Financial news

• Virgin Money shareholders vote for Nationwide takeover by big majority

  22-05-2024 19:30
  
  The deal won approval of 89% of voting shareholders, lining up Richard Branson for a £724m windfall from saleVirgin Money shareholders have voted in favour of a £2.9bn takeover by rival lender Nationwide Building Society, helping clear the path for the biggest UK banking deal since the financial crisis.Just over 89% of voting shareholders said yes to the deal at a general meeting on Wednesday, while nearly 11% rejected the move. The resolution required at least 75% backing to pass. C
  
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• Private school tax-break idea is a non-starter | Letter

  22-05-2024 18:40
  
  Christine Maxwell on Mike Harris’s alternative suggestion to Labour’s plan for VAT on private schoolsMike Harris (Scrap the plan for VAT on private schools, Labour. Just let low-income kids attend instead, 20 May) suggests that independent schools should give free places to low-income children to avoid paying VAT and that independent schools are saving the state £8,000 a year per pupil. This is wrong for the following reasons:1. State schools will still need to exist, albe
  
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• US to apply consumer protection rules to buy now, pay later lenders

  22-05-2024 16:15
  
  Installment repayment programs like Affirm, Karna and Afterpay are getting more oversight amid sharp rise in useThe US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) will apply some credit card consumer protection rules to buy now, pay later (BNPL) lenders, the agency said on Wednesday, in an effort to impose more oversight on the fast-growing sector.BNPL providers such as Affirm, Klarna and Afterpay partner with retailers to finance customer purchases, which shoppers repay in installments. The sec
  
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• Quiet vacationing: why workers are sneaking off on holiday without telling their boss

  22-05-2024 15:40
  
  In the US, millennials and gen Z often don’t take their annual leave for fear of looking like slackers. But they are still booking some time on the beach …Name: Quiet vacationing.Age: The phrase is a new one, the thing it describes less so. Continue reading...
  
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• UK drivers warned to watch out for ‘crash for cash’ fraud claims

  22-05-2024 15:36
  
  Insurer Allianz says scam by criminals on motorbikes and scooters increased by 6,000% last yearMotorists have been warned to be vigilant after a 60-fold increase in “crash for cash” fraud claims involving motorbike and scooter riders staging accidents so they can blame innocent drivers.The insurer Allianz said its data showed that claims relating to this scam increased by 6,000% between January and December 2023 – a significant jump from the 50% increase the year before. Contin
  
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• Rishi Sunak refuses to rule out summer general election – video

  22-05-2024 14:51
  
  'Spoiler alert, there is going to be a general election in the second half of this year,' says Rishi Sunak in a response to a question during PMQs from the SNP's Stephen Flynn. Sunak declined to rule out a summer date after Flynn insisted the prime minister respond to the 'speculation' surrounding an early election. The Conservatives suffered heavy losses at the local elections in England earlier in May. The party lost 515 councillors, ceded control of 10 councils and was defeated in the West Mi
  
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• UK inflation slows to 2.3% on lower energy costs; government borrowing fourth-highest April figure on record – business live

  22-05-2024 14:49
  
  Services inflation higher than expected; electricity and gas prices in record 27% drop, food price rises lowest since 2021Financial markets have scaled back their expectations for an interest rate cut in June, and August is also looking slightly less likely. They are forecasting a reduction by September, though.Before today’s inflation data, which showed services inflation is more stubborn than expected, markets had fully priced in two rate cuts this year, one by August and another one bef
  
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• Paula Vennells cries and denies knowing Post Office was carrying out its own prosecutions – live

  22-05-2024 14:28
  
  Former chief executive tells the inquiry she did not realise Post Office was carrying out prosecutions itself until 2012Paula Vennells has made an opening statement at the Post Office Horizon IT inquiry where she apologised to the victims of the scandal and offered to stand outside the old Post Office of one of the victims with them to explain to people what happened and what they went through. She said she had been deeply affected by victim impact statements heard by the inquiry.She said:I woul
  
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• Marks & Spencer boss hails ‘growth story’ as annual profits rise 41%

