Finance

Sentiment and volumes are deteriorating sharply in the financial services sector, with various indicators at their lowest since the Financial Crisis of 2008, according to the latest CBI/PwC Financial Services Survey. The quarterly survey of 84 firms found that optimism about the overall business situation in the financial services sector plunged sharply, falling at the quickest pace since December 2008. Optimism has now been flat or falling for over three years. Business volumes fell for a second consecutive quarter, and...

The EU’s agreement of a short extension of Article 50 reduces the likelihood of a no-deal ‘Brexident’ next week. Even if Scope has expected the UK to avoid a no-deal exit, the consequences of prolonged uncertainty for the UK’s credit ratings are growing. The EU agreed Thursday to a short Article 50 extension until 22 May, less than the UK’s request for an extension to 30 June and conditional on the Brexit deal being approved in the UK Parliament next...

The Treasury Committee has warned that the UK must get a grip on money laundering and that is could even increase post-Brexit. The Committee concluded that efforts to fight money laundering in the UK is “highly fragmented.” at the moment. They urged the government not to ignore the seriousness of economic crime in a rush to secure new trade deal in the post-Brexit political environment. Committee chair Nicky Morgan said government should not "bow to buccaneering regulatory pressures” The Treasury...

Money is a bigger taboo than sex, religion or politics, according to new research. Half of Brits say talking about personal money matters is taboo in everyday conversation, higher than sex (42 per cent), religion (26 per cent) and politics (14 per cent). The study also found that a quarter of Brits have lied to family and friends about their personal finances, with one in ten admitting to lying to their partner about how much debt they have. And 23...

The pound has soared to the highest level versus the euro since 2017 after both the government and the opposition gave signs of changing strategy on Brexit. Sterling gained for a third day against the common currency after the Labour party came out in favour of a second Brexit vote and Prime Minister Theresa May was expected to bring up the topic of extending the Brexit deadline beyond March 29 at a meeting of her cabinet on Tuesday. Politics.co.uk Editor...

Austerity policies have resulted in nine years of slower growth and left us all £1,495 a year worse off, analysis by The New Economics Foundation has revealed. The think tank found the impact of tax and spending changes since the Conservatives came to power had left the economy £100 billion smaller than it would otherwise have been. As a result, the cumulative effect of tax, public spending and welfare adjustments on growth by the end of the 2018-19 financial year had left the...

Kwasi Afrifa, 31, resigned following claims of underperformance and is now suing the bank for disability discrimination.

Average earnings in London are 15.5 per cent below the real value of earnings in 2007 after inflation, new research has revealed. A study of official data by GMB has shown that in London, full-time workers’ mean gross annual pay in 2018 was just 84.5 per cent of what it was in 2007. In 2007 the mean gross annual pay of full-time workers was £42,226. In 2018 that figure was £48,604, which when you factor in inflation at 36.17 per...

The reality of Brexit uncertainty is starting to bite, experts have said after the number of personal insolvencies hit its highest level since 2011. Insolvency Service figures showed 115,299 people became insolvent in England and Wales last year, 20 per cent up on 2017. The number of companies going under also reached a five-year high in 2018. There were 17,439 company insolvencies last year — the highest since 2013 — driven by a big jump in numbers of builders and retailers...