The Treasury will tighten regulation of “buy-now, pay-later” schemes following warnings that the loans are sending shoppers into debt. Lenders now need to be approved by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and required to carry out affordability checks on customers, who will be able to take complaints to the financial ombudsman service, which settles disputes. […]
Lady Cobham, the daughter-in-law of the founder of the defence giant Cobham, has warned the UK government it cannot afford to allow British defence firms to fall into foreign hands. Cobham was bought by a US private equity firm in 2020, with Lady Cobham at the time warning the government it should have stepped in […]
A Treasury minister has warned employees not to expect their wages to rise along with the soaring rate of inflation. Simon Clarke said that big increases in salaries to meet the rising cost of living could end up in a 1970s style “inflationary spiral”. This happens when wage rises help push up the cost of […]
Monzo is likely to press ahead with its crypto investment plans despite the current crash in the market, its co-founder said today. Speaking at Financial Times Live event, Jonas Templestein, co-founder of the London-headquartered challenger bank, said that the recent crash in the crypto market “probably…hasn’t affected our plans” and the firm would continue to […]
Nadine Dorries has continued to pave the way for the post-Brexit digital landscape this evening, emphasising the UK’s departure from EU bureaucracy. In its fresh consultation released tonight, the government have set out how the Data Reform Bill announced in this year’s Queen’s Speech will strengthen the UK’s data protection standards while reducing burdens on […]
The transport secretary has told rail staff not to “risk striking yourself out of a job” just days before industrial action that will close much of the railway next week. In a speech in which Grant Shapps said he was “appealing directly to workers” instead of unions, he claimed the strikes were “a bid to […]
Global markets fell sharply yesterday after a series of interest rate rises from global central banks rekindled fears that aggressive policy tightening could push economies into recession. After a relief rally on Wednesday when investors welcomed the US Federal Reserve’s aggressive move to raise rates by 75 basis points — its biggest since 1994 — […]
UK interest rates could rise to 3 per cent by the end of the year, financial markets believe, as the Bank of England has to ramp up its measures to fight inflation. Money markets are forecasting a much tighter UK monetary policy after the Bank upgraded its inflation forecast to peak at more than 11 […]
The Bank of England has raised interest rates for a fifth time in succession to tackle soaring inflation despite growing fears over the strength of the economy. In a move widely anticipated by City economists, the Bank’s monetary policy committee (MPC) voted to increase its key base rate by 0.25 percentage points to 1.25%. Commenting […]
InDisruption caused by three days of strikes will leave only a fifth of rail services running, with no trains at all connecting some British cities during the evening rush hour, Network Rail has warned. Industrial action on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday next week will cost the economy £150 million and cause six days of disruption. […]