  22-05-2024 13:48
  
  Pre-tax profits increase to £672.5m and retailer says it will reduce costs further as part of five-year planBusiness live – latest updatesThe boss of Marks & Spencer says he is hopeful of a “growth story for years to come” after the revitalised retailer won over 1 million more shoppers to boost profits by 41%.Stuart Machin, the chief executive, said it was “the beginnings of a new M&S” and there was “wind in our sails and confidence that our plan
  
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• US investment firm seizes control of Inter after missed payment from Chinese owners

  22-05-2024 13:40
  
  Suning’s loan was guaranteed by stake in Italian clubInter become seventh Serie A club with US ownersThe United States-based investment fund Oaktree Capital Management said on Wednesday it has become the new owner of Serie A champions Inter after a missed $428m (£336m) payment from the club’s Chinese holding company, Suning.Granted in 2021 to the Luxembourg-based vehicle through which the Chinese conglomerate Suning controlled Inter, the loan was guaranteed by the firm’s
  
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• Former Post Office chief breaks down in tears at Horizon IT inquiry – video

  22-05-2024 13:37
  
  Paula Vennells broke down in tears while giving evidence during the Horizon IT inquiry, as she apologised for telling MPs the Post Office was successful in every court case against post office operators. She told MPs on Wednesday: 'I followed and listened to all of the human impact statements and I was very affected by them ... I am very, very sorry'Post Office Horizon inquiry – live updates Continue reading...
  
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• Citigroup fined over ‘fat finger’ error that led to £1.1bn of mistaken orders

  22-05-2024 13:34
  
  UK regulators fine bank £61.6m over 2022 trader blunder that prompted flash crash in European stocksCitigroup has been fined £61.6m by financial regulators after its internal systems failed to prevent a fat-fingered banker causing a flash crash by erroneously placing more than £1bn of orders.The trader had intended to sell equities to the value of $58m (£46m) on 2 May 2022. However, the banker made an inputting error while entering the transaction into Citigroup’s o
  
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• Severn Trent increases payout to shareholders despite its 60,000 sewage spills last year

  22-05-2024 13:32
  
  Final dividend hiked by 9% amid anger over water firms making payouts to investors while polluting waterwaysBusiness live – latest updatesSevern Trent has increased its payout to shareholders despite being responsible for 60,000 sewage spills last year.Severn hiked its final dividend by 9% to 70.1p a share after pre-tax profits swelled almost 20% to £201.3m in the year to the end of March. Continue reading...
  
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• Majority of Americans wrongly believe US is in recession – and most blame Biden

  22-05-2024 11:00
  
  Exclusive Harris poll for the Guardian shows 55% believe economy is shrinking, in troubling sign for president’s re-election bidDo you know how US economy is actually doing? Try our interactive quizNearly three in five Americans wrongly believe the US is in an economic recession, and the majority blame the Biden administration, according to a Harris poll conducted exclusively for the Guardian. The survey found persistent pessimism about the economy as election day draws closer.The poll hig
  
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• Big drop in UK inflation rate disguises more disappointing details

  22-05-2024 10:12
  
  Service sector inflation, monitored closely by Bank of England, barely budged in AprilUK inflation falls by less than expected to 2.3%Which goods and services have changed most in price?The annual inflation rate fell sharply in April. Prices are rising more slowly than at any time in almost three years. Inflation is lower in the UK than it is in the EU.Even so, the latest bulletin on the cost of living from the Office for National Statistics was mildly disappointing. April’s inflation figu
  
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• My SumUp card reader has been blocked and I can’t afford new one

  22-05-2024 08:00
  
  Similarly affected users I found online suggest it is disabling out-of-warranty readers to make people buy anotherI am a craft potter selling mainly from specialist, often outdoor, markets with uncertain internet access.My SumUp Solo card reader, used successfully at fewer than 10 markets and now out of warranty, is suddenly giving me a screen message “SumUp blocked”. Continue reading...
  
