UK leads race across Europe to introduce interbank digital currency April 19, 2021 The UK is ahead of the curve when it comes to digital currency adoption, according to new research, and could A report by PwC reveals the UK is fifth in the world when it comes to preparing for the adoption of a central digital currency although a consumer offer remains a while off yet. Like [...]
Sunday Sitdown: Investors look past political changes as Brexit offers a chance to alter investment regulation, says City veteran April 18, 2021 More than 440 firms in banking and financial services have relocated part of their business, moved employees or set up new entities in the EU following Brexit. Dublin and Paris are the go-to destinations, as banks have moved or plan to move more than £900bn in assets to the EU, equivalent to 10 per cent [...]
UK imports to EU halve in first two months of year April 16, 2021 UK imports to the EU nearly halved in the first two months since Britain left the single market, new figures this morning showed. Imports dropped 47.0 per cent over January and February, while exports of the bloc’s products back across the Channel slipped 20.2 per cent, figures from Eurostat show. As a result of the [...]
China records best ever GDP growth in post-Covid bounce-back April 16, 2021 China’s economy grew by the fastest rate in its history as the country left last year’s lockdowns far behind. The world’s second biggest economy saw GDP grew 18.3 per cent in the first quarter of 2021, compared to the same period the year before. It is the fastest rate of growth since China began tracking [...]
Stimulus cheques from Washington boost US retail spending, but 576,000 file jobless claims April 15, 2021 Stimulus cheques from Washington boost US retail spending, but 576,000 file jobless claims
Before the Open: Late US tech selloff set to act as a drag on European open April 15, 2021 US markets saw another mixed close yesterday, only this time it was the S&P500 and Nasdaq that finished the day lower, while the Dow and Russell 2000 finished higher on the day. Despite the mixed close the S&P500 and Dow still managed to post new record highs. Coinbase finished its first day of trading, closing [...]
Brexit: We must use EU divorce to slash tariffs for developing nations and boost UK trade, says PM adviser April 13, 2021 Brexit: We must use EU divorce to slash tariffs for developing nations and boost UK trade, says PM adviser
US inflation data beats expectations as Americans spend their Covid stimulus cheques April 13, 2021 US inflation rose 2.6 per cent year-on-year in March, ahead of analyst expectations of a 2.5 per cent rise, as more of Washington’s fiscal stimulus filtered down into the real economy. It’s a jump from the 1.7 per cent inflation rate measured last month. The month-on-month rate in March was a 0.6 per cent jump [...]
Will ESG turn Bitcoin into a digital ‘stranded asset’ or monetary MySpace? (Part II) April 13, 2021 | City Talk In this second instalment of a two-part piece, Ben Ashby, Derek Usher and Gerard Fox explain why environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors will undermine Bitcoin’s eye-catching rise, here focusing on the ‘S’ and ‘G’. We at Good Governance Capital (GGC) are enormously enthusiastic and supportive of innovation and competition in finance. As former mainstream [...]
GDP data: UK construction ‘head and shoulders above other sectors’ in Covid recovery April 13, 2021 The construction sector is playing a key role as the fastest growing sector of the UK’s Covid-hit economy, according to analysts. The UK economy edged up 0.4 per cent in February as it rebounded from a January slump, helped by a 1.6 per cent rise in construction. The sector’s improvement was driven by growth in [...]