FTSE 350 COMPANIES RISK GENDER TARGET SHORTFALL

The Financial Times (£, online only) reports that the proportion of women in senior leadership roles in FTSE 350 companies is ?well adrift? of the 33 per cent goal, according to a Hampton-Alexander review. Although the number of women in senior leadership positions in FTSE 350 companies increased this year to 28.6 per cent from 27 per cent in 2018, there are 175 companies at risk of falling short of the 33 per cent target. The review also found that 44 all-male executive committees still exist across the listed market, stressing that half of all available roles would need to go to women in the next year to reach the target.

Meanwhile, the Financial Times announced yesterday that it has appointed Roula Khalaf as the first female editor in the newspaper's 131-year history, following the decision of editor Lionel Barber to stand down (i, p5).

UK PRODUCTIVITY GROWTH AT TEN-YEAR LOW

UK productivity is now over 20 per cent below its pre-crisis trend, growing by only 2.4 per cent - its lowest rate since 2010, according to data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). It's reported that output per hour, used to measure productivity, was flat in the third quarter of this year compared to last year, with the UK registering either zero or negative annual productivity growth in each quarter since the three months to June 2018. The Financial Times (online) reports that Britain performed ?worse than comparable continental European economies?, with business investment also falling 0.6 per cent over the past year. The Bank of England expects a weak fourth quarter, stressing that there is ?mounting evidence of weakening demand for labour? with employment falling in the past three months to 58,000 - its slowest pace in four years  (The Times, p42).

NEWS IN BRIEF

Facebook is launching a payments system in the United States this week to allow users to send money to businesses and friends through WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger (Telegraph, B2 £).

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has questioned the UK's six largest accounting firms on their ability to withstand a financial shock, including firms? capital and insurance provisions (Financial Times, P1, £).

German chancellor Angela Merkel has called for Europe to take control of its data from technology companies in Silicon Valley and claim ?digital sovereignty? by developing its own platform to manage data and reduce reliance on US based cloud services (Financial Times, p1 £).

Players of the National Lottery should be given the opportunity to donate part of their ticket cost into a savings account to help lower- income families build a financial savings net, according to the Social Market Foundation (The Times, p47, £).

WHAT THE COMMENTATORS SAY

In the Financial Times (£, p11) Marietje Schaake, international policy director at the Cyber Policy Center at Stanford, argues the recent interventions in technology policy by social media leaders should not distract from the bigger issue of upholding the rule of law online, highlighting that corporate initiatives are ?no substitute? for democratic law-making. Ms Schaake highlights how lawmakers have ?lost their grip?, with hearings in parliament generating few structural solutions with an absence of clear rules. Ms Schaake concludes that we cannot rely on the ?bravery of whistleblowers to bring abuse to light?, calling for lawmakers to urgently answer how 'the rule of law applies both on and offline?.

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Sarah Wulff-Cochrane, Principal, Taxation Policy, UK Finance, blogs on the differences between London and New York City following the publication of the Total Tax Contribution of the UK banking sector report.

LATEST VIDEOS

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