No kidding: Christine Lagarde, head of the IMF, warns that Brexit uncertainty is bad for the economy October 27, 2016 Christine Lagarde, head of the International Monetary Foundation, has warned that the uncertainty surrounding the UK's vote to leave the EU is bad for the economy. Speaking to Bloomberg this morning, she said businesses needed to know whether they would lose their access to passporting across the market when the UK leaves the bloc. The uncertainty [...]
The Big Bang 30 years on: How Canada has changed since 1986 October 26, 2016 Nothing stands still in the City. The world's financial services powerhouse has seen it all, from boom and bust to bouncebacks and Brexit. Its skyline has changed almost beyond recognition over the last three decades, as have the markets it serves. As we mark the 30th anniversary of the so-called Big Bang, we cannot help [...]
Brexit will be fast and smooth says WTO boss Roberto Azevedo October 26, 2016 UK's transition out of the European Union will be fast and smooth and there will be no disruption to trade, the head of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) said today. Roberto Azevedo vowed that the UK would not face a vacuum or a disruption when it leaves the bloc and it would continue to be [...]
Living wage boost secures inflation-busting pay rises October 26, 2016 Pay packets grew for only the second time since the financial crisis last year, as low-paid workers earned a bumper pay boost as a result of the new national living wage (NLW). Across the UK, pay rose by 2.2 per cent in the year to April 2016, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said this [...]
Get your dollars for next summer now: Sterling could fall further if hard Brexit continues October 26, 2016 The pound may have already fallen to a 31-year low against the dollar but there is a risk it could continue to drop if concerns over the government's plans for Brexit carry on. New analysis from UBS suggested that if the economy begins to recover from the shock of Brexit, sterling could improve against the [...]
Labour’s City man gets real over green belt October 26, 2016 Building in Britain is not always easy, as the debacle over airport expansion shows. The government satisfied business groups yesterday by revealing its intention to allow a third runway at Heathrow – but even though Theresa May has acted reasonably quickly, the verdict follows years of dawdling, and arrives nearly half a century after Harold Wilson [...]
Why everyone called Brexit wrong: Analysts have become too close to the elites they’re meant to analyse October 26, 2016 I have long held heretical views about political risk analysis, which cluster around what I call the “plumber’s test”. However bejeweled or slick at marketing a political risk firm may be, what matters in the end is that they are analytically correct. Just as I don’t invite back my local plumber if he fails to [...]
UK missing out on £45bn millennials dividend October 26, 2016 The UK could be £45bn richer if more young people were in work or education, a new report has claimed. Consultants at PwC also found the UK lags most of the world’s major economies in terms of the opportunities available to young people, which could be stifling economic growth. Britain comes in 21st out of [...]
Mark Carney says political attacks on Bank of England knock the pound October 25, 2016 Mark Carney has warned that threats to the Bank of England’s independence could see sterling slump even further and cause investors to flee UK assets. The Threadneedle Street governor told Lords on the economic affairs committee this afternoon that central bank independence had “stood the test of time” and could not be “called into question” [...]
Before the bell: What you need to know before the US market open October 25, 2016 Apple sales are expected to fall sharply and Twitter is planning another round of job cuts. Here's what you need to know before the US market open at 2:30pm London time. US futures are pointing higher ahead of the open, though only slightly. The S&P is up by 0.09 per cent, the Nasdaq is 0.14 per [...]
