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The Bank of England is considering establishing a "concierge service" aimed at assisting foreign financial services companies looking to enter the UK market. Sam Woods, head of the Bank's Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), indicated in a letter to the Prime Minister that it is exploring a proposal similar to Singapore's one-stop-shop model for overseas firms. While the PRA aims to support growth, Woods reminded that the regulator's primary goal remains the safety and soundness of banks and insurers. "Financial instability can lead to severe disruptions to the ability of households and businesses to make transactions, manage risks, and access credit, amplifying economic shocks and hindering growth," Woods wrote. Separately, the Chancellor has told the FT she welcomed proposals from the Financial Conduct Authority to loosen mortgage rules and was "absolutely open to looking at ideas that can boost home ownership."

 

Financial Times

Financial Times

The Times

The Treasury is seeking permission to intervene in the motor finance mis-selling case to protect car loan providers from potential multibillion-pound payouts, saying the case has the "potential to cause considerable economic harm and could impact the availability and cost of motor finance for consumers," according to a Treasury submission to the Supreme Court. It warned the case could damage Britain's reputation as a place to do business.

 

Financial Times

Reuters

The latest Lloyds Bank UK sector tracker reveals that the number of sectors experiencing output decline has reached a 15-month high, with 11 out of 14 sectors reporting contraction. This increase from eight sectors in November indicates intensifying cost pressures. Nikesh Sawjani, senior UK economist at Lloyds, noted that businesses "are taking decisions to reduce operating expenses in order to protect their margins."

 

The Times

The European Banking Authority (EBA) is set to evaluate how European banks would respond to escalating geopolitical tensions and potential trade wars in its upcoming stress tests. The EBA will assess 64 banks, which represent three-quarters of banking assets in the EU and Norway. Results are expected in August.

 

Reuters

Barclays has raised concerns regarding Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) initiatives aimed at enhancing retail investors' access to the corporate bond market. FCA chief executive Nikhil Rathi has previously stated that "broader individual participation in our capital markets" is essential for economic growth. However, Barclays' research indicates that the FCA's current approach will not significantly improve the availability of corporate bonds for retail investors. The analysis revealed that only eight additional issuers would qualify under the proposed changes. Barclays recommends several policy adjustments, including defining 'vanilla corporate bonds' and easing disclosure requirements, to facilitate greater retail participation. Stacey Parsons, chair of the Investor Access to Regulated Bonds working group, welcomed the findings, stating they "echo our concerns about the lack of access to corporate bonds for retail and wealth investors."

 

Daily Mail

MPs have raised concerns about Rachel Reeves' new Office for Value for Money, labelling it an "understaffed, poorly defined organisation" with unclear objectives. A report by the Treasury select committee highlighted the office's lack of resources and potential for duplication, questioning its ability to drive efficiencies in government departments. Dame Meg Hillier, the committee's chair, said: "It is understaffed, poorly defined, set up with a vague remit and no plan to measure its effectiveness." The office has only 12 full-time employees and David Goldstone, who will become the chairman of the organisation, will be paid £950 a day. This is in return for working just one day a week on average.

 

Financial Times

Daily Mail

The Daily Telegraph

The Sun

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has initiated an investigation into KPMG regarding its audit of Entain's consolidated financial statements for the year ending 31 December 2022. This follows a previous investigation by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) into Entain, which resulted in a deferred prosecution agreement after the company settled for £585m due to bribery allegations linked to a former Turkish subsidiary. KPMG UK said: “We will cooperate fully with the FRC to conclude this matter as quickly as possible.”

 

The Daily Telegraph

The Times

The Guardian

The Court of Appeal has ruled that Clifford Chance's lawsuit against Societe Generale regarding a $483m gold deal can proceed in London. The law firm represented the French lender from 2008 to 2017 in a case against Turkish jewellers Goldas Kuyumculuk Sanayi Ithalat Ihracat which involved 15.725 metric tons of gold bullion. After Societe Generale’s case was dismissed, the bank accused Clifford Chance of negligence. The firm sought a declaration from London's High Court to absolve it of liability, while Societe Generale argued for the dispute to be heard in France. However, the High Court rejected this application in October 2023, and the Court of Appeal dismissed the bank's appeal on Monday.

