Financial news

• Who are the Tories’ recent biggest donors after Frank Hester?

  14-03-2024 20:50
  
  Company founders, a member of the Sainsbury dynasty and a vice-chair of a textile giant have donated large sums to the partyReports that Frank Hester donated an additional but as yet undeclared £5m to the Conservative party on top of the £10m already known about catapult him into the number one position in the league table of Tory donors.In the last quarter of 2023, the Conservatives received £9.8m and Labour £6m in donations, according to the Electoral Commission. In tot
  
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• Unilever boss could be paid up to €17.4m if he hits maximum targets

  14-03-2024 19:45
  
  Group could face another revolt by shareholders after 60% voted against remuneration report last yearUnilever could face a potential row with shareholders after it emerged that the new boss of the consumer goods company can earn up to €17.4m (£14.9m) this year if he hits maximum targets.Hein Schumacher, who joined the owner of Marmite, Domestos and Dove in June last year, took home €3.9m for his first six months as chief executive. He earned a €1.86m annual bonus on top of h
  
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• It’s no burden – we have a duty to pay tax | Letters

  14-03-2024 19:38
  
  Readers ponder changing the phrasing around the payment of tax and not viewing it as an inconvenience Jack D Stephen is looking for a phrase to replace “tax burden” (Letters, 10 March). I can help him with an alternative I’ve been using: replace the word tax with duty, as we currently do at airports. Which figure could remain in public life if found to have avoided, let alone evaded, duty to their country? My tax isn’t my burden, it’s a duty to my country that I sho
  
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• Panic over at John Lewis Partnership, but still a long way to go | Nils Pratley

  14-03-2024 19:10
  
  The pre-tax profit of £56m lags well behind the £400m that the group calls a sustainable annual returnIs the crisis over at the John Lewis Partnership? Not yet. A pre-tax profit of £56m was a big improvement from a thumping loss of £234m last time, but remember that the group’s definition of a sustainable annual return is £400m. That isn’t scheduled to be achieved until the financial year that ends in January 2028. There is still a long way to go.But the
  
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• UK scheme to spur take-up of heat pumps delayed after gas lobby pressure

  14-03-2024 18:28
  
  Mechanism is vital to boost the ‘only viable option’ to decarbonise emissions from heating homes, says green charityThe government has delayed by a year its scheme for spurring the take-up of heat pumps, under pressure from the gas boiler industry.The clean heat market mechanism is intended to force heating installers to fit more low-carbon heat pumps, to meet the UK’s net zero greenhouse gas emissions target and save energy. Continue reading...
  
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• Tackling inequality vital for next century of growth, IMF head says

  14-03-2024 18:00
  
  Kristalina Georgieva invokes John Maynard Keynes as she says fostering fairer economy would raise living standards ninefoldThe head of the International Monetary Fund has warned that the only way to boost global economic growth over the next century is by tackling soaring inequality to achieve a ninefold increase in living standards.Kristalina Georgieva said world leaders had a responsibility to future generations to build an economy that dealt with global heating, deployed AI technology respons
  
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• Martin Lewis urges Britons to check if they can claim ‘urgent’ £1,256 tax back

  14-03-2024 17:14 via express.co.uk
  
  Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis said there are around 2.1 million couples that could be eligible to claim this tax back.
  
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• US parents: are you still supporting your adult children financially?

  14-03-2024 17:01
  
  We’re interested to hear from parents in the US who give financial support to their adult children and from US adults who receive financial assistance from their parentsNearly half of US parents provide some kind of financial support to their adult children, who are grappling with higher food and living costs than they did, a new study has found.The study – conducted by Savings.com – says young, working-class Americans were not substantially benefiting from the recovery of the
  
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• Doubts over inflation and interest rates create uncertainty for savers and borrowers

  14-03-2024 16:40 via express.co.uk
  
  Finance industry experts have pointed to evidence from the Office of Budget Responsibility that falls in inflation could be short-lived.
  
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• Should you save towards an inheritance for your kids? 4 in 10 millennials think so

  14-03-2024 16:07 via express.co.uk
  
  A third of millennials believe their inheritance is at risk due to parents squandering it.
  
