Policymakers vote 8-1 against back-to-back cuts in borrowing costs after inflation stayed above Bank target
The Bank of England has kept interest rates unchanged at 5% as it put its efforts to ease the pressure on household budgets on hold.
The Bank’s monetary policy committee (MPC) voted by a majority of eight to one against launching a back-to-back reduction in borrowing costs amid concerns over lingering inflationary pressures.
Continue reading...Accountancy firm accused of issuing false audits says it has sacked six partners and five other staff have left
The China arm of the accountancy firm PwC has been banned for six months and fined a record 441m yuan (£47m) over its audit of the collapsed property developer Evergrande, according to Chinese authorities.
Beijing’s ministry of finance imposed a six-month business suspension on PwC Zhong Tian, the accounting firm’s main division in mainland China, along with a 116m yuan penalty.
Continue reading...FCA gives detailed guidance to lenders after hearing lack of access could lead to ‘significant harm’ for individuals
The City regulator has warned UK banks over denying accounts for sex workers, after hearing that a lack of access to business banking could lead to “significant harm” for individuals.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said that while banks said they were able to provide accounts for the adult entertainment industry in theory, they were often denying or shutting down business accounts in practice.
Continue reading...Company tells clients it also expects to receive a large fine following property developer’s collapse
The auditor PwC China has reportedly told clients that it expects to receive a six-month ban from Chinese authorities, and potentially a large fine, as a punishment for its role in auditing the collapsed property developer Evergrande.
PwC expects to be banned from conducting regulated activities in China, such as signing off on financial results, for six months starting in September, the Financial Times reported.
Continue reading...More than 95% of investors urged commodities firm to keep highly profitable fossil fuel arm to help maximise shareholder cash
Glencore has scrapped plans to spin off its coal business after shareholders urged the commodities company to hold on to the highly profitable but heavily polluting division.
The FTSE 100 company said that an overwhelming majority of its shareholders favoured retaining the coal business over its plan to list the division as a separate company on the New York stock exchange.
Continue reading...Move paves way for fintech firm to hold customers’ deposits and offer own-branded loans, including mortgages
Revolut has secured a UK banking licence – with “restrictions” – more than three years after Britain’s most valuable fintech firm lodged its application with regulators.
It is a milestone for the company, though it may still be some time before it can hold its customers’ deposits.
Continue reading...Bim Afolami’s comments distance British government from protectionist moves by US
The UK cannot afford to give the “cold shoulder” to China, the City minister said on Monday, in comments that will distance the British government from the Biden administration’s protectionist crackdown.
Addressing financial services bosses at the City Week conference in London’s Guildhall, Bim Afolami said it was “crucial” to engage with strategic competitors such as Beijing, and that the UK risked losing control of its economic future if it failed to find common ground.
Continue reading...Treasury committee says ‘debanking’ and use of personal guarantees for loans is putting small businesses at risk
Unfair banking practices and “damaging” financial regulators are harming small businesses and putting innovation and growth at risk, parliament’s Treasury committee has warned.
A report from the committee’s inquiry into access to finance for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) said a lack of supportive policies were compounding problems for firms that had survived a “torrid” five years, which included the global pandemic and energy crisis.
“Confidence amongst SMEs in accessing finance has fallen and acceptance rates for business credit has lowered significantly,” the report said.
Continue reading...Parliamentary commissioner for standards says there was not sufficient evidence to justify opening investigation into John Baron
Parliament’s standards watchdog has turned down a request to investigate a senior Conservative MP over whether he used his role on the Commons Treasury committee to lobby for changes to City rules.
The parliamentary commissioner for standards, Daniel Greenberg, said a request submitted on behalf of campaign group Unlock Democracy had not provided any evidence that John Baron MP was not acting in the public interest, or breached any rule related to lobbying, that would be sufficient to justify opening an investigation.
Continue reading...Shareholder payouts grew 14 times faster than wages over past three years, says Oxfam report
Shareholders have proved to be more successful at securing bumper payouts than workers have at winning higher pay, according to two studies that show dividends outstripping wages by a considerable margin in recent years.
Oxfam said analysis of global data showed that dividend payments to shareholders over the last three years grew an average of 14 times faster than worker pay across 31 major economies.