 

Lawyer Monthly

Reuters

Santander UK has issued a statement following news the bank could exit the UK market due to over-regulation and high costs. John Baldwin, chief executive of Santander's UK corporate and commercial bank, said in a memo: “The UK is a core market for Santander. This has not changed.” Ring-fencing regulations and the threat of costs relating to motor financing are reportedly frustrating bosses at the bank. Experts say the news is a warning shot to the UK government to speed up deregulation, but it could backfire if customers believe the bank will desert them. Meanwhile, the Chancellor has issued a statement declaring that she intends to meet representatives from key financial services sectors over the coming months to formulate a new growth and competitiveness strategy.

 

Reuters

The Guardian

A study published earlier month in the Journal of Accounting Research which used artificial intelligence to analyse speech recordings of CEOs has helped to identify factors that could contribute to diagnosing mental health challenges among executives. Nargess Golshan, assistant professor of accounting at Indiana University and co-author of the study, said: “We want to really highlight mental health in leadership roles and how prevalent it is,” continuing: "Of course, it is important for the personal health of these executives, but also has far-reaching implications for the organisation, the employees, the investors, and the broader economy.” Fortune notes that "Earnings calls are an optimal way to collect data because they feature long, uninterrupted periods of talking and usually aren’t confounded by visual communication cues like hand gestures." Among over 14,500 CEOs studied, more than 9,500 were classified as having depression using analysis from the machine learning model.

 

Fortune

AstraZeneca has encountered significant delays in securing government support for its proposed £450m investment in a flu vaccine facility in Speke, Liverpool. The company's UK chairman, Shaun Grady, told Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds the issue was urgent and that work needed to begin in August, but a final grant offer was only provided months later, leading to a reworking of the project to meet tighter launch projections.

 

The Times

Philips has reported the theft of medical equipment valued at nearly €700,000 during transport from Best to a hospital in Spain. The stolen items, part of the Azurion system designed for minimally invasive surgeries, have not yet been recovered. The incident, which occurred in 2024, involved a logistics provider and a fraudulent transport company named "BB Transport." Philips said: “The stolen equipment has not been connected to the internet, which means it has not been activated,” making resale difficult. A police report was filed, and legal disputes have arisen between the logistics provider and Farvertrans, with the former seeking €682,000 in compensation. Despite the theft, Philips has assured that the hospital received replacement equipment and that the stolen items were insured. The Transported Asset Protection Association (TAPA) has noted a rise in the average value of cargo thefts, indicating a trend towards targeting high-value medical devices.

 

NL Times

Telefonica is to to appoint defence company Indra's chairman Marc Murtra as its new CEO, replacing chief executive Jose Maria Alvarez-Pallete following a request from state-owned investment fund SEPI. The company said the decision was taken "in view of Telefonica's new shareholding structure and that some of its relevant shareholders have expressed the convenience of embarking on a new stage in the executive chairmanship."

 

Daily Sabah

Hurriyet Daily News

Reach, the publisher of the Daily Mirror and Daily Star, has flagged an additional £5m in costs due to a “historical error” related to the funding of its West Ferry Printers Pension Scheme. This error was uncovered during due diligence for a buy-out, which Reach inherited after acquiring Express Newspapers in 2018. Despite this setback, Reach's shares surged by 24.2% to 89.4p as the company raised its full-year profit guidance, expecting to deliver results ahead of market expectations.

 

The Daily Telegraph

Daily Mail

Belgium has launched a criminal probe into allegations that Apple has knowingly sourced minerals supplied by armed groups committing atrocities in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

 

Financial Times

US President Donald Trump has announced the withdrawal of the United States from the Paris climate agreement. The White House said: “The president will unleash American energy by ending Biden’s policies of climate extremism.” Separately, the FT reports that investors withdrew nearly $30bn from climate-focused mutual funds last year, marking the first net outflow since 2019. This decline follows a four-year boom that saw assets under management peak at $541bn.

 

BBC News

Financial Times

Financial Times

French champagne shipments experienced a significant decline of 9.2% in 2024, totalling 271.4m bottles, as economic and political uncertainties dampened consumer enthusiasm, particularly in key markets like France and the United States. Maxime Toubart, president of the Syndicat General des Vignerons, remarked: "Champagne is a real barometer of the state of mind of consumers." The French market alone saw a 7.2% decrease, attributed to prevailing "gloom" in the country. Exports also fell by 10.8%, with only 153.2m bottles shipped. The 2024 harvest faced challenges due to adverse weather conditions, further complicating the situation for producers.

 

Reuters