HM TREASURY PROPOSES NEW REGULATIONS FOR BNPL

HM Treasury has proposed new rules to regulate Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) products (Bloomberg). The draft legislation is expected to help protect around ten million customers, as providers could be required to give consumers key information about their loans and issue credit that is genuinely affordable (The Guardian). Consumers would also be given the right to have their complaints reviewed by the Financial Ombudsman Service.

The BNPL sector nearly quadrupled during the pandemic in 2020 to £2.7 billion, and nearly £1 in every £8 spent online last month used BNPL services, according to Adobe Analytics (Evening Standard).

NEW DEAL EXPECTED OVER NORTHERN IRELAND PROTOCOL

A new Brexit deal is expected to be announced in the next fortnight as UK and EU officials come to an agreement over the Northern Ireland Protocol. The UK government is no longer insisting that the European Court of Justice must not be the ultimate arbiter on EU legal issues in Northern Ireland (The Telegraph).

Under the new plan, , goods travelling from mainland UK to Northern Ireland will not face physical customs due to a system of "red" and "green" lanes (Reuters).

Separately, the EU economy is projected to avoid recession according to its winter economic forecast (Sky News).

NEWS IN BRIEF

UK wages increased quicker than expected at the end of 2022, with average earnings excluding bonuses 6.7 per cent higher in the three months to December compared with the previous year, ONS data shows. The rise was the fastest since records began in 2001, excluding the pandemic period (Bloomberg).

Millions of households face council tax rises of £100 or more from April as three quarters of local authorities opt for the maximum five per cent permitted increase (The Times).

Department for Education officials have submitted a plan to expand free childcare to one and two-year-olds in England, as the Treasury considers tax and spend measures ahead of the Spring Budget (The Guardian).

The UK government has been urged by tax experts to reform and clarify laws around homeworking (Financial Times).