You can use the search function to find a range of UK Finance material, from consultation responses to thought leadership to blogs, or to find content on a range of topics from Capital Markets & Wholesale to Payments & Innovation.
1. UK Finance launches ?Let's Talk Business? campaign
2. Meaningful vote on Brexit deal delayed until before March 12
3. Cyber attacks on UK financial services sector rise fivefold in 2018
The number of new tech start-ups launched in the UK in 2018, up 14 per cent compared to the previous year, according to figures compiled by accountancy firm RSM (CityAM, p5).
UK Finance has launched a national campaign encouraging small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to prepare for the potential changes and opportunities brought about by the UK's departure from the EU. The ?Let's Talk Business? campaign, supported by leading business organisations including the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) and the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), calls on those firms who have not yet done so to consider the implications for their business (CityAM, p11). An online guide is also being launched to provide a ?one stop shop? to help SMEs prepare, featuring extensive guidance, contact points and details of the various support schemes and resources available. The campaign emphasises that banks retain the capacity and commitment to support SMEs, encouraging businesses across the UK to speak to their finance provider early to discuss any potential funding requirements. Even those businesses that don't export or import directly should consider how they could be impacted, for example if their customers and suppliers are affected by changes to current trading arrangements. Businesses are also being encouraged to consider how to maximise growth and capitalise on the opportunities ahead.
Stephen Jones, Chief Executive of UK Finance, said:
With just five weeks to go until the UK's exit from the EU, we are encouraging businesses who haven't yet done so to think about how they might be impacted. The banking and finance industry has the capacity to support viable businesses whatever the outcome.
The Let's Talk Business campaign, supported by leading business groups, will provide extensive guidance to help SMEs prepare for the changes ahead and consider any financing needs. Any business customers who may have additional financing requirements should begin engaging with their provider now, as the earlier they do so the easier it will be.
Prime minister Theresa May has announced that the meaningful vote in parliament on her amended Brexit deal will now take place ahead of a new deadline of March 12, just 17 days before the UK is due to leave the EU (Financial Times, p1, £). It comes amid reports in the Daily Telegraph (p1, £) that Brexit could be delayed by up to two months, under plans being considered by No 10 to extend Article 50 if a deal is not reached with the EU in time. Meanwhile The Guardian reports that EU officials are considering granting a longer extension of 21 months, effectively replacing the transition period, in order to avoid a ?rolling cliff-edge?.
Ministers are planning a ?hardship fund? to help address the economic impact of a ?no deal? Brexit by helping workers who lose their jobs to retrain, according to The Times (p8, £). Other measures reportedly being considered by the government include using 'tax and benefits policy? to offset rises in the cost of living. Meanwhile, former Bank of England policymaker David Blanchflower has warned that interest rates could be slashed into negative territory for the first time in history to combat the fallout from leaving the EU without a deal (the i, p37, print only).
Financial services firms in the UK saw a fivefold rise in data breaches in 2018 compared to the previous year, according to figures provided by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to the Financial Times (online only, £). Companies reported 145 breaches to the FCA last year, up from 25 in 2017, with retail banks seeing the sharpest rise. The increase in reported attacks is partly explained by the introduction of the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) last May, which requires businesses to identify and report cyber attacks within 72 hours. UK Finance recently announced the setting up of a Financial Sector Cyber Collaboration Centre to help the industry respond to the threat of cyber attacks in a faster, more coordinated and effective way.
Meanwhile Jeremy Fleming, head of the British Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), has called for better cyber-security practices in the telecoms industry in a speech at an event in Singapore today (BBC News, online only). Mr Fleming also said that there was a need for a globally agreed system of ethics and standards for operating in cyberspace, and that the UK's future security will depend on working closely with international allies on this issue (The Independent, online only).
Henry Umney, CEO, ClusterSeven, blogs on Operational Resilience and Shadow IT - is it business as usual or raising the bar?
Optimism across the UK's services sector has fallen at its fastest pace since the financial crisis, according to the latest Service Sector Survey by the Confederation of British Industry (CityAM, p1).
One in three workers is falling behind on their household bills, with many turning to payday loans and credit cards to cope, according to a survey by the Centre for Labour and Social Studies (Daily Mirror, p11).
Latvia's prime minister, Krisjanis Karins, has called for the European Central Bank to be given greater powers to tackle money laundering (Financial Times, p4, £).
Older homeowners still face restricted choice and high prices from retirement interest-only (RIO) mortgages, almost one year on since the new rules governing them were relaxed by the FCA, according to the Daily Telegraph(online only, £).
The gender pay gap at both the Bank of England and Financial Conduct Authority has worsened in the past year, according to figures published in The Times (p39, £).
In The Times (p43, £), columnist Oliver Kamm writes that despite the UK is currently seeing many of the usual markers of economic growth - low inflation and high employment - the economy has been experiencing sluggish growth. Kamm warns that the strategy of ?inflation targeting? is a flawed measure and says that there are times when higher inflation can be called for. However, for all its faults, Kamm advises against switching from the current economic metric at a time of uncertainty.
In the Financial Times (online only, £), Chris Leslie, one of eight members of Parliament who left the Labour Party last week to form ?The Independent Group?, claims that both main political parties have been 'seized by ideological fringes?. He argues the electorate deserves an alternative to the statist economic policies of Labour and to the Conservative government's pursuit of Brexit at any cost. He makes the case for ?well-regulated private enterprise? as the securer of continued prosperity, and for maintaining a close relationship with the EU. While he labels Brexit a ?disaster?, he stops short of calling for it to be abandoned altogether.
Sign up below to receive the News in Brief straight to your inbox
26.04.24
22.04.24
24.04.24
By downloading this document, you understand and agree that any sharing, distribution or republishing of the content, without prior written authorisation from the author or content managers at UK Finance, shall be constituted as a breach of the UK Finance website terms of use.