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• Top tips to get the most out of Attendance allowance - how to tackle the new form

  14-03-2024 16:00 via express.co.uk
  
  Attendance Allowance is to help with extra costs if you have a disability, health condition or illness severe enough to need someone to help look after you.
  
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• Dad makes mortgage repayments for 36 years but still loses home to repossession

  14-03-2024 15:50 via express.co.uk
  
  He and his wife are now relying on the state pension to get by and live in a rented bungalow.
  
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• What will the EU’s proposed act to regulate AI mean for consumers?

  14-03-2024 15:33
  
  How does the bill define AI, how will it protect consumers from abuse, and what do the big tech companies think about it?The European Union’s proposed AI law was endorsed by the European parliament on Wednesday, and is a milestone in regulating the technology. The vote is an important step towards introducing the legislation.It is now expected to be rubber stamped by a council of ministers, becoming law within weeks. However, the act will come into force in stages, with a cascade of deadli
  
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• Deliveroo is hopping towards profit for first time despite volume drop

  14-03-2024 15:24 via express.co.uk
  
  Takeaways and grocery delivery group Deliveroo is on track to make its first ever profit, after seeing its annual pre-tax losses tumble from £230.6million to just £10.9million.
  
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• SpaceX completes third Starship test flight lasting 50 minutes – video

  14-03-2024 15:19
  
  SpaceX launched the third test flight of its Starship spacecraft, the largest and most powerful rocket ever built, which aims to carry astronauts to the moon and, eventually, to Mars. It took off from SpaceX's spaceport, named Starbase, on the Gulf of Mexico in Boca Chica, Texas, entering space several minutes later. After 50 minutes, it lost contact with the spacecraft and the live feed cut to the control room. SpaceX were never intending to recover the parts after take-off. Two previous attemp
  
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• Waitrose plots fresh price cuts as parent John Lewis bounces back

  14-03-2024 14:48 via express.co.uk
  
  Waitrose is planning a fresh round of price cuts to help it maintain its growth, which has helped power its parent John Lewis back into profit.
  
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• ‘Slap in the face’ for millions as City watchdog clears way for end of ‘free banking’

  14-03-2024 14:47 via express.co.uk
  
  The Financial Conduct Authority has said it "would not stand in the way" of moves to end the free banking model if lenders chose to offset rising regulation costs by charging fees.
  
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• Bank of England under pressure to bring forward interest rate cuts

  14-03-2024 14:17 via express.co.uk
  
  Lower wage growth has helped to ease concerns about inflation, which is predicted to fall to the target rate of two percent in the next few months.
  
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• The cries from Britain’s struggling CEOs are growing louder – how can they survive on a mere £4.4m a year? | Stefan Stern

  14-03-2024 13:00
  
  There are fears in the City of an exodus of bosses to the US, where they reckon they’ll be paid the big bucks they surely deserve Every now and then, somebody lets the fat cat out of the bag. In January, it was the turn of Chris O’Shea, the chief executive of Centrica (the owners of British Gas), to say the unsayable about executive pay. His £4.5m pay package was “impossible to justify”, he said, “so there’s no point in trying to do that”. In 2016,
  
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• UK first time buyers: did you get financial help from family or friends?

  14-03-2024 11:56
  
  We want to learn more about how people in the UK are buying their first homes. Whether you bought yours alone, with help, or are struggling to get a mortgage, we’d like to hear about your experience.The proportion of first time buyers needing financial help from a family member or friend to get their first mortgage appears to have grown in the last two years.We would like to hear your recent experiences of buying your first house and how hard it was to raise the finances – or whether
  
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• Car finance mis-selling is not the next PPI scandal, says UK watchdog

  14-03-2024 11:31
  
  Financial Conduct Authority says prompt intervention should ensure wrongdoing will be dealt with efficientlyThe City watchdog has said potential mis-selling in the car finance industry is unlikely to mirror the lengthy PPI scandal, which led to banks paying out nearly £50bn over more than a decade.Nikhil Rathi, the chief executive of the Financial Conduct Authority, said he understood there was “uncertainty” about the scale of potential fines and compensation, but he played dow
  
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• Halifax, Lloyds and Bank of Scotland announce 53 branches to close - see the full list

  14-03-2024 11:25 via express.co.uk
  
  The closures are taking place over the coming months and into 2025.
  
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