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Challenger Poaches Exec From Bank of England

Written By Unknown on Senin, 06 April 2015 | 16.01

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor

One of a new wave of banks set up to challenge the hegemony of the UK's established high street lenders will announce this week that it has poached a senior executive from the Bank of England.

Sky News has learnt that Bank and Clients (B and C) has lured Nicole Coll, the chief financial accountant at the Bank of England since June 2013, to become its first chief of finance and operations.

The appointment, which will be announced on Tuesday, underlines the extent to which start-up banks are turning to regulators and central banks to fill their executive ranks as they seek senior staff with significant experience.

Prior to joining the Bank of England, Ms Coll held senior roles at Societe Generale, the French banking group, and Marex Spectron, a broker-dealer.

B and C was set up recently by Ocean Capital, an investment firm, which paid £13m to acquire a banking licence held by Somerset-based Church House Trust.

Offering a range of mortgage and savings products, it had been relegated to a peripheral role at Virgin Money, which took ownership of it in 2009.

Ocean Capital provided loans to private and public companies across Europe and North America, and is led by two brothers, Edouard and Julien Bridel.

Under the B and C name, the bank now intends to strengthen its focus on business lending.

B and C's launch coincides with the stock market listings of two rival challenger banks, with shares in Aldermore and Shawbrook both performing strongly since making their stock market debuts in recent weeks.

A string of other start-up banks have begun to emerge in the years since the financial crash, including Metro Bank and OakNorth, which this week announced that Lord Turner, the former chairman of the Financial Services Authority, would join its board.

Meanwhile, Lord McFall, the previous chairman of the Treasury Select Committee, has joined Atom Bank, a digital-only venture, as a director.

Further measures to promote competition in banking were announced last month in George Osborne's final Budget before the General Election‎, with a particular focus on a new Midata tool to enable consumers to compare current accounts.

The Competition and Markets Authority is due to conclude an inquiry into the personal current accounts and SME banking markets later this year.

The perception that challenger banks will be assisted by Government policy ‎whatever the outcome of May's election was one factor in the timing of the decisions by Aldermore and Shawbrook to proceed with their listings in the early part of this year.

A spokesman for B and C declined to comment on Ms Coll's appointment.

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Sluggish US Economy Adds Only 126,000 Jobs

By Sky News US Team

A slow US economy added a lower-than-expected 126,000 jobs in March, though the unemployment rate held steady, as predicted, at 5.5%.

Friday's jobs reports broke a run of 12 consecutive months in which the economy added more than 200,000 jobs.

It was the smallest jobs gain since December 2013, said the Labor Department.

Job gains in February and January this year were also revised down by 69,000.

US manufacturing and construction activity is anaemic, while hiring at restaurants is down as the country emerges from a harsh winter.

Average hourly wages rose a modest 7 cents to $24.86 (£16.68) an hour.

The disappointing report could hold back the Federal Reserve from raising interest rates in the middle of this year.

Cheaper oil has hurt manufacturers as energy firms rein in orders for equipment, and has yet to show an impact on consumer spending.

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Tories Accused Of 'Secret Tax Plan' By Labour

The Conservatives have been accused by Labour of favouring the rich after the Chancellor refused to rule out cutting the top rate of income tax in a Sky News interview.

George Osborne told the Murnaghan programme his party had "no plans" to further reduce the top rate of tax and insisted it was not a priority.

Prime Minister David Cameron also said: "It's not our policy, it's not our plan."

But Labour claim the Chancellor has been "flushed out", pointing out Mr Osborne used the same words about VAT before the last election, which he then raised from 17.5% to 20%.

:: Full coverage of General Election 2015

The opposition has promised to bring back the 50p rate for those earning upwards of £150,000, claiming the cut to 45p had benefited the wealthiest by at least £85,000.

Pressed on whether top earners could be in line for another tax cut, Mr Osborne said: "You can judge us by what we say we want to do.

"And what we want to do is increase the tax-free personal allowance to £12,500 so people full-time on the minimum wage don't have to pay income tax and millions are better off.

"And when it comes to higher rate taxpayers our priority is increasing the threshold at which you pay that higher rate, the 40p rate, to £50,000.

"Those are our big tax commitments for the coming parliament."

Tackled repeatedly over whether the top rate could be cut further, Mr Osborne said: "If that was our priority or our plan we would have made it part of our plan and made it one of our priorities."

But Labour's Chris Leslie told Murnaghan this was the same argument previously used by Mr Osborne on VAT, which he had then increased.

The party's priority, he claimed, "is always about helping the very richest in society".

Mr Leslie said later: "The Conservative Party's secret plan has now been exposed.

"Asked four times, George Osborne repeatedly refused to rule out another top-rate tax cut for millionaires.

"The Tories have raised taxes for millions but cut them for millionaires.

"And it's now clear that if they win the election they'll do the same again."

But Treasury minister David Gauke hit back, claiming Labour have a "secret plan" of their own for £3,028 of tax rises for every working family.

