Five banks fined £2bn by regulators over forex failings
HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland, Swiss Bank UBS and US Banks JP Morgan Chase and Citibank have all been collectively fined £2bn by UK and US regulators for trader’s attempted manipulation of foreign exchange rates. The fines follow a year-long investigation by regulators into claims Read more…
US Stocks fall as crude oil prices have hit a four-year low
US Stocks fall as crude oil prices have hit a four-year low after Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest exporter, unexpectedly cut the price of oil sold to them in a further sign of an escalating war for control of global energy markets. raising concerns about Read more…
Nikkei leads Asia higher
Japan led Asian shares higher after the Bank of Japan (BOJ) surprised markets by announcing more stimulus measures. The BOJ decision sought to ease monetary policy on worries that lower oil prices would affect consumer prices. The central bank will increase the pace at which Read more…
Lloyds Bank confirms 9,000 job losses and branch closures
Lloyds Banking Group has confirmed 9,000 job losses and the closure of 150 branches over the next three years. The latest job losses – representing about 10% of its workforce – come on top of 43,000 cuts made since 2008. The group is also setting Read more…
Tesco Chairman to step down
Sir Richard Broadbent will leave Tesco following bigger than forecast hole on profits. First half year profits overestimations now have increased to £263m after last month’s estimates of £250m. Deloitte are investigating the misreported gains and have found that Tesco have been banking promotions deals Read more…
Government to consider new peer-to-peer lending ISA
The Treasury is launching a consultation on a proposal to create a third and different ISA for peer to peer lending, in a move which could propel the concept into the front rank of financial options. The plan is to create one for people who Read more…
Private sector pay ‘to rise faster than public sector’
A report from the Institute for Fiscal Studies has said pay in the private sector is likely to rise faster than public sector wages in the next four years. The independent research institute said the pay gap between public and private sector workers had nearly Read more…
Survey reveals fifth of UK mortgage holders would struggle with rate rise
The Money Advice Service said that 19 percent of mortgage holders said they would “really struggle to find the extra money” to cover any increase in repayments. This proportion increased to 47 percent if mortgage payments were to rise by 150 pounds a month – Read more…
Osborne to cut pensions ‘death tax’
The government is to abolish the 55% pensions death tax charge, Chancellor George Osborne will announce later today. The measure will come into force in April 2015 alongside the pension reforms outlined in the Budget. The new rules mean that if a person who dies Read more…
11/08/14 Market Movements
Market news The FTSE100 closed up 65.46 points at 6,632.82 and snapped a three day losing streak after tensions appeared to be easing in Ukraine after Russia said it would pull troops back from the Ukrainian border. Despite the daily increase of 1%, investors remained Read more…
15/07/14 Market Movements
Market news The FTSE100 closed the day down 25.69 points at 6,710.45 as tech shares tumbled. Shares in the German firm fell nearly 14% after it said it now saw 2014 revenues from business process management products stagnating from a year earlier, denting sentiment on Read more…
CPI nears Bank of England target
The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) rose to 1.9%, up from 1.5% in May, according to the Office for National Statistics. With women’s clothing prices, air fares and furniture prices being the greatest contributors, the rate is now very close to the Bank of England’s 2% Read more…
Executive pay ‘180 times average’
According to a recent report from The High Pay Centre, executive pay has grown from 60 times that of the average worker to almost 180 times since the 1990s. It noted that shareholders were still backing high executive pay deals despite new powers to vote Read more…
Poundland Profits Rise
Profits to the end of March rose to £36.8m, up 23.5%. This news follows Poundland’s successful IPO in March 2014. Currently, the discount chain operates 528 stores in UK and Ireland. The first store in Spain was launched yesterday, at the resort location of Torremolinos.
Governor hints at possible interest rate rise
In a keynote speech yesterday, the Governor of the Bank of England Mark Carney, said an interest rate rise “could happen sooner than markets currently expect”. The consensus among economists was that rates would rise in the first half of next year, or even earlier. Read more…
Market Commentary – 13th November 2018
Riding the wave of uncertainty with clients’ long-term goals in mind In recent market commentaries, we talked of a structural market correction, and of the strategic changes we expect to make to portfolios when the time comes to adopt a more defensive stance. On Read more…
Market Commentary – 7th March 2018
A blue ‘rip-tide’ sweeps across the US political sphere, as Trump brands the mid-terms a ‘tremendous success’. The US mid-term elections dominated headlines this week, as political tensions intensified in the run up to a hotly contested mid-term elections yesterday. After a long night Read more…
OCM Budget Summary 2018
Budget 2018 In a longer than usual Budget speech, and in a slightly more jocular than usual mood, the Chancellor laid out the government’s vision for post – Brexit Britain. With a raft of measures aimed at shoring up businesses, infrastructure and the health service, Read more…
Market Commentary – 18th October 2018
Keep calm, and carry on as corrections are inevitable So far, October has been a very interesting month and markets have without a doubt been jumpy. Despite this, I think it’s also fair to say that it’s been a very anticipated time where we have Read more…
Market Commentary 10th October 2018
Another wobble in the markets? Over the past week, we have seen the global stock markets fall across the board and sterling strengthen against the global basket of currencies caused by the 10-year US yield rising dramatically as it did in Feb 2018. That coupled Read more…