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1. BoE governor says UK can manage ?no-deal? Brexit
2. Chancellor calls for more IMF funding
3. Ofcom pledges crackdown on nuisance callers to stop fraud
The number of contactless transactions in the UK in January 2019, according to UK Finance's latest Card Spending update.
Governor of the Bank of England Mark Carney has stated that if the UK made a ?choice? to actively pursue a ?no-deal? Brexit, it would be significantly less costly than if Britain accidently crashed out of the EU, reports the Financial Times (£, p4). Speaking in Washington yesterday, Carney explained that much of the market disruption costs of leaving the EU could be contained if the government planned for a managed ?no-deal?. He cautioned though that Brexit still remains one of the top three global risks, and there would be ?real economic consequences for the UK and Europe?. This comes as the Daily Telegraph (£, p1) reports that the government has shelved its immediate ?no-deal? plans, also known as Operation Yellowhammer, with Cabinet secretary Mark Sedwill telling the civil service to ?wind down? its worst case scenario planning. However, other contingency plans are set to remain in place. This follows the six-month Brexit extension granted by the European Union on Thursday.
Meanwhile, European Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis has warned that the UK's exit from the EU will be a "loss for EU policy-making". Dombrovskis told a conference in New York yesterday that EU policy makers may turn against free markets without the UK and stated 'the European Union is losing the City of London, our largest financial centre. It's like New York leaving the US and taking Wall Street with it? (European Commission).
Chancellor Philip Hammond will call for more funding to be given to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to ensure it has the capacity to rescue bankrupt countries in the next recession, in a speech expected later today at the IMF's spring conference (Daily Telegraph, £, B1). Hammond's comments come as concern over the health of the global economy is reportedly growing among economists, with fears of increasing debt and slowing growth. Reuters (online only) adds that Hammond is also expected to urge more global action to find ways to achieve sustainable economic growth and tackle climate change.
The communications regulator Ofcom has pledged a crackdown on nuisance callers to help prevent fraudsters using legitimate numbers to scam consumers, the Daily Telegraph reports (£, p2). Currently, scammers have the ability to hack into the telephone network and change the numbers that appear when calls are made - known as spoofing. Ofcom said that some of the most harmful instances are when fraudsters spoof numbers used by banks or Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs, tricking consumers into giving away their personal and financial details. Ofcom is working with UK Finance to share information with telecoms providers about the numbers that should not be used for caller ID.
Separately, a fraudster who used fake IDs to withdraw £152,000 from victim's bank accounts has been jailed for three and a half years, following another successful investigation by the Dedicated Card and Payment Crime Unit (DCPCU), a specialist police unit funded by the financial industry (Daily Mirror, online only). Detective Constable Matthew Cornell, who investigated the case for the DCPCU, said that the sentencing sends a strong message to any would-be fraudsters that 'they will be caught and punished". All the victims of fraud were fully refunded. The DCPCU's head of fraud prevention Tony Blake, discussed the case on BBC Look North and emphasised what people can do to protect themselves against fraud. Customers should always follow the advice of our Take Five to Stop Fraud campaign and question any unexpected approaches asking for their personal information.
Paul Chisnall, Director, Finance and Operations Policy, UK Finance, blogsabout the opening of the EU Settlement Scheme.
There were 1.4 billion transactions on UK cardholders? debit cards in January 2019, according to UK Finance's latest Card Spending update (UK Finance).
Culture secretary Jeremy Wright is planning to act on recommendations from the Gambling Commission to clamp down on the use of credit cards for gambling (The Sun, p14).
Liberal Democrat MP Alistair Carmichael has proposed a bill at Westminster calling for Scottish banknotes to be accepted throughout the UK (BBC News, online only).
The Bank of England should be responsible for boosting the UK's productivity, under plans being considered by the Labour party, reports City A.M. (p2).
A leader piece in The Economist (£, online only) points out that while the average cost of cross-border payments has fallen significantly in recent years, sending remittances abroad remains expensive. Average fees are around seven per cent. The article argues that ongoing reliance on cash, compliance with money-laundering rules and anti-competitive behaviour are all factors that have driven up costs. It concludes that governments in the developed world need to encourage greater competition and lower the burden of compliance, but that in the long run what is needed a shift away from cash to e-commerce and digital payments.
Ruth Sunderland, business editor of the Daily Mail (p81), describes how climate change has gone mainstream, as it is seen as a big threat to investments. She asserts that climate change is near the top of chancellor Philip Hammond's agenda as he arrives in Washington today, despite the ongoing Brexit negotiations. Sunderland points to a report by advisory firm Mercer this week which found that high levels of global warming would cause negative effects across swathes of the stock market, showing that investors are now taking climate change very seriously indeed.
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