He said: The British people have a right to know what these tax hikes are.

"Already Ed Balls has been forced to admit that Labour will drag a million more hardworking taxpayers into the 40p income tax rate.

"The reality is Labour also need a National Insurance rise to make their sums add up.

"Conservatives will freeze VAT, Income Tax and National Insurance.

"So the choice at this election is clear. Lower taxes under David Cameron. Or higher taxes under Ed Miliband and the SNP."

The clash over tax is just the latest between the two main parties as the election campaign gets into full swing.

In recent weeks, Mr Cameron ruled out an increase in VAT while Labour committed not to increase National Insurance.

Mr Osborne also warned "an unholy alliance" between Labour and the SNP after the election would threaten the future of the UK and its economy.

SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon has offered to help Ed Miliband "lock David Cameron out of Downing Street" amid claims she had told the French ambassador she would prefer a Tory win.

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Pru Boss 'Irritated' By Labour Letter Row

Written By Unknown on Minggu, 05 April 2015 | 16.01

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor

A row over company bosses' political affiliations ahead of the General Election deepened on Thursday amid allegations that Labour was trying to undermine the leaders of some of the UK's biggest businesses.

Friends of the Prudential chief executive, Tidjane Thiam, told Sky News that he was "irritated" at suggestions from Labour sources that he was reconsidering his backing for a pro-Conservative letter which appeared in The Daily Telegraph this week.

The letter, which was originally signed by 103 business leaders, expressed support for Tory economic policies and warned that a "change of course" could jeopardise Britain's economic recovery.

Despite indicating that Labour was unconcerned by bosses' backing for the Tories, one Labour aide suggested on Thursday that Mr Thiam had "regretted" his decision to sign the Telegraph letter.

That provoked a robust response from people close to the Prudential chief, who is leaving his role this year to head the Zurich-based banking group Credit Suisse.

"He made his views clear and they speak for themselves, so he is unlikely to be happy at anyone else trying to misrepresent his position," a friend of Mr Thiam said.

Labour had earlier seized on a decision by Pascal Soriot, chief executive of the drug-maker AstraZeneca, to withdraw his association with the pro-Tory letter.

Mr Soriot did not say why he had signed the letter, but issued a statement saying: "Neither I nor AstraZeneca endorse any political party and while I support such policies my name should not be used in the context of the letter."

Labour aides also tried to claim that the chief executive of Ladbrokes had also changed his mind about being a signatory but omitted to mention that Richard Glynn, whose name appeared on the list of supporters, stepped down this week.

His successor, Jim Mullen, said he would not sign any similar letters during an election campaign.

A Conservative Party source said that Labour was trying to "intimidate or undermine" business leaders from speaking out on the economy.

Sky News revealed earlier this week that Stefano Pessina, the boss of Walgreens Boots Alliance, had been approached but declined to sign the letter just weeks after being attacked by Ed Miliband for saying that a Labour government could be "disastrous".

In Thursday's seven-way party leaders' debate, David Cameron referred to the support from business leaders as evidence for the need to keep the Tories in government.

The festering row about business support for the main parties was also reignited this week when Chuka Umunna, the Shadow Business Secretary, said that Paul Walsh should not become the next president of the CBI after opting to show support for the Conservatives.

Sky News revealed in February that Mr Walsh, the former chief executive of Diageo, was being lined up to succeed Sir Mike Rake, and his appointment is expected to be confirmed later this month.

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Energy Firm Pays Heavy Price For Overcharging

Energy firm E.ON is to hand £7.75m to Citizens Advice for customers who were overcharged after price rises.

The sum is on top of the £400,000 E.ON has already paid back money to others who may have been affected.

Regulator Ofgem said the penalty reflected the company's "repeated failing" on billing rules.

It wrongly imposed exit fees and overcharged customers following price rises in January 2013 and January 2014

Under Ofgem rules firms are not supposed to apply exit fees if a customer signals their intention to move supplier within the standard 30-day notice period of a price increase.

This is the case even if the switch occurs after the rise.

Sarah Harrison, Ofgem's senior partner in charge of enforcement, said: "(Our) rules give customers a chance to avoid exit fees and higher costs when suppliers put up prices.

"These are important customer protections and it is vital that suppliers play by the rules so customers are encouraged to engage in the market."

In November 2012, E.ON, one of the UK's six biggest energy suppliers, was required to pay £1.7m for similar failings.

Ms Harrison commented: "It's absolutely unacceptable that E.ON failed to provide these vital customer protections yet again and this persistent failure is the reason for the high penalty."

The errors in respect of price rises in January 2013 and 2014 affected direct debit and standard credit customers. The average amount paid back was around £8 and £12 respectively.

The mistakes also resulted in around 11,500 prepayment customers - traditionally the poorest - missing out on an average refund of £3.42.

E.ON is aiming to reimburse them by the end of April.

Last May E.ON was ordered to pay back a record £12m for mis-selling.