Continue reading...Hopes of a UK interest rate cut and easing geopolitical tensions are not the only reasons for the intraday peak reached this morning
The UK stock market has hit an intraday record high, lifted by hopes of interest rate cuts and easing geopolitical tensions, after setting a new closing high on Monday. The FTSE 100 index touched 8,076 points at the opening bell on Tuesday, surpassing a previous high of 8,047 reached in February 2023. We explain what is behind the rising London market.
Continue reading...OpenDemocracy investigation names attenders, including Keir Starmer, at Edinburgh meeting to discuss party’s banking policies
Senior members of the shadow cabinet have held a private meeting with a group of financial services companies to discuss the party’s banking policies just weeks after one of the companies donated £150,000 to the party.
Six senior Labour figures – including the leader, Keir Starmer, the shadow chancellor, Rachel Reeves, and the shadow business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds – attended the meeting in Edinburgh last December, according to an investigation by the website OpenDemocracy.
Continue reading...Richard Branson has already indicated he will back takeover that will require the agreement of the group’s shareholders
Nationwide Building Society is lined up to take over its smaller rival Virgin Money after the pair formally agreed a deal worth £2.9bn.
The deal, which will solidify Nationwide’s position as the UK’s second largest mortgage lender, will also trigger the resignation of Virgin Money boss David Duffy, and is likely to lead to job cuts as well as an official “review” of the combined group’s workforce.
Continue reading...Exclusive: £10m needed for regulator charged with developing tools to thwart financial crime and protect consumers
Banks are under pressure to stump up millions of pounds in interim funding for the organisation that polices open banking, with regulators saying the new money is needed to prevent financial crime and protect consumers if things “go wrong”.
Large banks including NatWest, HSBC, Lloyds and Santander UK were among more than 40 City firms summoned by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) last week to discuss a cash injection into Open Banking Limited (OPL), the body that oversees innovation in this area.
Continue reading...Government agency issues disqualification proceedings after inquiry into failed finance firm Greensill Capital
The Insolvency Service has begun legal action to have Lex Greensill disqualified from running companies for up to 15 years after the outcome of an investigation into the directors of his failed finance firm.
The government agency said it had issued disqualification proceedings on behalf of the business secretary against the former Australian sugar farmer, who founded the Greensill group of companies.
Continue reading...Johannesburg-based Amplats says one in five jobs will be lost in South Africa amid plunge in profits
The platinum arm of Anglo American is to cut 3,700 jobs in South Africa as the British mining company attempts to improve performance in the troubled division.
Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) said on Monday it aimed to cut jobs after a sharp drop in platinum metal prices, which had led to a collapse in profits last year.
Continue reading...Rupert Soames says Guardian revelations over sexual misconduct claims were ‘appalling shock’ but is bullish about the future
The new president of the Confederation of British Industry has admitted the Guardian’s revelations of sexual misconduct were “an appalling shock” that tipped the lobbying group into a “near-death experience’’.
Rupert Soames, the City grandee recently appointed president of the CBI, said that this newspaper’s revelations about sexual misconduct at the organisation had triggered an existential crisis – one he is trying to rescue it from.
Continue reading...Both banks deny helping Tehran-controlled oil firm PCC to move money in breach of sanctions
Two of the UK’s largest lenders, Santander UK and Lloyds Banking Group, allegedly held bank accounts for front companies that helped Iranian entities evade US sanctions, according to reports.
The news has rattled investors, who sold off shares in the two banks on Monday morning, amid fears that the lenders could face penalties if they are found to have in any way assisted Iran’s state-controlled Petrochemical Commercial Company (PCC).
Continue reading...Exclusive: more than 500 bosses from finance world will be in attendance at sold-out event in London
Labour will use its sold-out business conference next week to unveil the party’s City policy plans, the Guardian can reveal, as it tries to win over hundreds of UK executives before a general election.
More than 500 bosses from across British finance will gather in London on 1 February for the event, where opposition leaders including Sir Keir Starmer, his shadow chancellor, Rachel Reeves, and the shadow business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, plan to “showcase Labour’s offer to business”.
Continue reading...In wake of #MeToo, sexism in the City has become more ‘underhand and pernicious’, women tell inquiry
The social change sparked by the #MeToo movement has not translated to the UK’s financial sector, with sexual harassment merely shifting outside the office to conferences and work trips, MPs have heard.
A summary of private hearings held as part of the Treasury committee’s sexism in the City inquiry showed that, while a small number of women said workplaces had become more inclusive in recent years, the majority felt the Square Mile was still an “old boys’ club” with misconduct and misogyny widespread.
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