As it happened: Stocks rally as Trump touts Iran deal at G7 summit; Oil lowest since early-March June 16, 2026 Welcome back to the City PM liveblog. Global leaders are gathering today in France for the G7 summit as markets digest the latest developments in the US-Iran peace deal. Relief spread across global markets yesterday after the US and Iran were confirmed to have sealed a deal to stop the fighting in the Middle East [...]
Tiktok falls under ban just as brands ramp up ad spend June 16, 2026 Tiktok’s UK ad business has been growing 40 per cent year on year, with brands increasing spending ahead of what the firm expected to be its biggest trading period on record. But that momentum now faces a test after Keir Starmer confirmed plans to plan under-16s from accessing the platform. The social media giant, which [...]
Badenoch: City’s risk culture should be ‘championed’ to boost UK growth June 16, 2026 Tory leader Kemi Badenoch will pledge that the role of Canada would be one of her central levers for driving economic growth, whilst suggesting that financial regulators have buckled to pressure from media and political leaders in recent years. In an address to City financiers, Badenoch will argue that the Square Mile [...]
‘Political point-scoring’ over bank rules risks investment exodus, top Nomura exec warns June 16, 2026 London’s biggest financial institutions could shift operations away from the UK if the government intensifies its regulatory grip on the City, a top City banker has warned. Chris Barlow, head of legal and compliance at Japanese bank Nomura’s European arm, said “short-termism and political point-scoring” in Westminster over financial regulation could exacerbate the burden faced by [...]
Rolls-Royce shares surge as SMR unit bags multi-billion pound Swedish nuclear contract June 15, 2026 Rolls-Royce’s special purpose vehicle for nuclear energy has secured a major win after locking down a multi-billion pound deal to build small modular reactors in Sweden. The FTSE 100 giant’s small modular reactor (SMR) unit, which is co-owned by Czech power company CEZ, designs and delivers factory-built nuclear power plants. Rolls-Royce SMR was selected by Swedish [...]
Investors ‘reluctant’ to splash cash on UK banks amid crisis in Number 10 June 15, 2026 UK banks’ stock prices are being slapped with a political risk premium, City analysts have warned, as turmoil in Downing Street threatens to rock the sector. The FTSE 350 bank index has had a choppy start to the year with financial stocks facing a hammering from the Iran war as investors trimmed their equities exposure. [...]
Jenrick vows to partly undo Reeves’ £25bn employer NICs rise – for Britons June 15, 2026 Reform UK’s Robert Jenrick has said the party would undo Rachel Reeves’ £25bn tax rise on employers’ national insurance contributions – but only when employers hire British workers. Jenrick said Reform was set to put “British workers first, migrant workers second” by reforming tax to treat Britons differently to workers taken from overseas.” Reform’s Treasury [...]
John Healey has delivered a fatal blow to Starmer’s premiership June 15, 2026 The defence minister’s resignation reveals the complete collapse of Keir Starmer’s authority, says Eliot Wilson The resignation of the Defence Secretary, John Healey, last week, with his Armed Forces Minister Al Carns a few hours behind him, was a very serious blow for Sir Keir Starmer. Let us be clear about the significance of this: [...]
‘Nothing is straightforward’: Market analysts warn of US-Iran deal complications June 15, 2026 Top market analysts warned on Monday that “nothing is straight forward” as euphoria spread across European equities after a confirmed peace deal between the US and Iran. Stock markets opened in the green as investors returned to a risk-on mentality after Pakistan announced an agreement between the two nations and Donald Trump declared the oil [...]
Government should fix ‘stubbornly weak’ growth with policy test, industry body argues June 15, 2026 The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) is calling on the government to break decades of low economic growth by introducing a new delivery test, as businesses continue to slash investment under the burden of mounting costs. In the BCC diagnoses, the UK’s growth problem is not a lack of potential but a failure to turn [...]
