – especially for women and people of colourWhen Martina, a 35-year-old IT analyst, told colleagues what she earned, they confirmed her worst suspicions. It wasn’t what they said, but what they didn’t say. Martina had seen similar roles to hers being advertised locally, all with a higher salary than her roughly £30,000 package. But when sh
  
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• Former UK chancellor who crashed the pound to advise Fortescue from October

  31-08-2023 09:59
  
  Kwasi Kwarteng will not be allowed to lobby British government in paid role as a senior adviser at Australian iron ore minerThe former British chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng is due to start advising Fortescue on its clean energy ambitions from October – one year after his disastrous mini-budget crashed the pound.Kwarteng, who was sacked last year by then prime minister Liz Truss after only 38 days as chancellor, will provide advice in a part-time capacity to Fortescue’s emerging clean ene
  
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• Oxford Science Enterprises Appoints Ed Bussey as Chief Executive Officer

  31-08-2023 09:00 via globenewswire.com
  
  Ed Bussey selected by Board to lead company in next phase of growth
  OSE introduces Chief Investment Officer role, appointing Jack Edmondson Oxford, UK: August 31, 2023: Oxford Science Enterprises (OSE), the independent investment company created to found, fund and build transformational businesses via its unique partnership with the University of Oxford, today announces the appointment of Ed Bussey as CEO and Jack Edmondson as CIO.We are delighted by the appointments of Ed and Jack,” said
  
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• Tokyo’s coin-operated laundries – in pictures

  31-08-2023 08:00
  
  There are an estimated 20,000 coin-operated laundries across Japan, a number that has doubled in the last two decades. In addition to the usual services, they provide speciality machines for cleaning sports shoes, pillows and heavy blankets. For Philip Fong they are a novelty not found in his hometown of Hong Kong. The photographer is drawn to Tokyo’s 24-hour laundromats, located in unassuming residential areas. Fong says: ‘I do really like the atmosphere of those shops in the quiet
  
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• My £1,399 laptop refund from Amazon is a lost cause

  31-08-2023 08:00
  
  I received a box with a book and other items instead of a computer, but the online retailer doesn’t seem to want to give me my money backI purchased a laptop from Amazon six months ago, but the parcel I received contained a book and other items packaged to mimic the weight and proportions of a laptop. Amazon instructed me to return it for a refund, sent a returns label and a courier to collect it. The courier, UPS, has since confirmed the package was lost in transit. It won’t allow m
  
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• House prices fall again as mortgages soar by £500 a month. Now BoE will trigger crash

  31-08-2023 07:30 via express.co.uk
  
  The UK property market has ground to a halt with sales falling to a 10-year low, triggering fresh fears of house price crash. Now the Bank of England could make it a grim reality.
  
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• Labour and Tories ‘out of step’ with cost of living concerns – poll

  31-08-2023 06:00
  
  Labour viewed as better placed to tackle crisis but voters sceptical it is a priority for either partyLabour and the Conservatives have been accused of being out of step with public concern about the cost-of-living crisis, as polling suggested fewer than one in four people believed tackling it was a priority for the two parties.Swing voters from key demographics – “Workington man” and “Stevenage woman”, the monikers that campaign strategists have given to groups the
  
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• Chinese developer Country Garden reports $6.7bn loss amid fears of another Evergrande

  31-08-2023 02:54
  
  Group warns that if its financial performance ‘continues to deteriorate’ it faces possible default after huge half-year losses Embattled Chinese developer Country Garden reported a 48.9bn yuan ($6.7bn) loss for the first half of the year in a stock exchange filing on Wednesday, adding to worries of a potentially catastrophic default.Its tenuous state has sparked fears of a collapse that could have far-reaching consequences for the Chinese financial system two years after the fall of
  
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• Vietnamese collector revealed as buyer of world’s biggest bottle of whisky

  31-08-2023 01:01
  
  Viet Nguyen Dinh Tuan bought 311-litre bottle of 32-year-old Macallan single malt for £1.1m at auctionThe previously anonymous buyer of the world’s largest bottle of whisky, which at 5ft 11in is taller than the average human, has been revealed as a Vietnamese businessman who already owns a spirits collection valued at more than £150m.Viet Nguyen Dinh Tuan bought the 311-litre bottle filled with 32-year-old Macallan single malt for £1.1m at auction in Edinburgh last year.
  
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• Modi-linked Adani family secretly invested in own shares, documents suggest

  31-08-2023 01:01
  
  Offshore records suggest associates of wealthy Indian family spent years acquiring stock during rise of founder to be worth $120bnA billionaire Indian family with close ties to the country’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, secretly invested hundreds of millions of dollars into the Indian stock market, buying its own shares, newly disclosed documents suggest.According to offshore financial records seen by the Guardian, associates of the Adani family may have spent years discreetly acquiring
  
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