GOVERNMENT AND INDUSTRY LAUNCH NEW BUSINESS FINANCE COUNCIL FOR SMEs

The government and banking industry has announced the launch of a new Business Finance Council to support SMEs through Brexit (The Times, p42, paper only). The initiative will be co-chaired by Business Secretary Andrea Leadsom and Economic Secretary to the Treasury John Glen and will feature senior representatives from the UK's banks.

Supporting the announcement, Stephen Jones, CEO of UK Finance, said:

?The banking and finance industry is focused on helping to minimise potential disruption to clients and customers in the event of a no-deal exit from the EU. An important part of this activity has been, and continues to be, working to support the preparedness of businesses right across the UK.

?Our members have confirmed their commitment and capacity to support viable businesses with their cashflow needs. We would encourage all SMEs to talk to their finance providers now about how they can prepare for the UK's departure from the EU.?

Meanwhile, the Daily Telegraph (£, B1) adds that Mike Cherry, chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses, has called for small businesses to be given representation on the new body.

Separately, prime minister Boris Johnson's reported plans to diverge from EU rules after Brexit may hinder trade talks between the UK and the bloc, according to diplomats in Brussels (Financial Times, £, online only). 

INTERNET GIANTS MUST DO MORE TO TACKLE FINANCIAL CRIME, WARNS FCA

Internet giants such as Facebook and Google must play a greater role in tackling financial crime in the UK, according to Charles Randell, chair of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), reports City AM (p9). In a speech made yesterday at the Cambridge Economic Crime Symposium, Mr Randell said that financial crime, especially fraud against individuals, had reached ?epidemic proportions? and internet platforms should do more to protect consumers from scams or risky investment schemes. 

This comes as Facebook suffers another significant data breach after the phone numbers of hundreds of millions of the social network's users were discovered online. 18 million of the numbers leaked were from UK accounts, raising the risk of SIM-swap attacks where hackers intercept passcodes sent to customers? phones for two-factor authentication logins (Independent, p9, BBC News, online only, The Times, £, p4). 

Fraudsters use the publicity surrounding data breaches to make their scam approaches appear more credible and play on the fears of their victims. The finance industry has called for new powers on information sharing to allow banks to share data to detect and better prevent financial crime, particularly when it is the result of a data breach in another sector. Our Take Five to Stop Fraud campaign website also offers further advice on staying safe from fraud. 

NEWS IN BRIEF

BBC presenter Helen Skelton revealed yesterday that she lost her £70,000 life savings after falling victim to a telephone scam, reports the Daily Mail (p5). Customers should always follow the advice of our Take Five to Stop Fraud campaign and question any uninvited calls requesting their personal information or money in case it's a scam.

London's financial services sector has been in recession since the third quarter of 2017, according to regional growth domestic product figures released by the Office for National Statistics(The Times, £, p35).

One in ten young people are thinking of reducing their contactless and online payments and moving back to cash in an effort to control their spending and debt, according to research by the University of West London (Daily Telegraph, £, p13).

Newly elected Italian MEP Irene Tinagli is being lined up to take over as chair of the European Parliament's influential Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee, after the former chair Roberto Gualtieri left to become Italian finance minister, according to Politico (£, online only). 

WHAT THE COMMENTATORS SAY

Columnist Oliver Kamm suggests in The Times (£, p37) that the Bank of England should consider introducing negative interest rates to stimulate economic growth and improve liquidity. He argues that while this would be a controversial policy that would hit savers and pensioners, evidence from other countries including Denmark and Japan suggests it could be undertaken without causing excessive inflation or a run on the banks. 

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