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• Rishi Sunak is holding out for a feelgood factor. It will only come once he’s gone | Rafael Behr

  22-05-2024 07:00
  
  Lower inflation won’t help the Tories when everything still feels expensive and public services are on their kneesRishi Sunak trying to win back public support reminds me of the economist stranded on a desert island with a chemist and physicist. A tin of beans washes ashore and an argument breaks out over how to access the contents. The physicist suggests using spectacles to focus the sun’s rays into a penetrating beam. The chemist suggests using sea salt to corrode the seal. “
  
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• Singapore PM promises ‘thorough investigation’ after severe turbulence on flight from London

  22-05-2024 06:54
  
  Lawrence Wong offers condolences to family of Geoffrey Kitchen, who died during flight that left others critically injuredBriton who died on Singapore Airlines flight named as Geoffrey KitchenSingapore’s prime minister has promised a “thorough investigation” after a British passenger died and 20 required intensive care after severe turbulence on a Singapore Airlines flight from London.Confirming that 131 passengers and 12 crew had arrived in Singapore on a different plane, Lawr
  
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• Do heat pumps work at freezing temperatures?

  22-05-2024 06:00
  
  Critics claim that the technology is not up to the job – we examine whether the facts bear this outAre heat pumps more expensive to run than gas boilers?The belief that a heat pump is unable to warm a home in the depths of winter is widely held, especially in the UK.One recent survey of more than 4,000 adults across the UK, Germany, France and the US last autumn found that 35% believed that air-source heat pumps are not up to the job. Continue reading...
  
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• 'Going completely horizontal': passengers on Singapore Airlines flight hit by turbulence – video

  22-05-2024 05:53
  
  Singapore Airlines flight SQ 321 was bound for Singapore from London when it hit severe turbulence, leading to the death of a British tourist who was travelling to Australia. Dozens were injured, including eight Australians, after passengers reported a 'dramatic drop' that launched those not wearing a seatbelt into the cabin ceiling► Subscribe to Guardian Australia on YouTubeEight Australians taken to Thai hospital after London-Singapore flight hits severe turbulence Continue reading...
  
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• Large-scale nuclear power station planned for Anglesey in Wales

  22-05-2024 01:01
  
  Ministers are discussing who will build the plant, which will join Hinkley Point C and Sizewell C as major future suppliers to the gridMinisters have earmarked north Wales as the site of a large-scale nuclear power plant, which is part of plans to resuscitate Britain’s nuclear power ambitions.Wylfa on Anglesey (Ynys Môn) has been named as the preferred site for the UK’s third major nuclear power plant in a generation, coming after EDF’s Hinkley Point C nuclear plant, whic
  
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• Inquiry to begin into DWP’s treatment of ill and disabled people on benefits

  22-05-2024 01:01
  
  Some eligibility decisions have been linked to deaths of vulnerable claimants, and EHRC will examine if ministers acted unlawfullyThe treatment of chronically ill and disabled people by welfare officials, including benefits decisions subsequently linked to the deaths of vulnerable claimants, is to be formally investigated by Britain’s human rights watchdog.The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) said it would examine whether ministers at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) h
  
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• Demand for Taylor Swift’s UK tour could fuel summer ticket fraud bonanza

  22-05-2024 01:01
  
  ‘Purchase scams’ often pegged to big events, warns UK Finance’s annual fraud reportThe clamour to secure tickets for Taylor Swift’s sold-out UK shows is expected to fuel a summer fraud bonanza as figures showed a “staggering” £1.2bn was stolen from unwitting consumers in 2023.Swift’s Eras tour, which arrives in the UK in June, and the Olympic Games, are contenders for biggest ticketing scam of the year. The warning, from industry group UK Finance,
  
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• Electric cars more likely to hit pedestrians than petrol vehicles, study finds

  22-05-2024 00:30
  
  Electric and hybrid vehicles are quieter than cars with combustion engines, making them harder to hear, especially in urban areasHybrid and electric cars are more likely to strike pedestrians than petrol or diesel vehicles, particularly in towns and cities, according to an analysis of British road traffic accidents.Data from 32bn miles of battery-powered car travel and 3tn miles of petrol and diesel car trips showed that mile-for-mile electric and hybrid cars were twice as likely to hit pedestri
  
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