CMA TO TACKLE ?CONSUMER RIP-OFFS?

The chancellor Sajid Javid and business secretary Andrea Leadsom have written a letter to the chief executive of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), Andrea Coscelli, asking the CMA to 'tackle consumer rip-offs and bad business practices? reports The Times (Business, £, p36). The ministers have launched a review of the effectiveness of competition across the UK economy, stressing how analysis will enable the government to determine what, if any, action is needed to promote competition.

Writing in The Times (online only), chairman of the CMA Lord Tyrie said that currently in the UK, there are ?examples of harmful practices - such as disproportionately higher prices for loyal customers?, while public confidence in open markets has declined. The CMA will publish the analysis in a report this summer, which will include a preliminary assessment of the issues (City A.M., p5).

CHANCELLOR TO LAUNCH ?BREXIT RED TAPE CHALLENGE?

Members of the public and business communities will be asked to suggest ways in which the UK should diverge from the EU rule book, in what will be known as a ?Brexit red tape challenge? reports the Financial Times (£, online only). Government officials expect the red tape challenge to be launched in the chancellor's Budget on 11 March.

Separately, City executives have stressed their concern regarding Boris Johnson's approach to trade negotiations with the EU, warning that the EU's desire for access to UK fishing grounds may be played off against financial services, reports the Financial Times (£, p3). Following the prime minister's speech in Greenwich on Monday, City executives have highlighted that no equivalence or limited equivalence will be very damaging to the financial services sector and that London will ?potentially be the biggest loser in this negotiation?.

Meanwhile, it comes as the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) proposed to postpone until February 2021 rules that impose cash penalties for failures to settle share trades on time (Reuters).

NEWS IN BRIEF

Business activity grew for the first time since August, while the purchase managers? index for the service sector rose to 53.9 last month, the highest since September 2018, according to the latest snapshot from the IHS Markit and the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (CHIPS) (The Guardian, p30).

The Treasury has announced a new 60-day breathing space period for people in problem debt, with further protections for those in mental health crises (Daily Mirror, p17).

The number of new homes registered to be built in the UK hit a 13 year high, according to figures published by the National House Building Council (NHBC) (The Guardian, p30).

A poll conducted in 13 countries for the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum (OMFIF) reveals that a vast majority of people surveyed think big tech companies cannot be trusted to issue digital money (Financial Times, p6).

A Bank of England (BoE) policymaker, Donald Kohn, has called for bank stress testing to extend beyond the banking sector, to hedge funds and open-ended funds (City A.M., p5).

WHAT THE COMMENTATORS SAY

Writing for The Telegraph (£, Business p8), chief executive of the Investment Association Chris Cummings argues that a financial services deal is crucial for savers in Britain and Europe, however the process by which the EU gives access to financial markets is not fit for purpose. Mr Cummings stresses how the UK government and EU need to provide greater confidence about access arrangements but for it not to come at the cost of being a rule-taker, with the Investment Association calling for a clear process for equivalence assessment. Mr Cummings concludes by saying that a joint UK-EU financial services committee would provide a solution to institutionalise rule-making.

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