BANK WORKING TOWARDS COVID-19 RESPONSE

Mark Carney has said the Bank of England is coordinating with the Treasury to deliver a ?powerful and timely? response to the COVID-19 outbreak following a warning from Goldman Sachs that 'the disruption could push the UK to the brink of recession? (The Guardian, p11). Mr Carney's successor, Andrew Bailey, also confirmed that extra support is being considered for small businesses, especially around supply chain finance (The Telegraph, £, B1). UK Finance yesterday announced that lenders will offer payment relief and overdraft extensions for customers and SMEs affected by coronavirus (The Times, £, p43). The Bank of England said it welcomed the announcement (Financial Times, £, p2).

VIRGIN MEDIA DATA BREACH HITS 900,000

Virgin Media last night revealed that a marketing database containing customers? names, home and email addresses, and phone numbers was left unsecured for ten months (BBC News). The database, which did not include any passwords or financial details, was accessed at least once by an unknown source. The company reassured customers that it is investigating the incident and has kept the Information Commissioner's Office informed since becoming aware of the breach (The Guardian, online only). Customers are reminded to follow the advice of the Take Five to Stop Fraud campaign, and always take a moment to stop and think when you receive a request to provide personal or financial information in case it's a scam.

NEWS IN BRIEF

Following the announcement from Flybe yesterday that it has stopped trading (The Independent, p11), UK Finance issued guidance for impacted consumers, detailing the protections available to those who have purchased travel using a debit or credit card.

Twenty five of the biggest tech companies including Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Twitter, Snap and Roblox have signed up to the pledges to prevent child sexual abuse material appearing on their platforms (The Daily Telegraph, £, p9).

The government's National Infrastructure Strategy is expected to be postponed until after next week's Budget to allow time for the new chancellor to prepare the plan more effectively and refocus the strategy towards achieving a ?net zero? economy by 2050 (BBC News). The Centre for Cities has said the economy will stall without London investment, calling on £31 billion to be invested in London transport projects over the next 20 years, according to its latest report (City A.M., p9).

Between 2017 and 2019, the median income of the poorest fifth of people fell by 4.3 per cent a year, causing inequality to widen, according to the latest statistics by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) (The Times, £, p47).

WHAT THE COMMENTATORS SAY

Writing in the Financial Times (£, p13), economics editor Chris Giles comments on the UK government's public finance rules ahead of the Budget next week. Mr Giles explores the ?borrow only to invest? rule and argues that the chancellor Rishi Sunak should not ?forget the benefits of tight rules for public spending control?. Mr Giles believes the chancellor should ensure that sufficient spending is allocated to temporary and targeted policies in order to address the impacts of coronavirus. He concludes by commenting on Britain's aging population, saying the demand for public services will rise and that the UK should not borrow ?its way to a brighter future?.

LATEST BLOGS

Our Director of Sanctions Neil Whiley blogs following a recent survey in which he posed two questions around UK/EU alignment on sanctions.

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Grant Kennedy, MD of KRisk, previews the upcoming UK Finance Risk and Resilience Academy in partnership with KRisk.