Written By Unknown on Minggu, 14 Desember 2014 | 16.01
More than £110bn has been wiped off the value of Britain's leading companies as the FTSE 100 suffered its worst week in three years.
The index closed down 161.07 points on Friday, a loss of 2.49%, making an overall drop of 6.6% since Monday - the largest weekly fall since August 2011.
The slide reflected a new five-year low for the price of Brent crude and worries about the global outlook, particularly after more disappointing economic figures from China.
The FTSE 100 is dominated by business with an interest in the energy and commodity sectors, meaning it has taken a bigger hit from weak oil prices.
Oil stocks have taken a hit as weakening demand and the prospect of oversupply sparked a fall in the price of oil by 10% this week to around $62 (£39.50) a barrel.
Video:What's Causing Falling Oil Prices?
The International Energy Agency on Friday cut its forecast for global demand for the fourth time in five months.
BP shares have fallen by 9% since the start of the week and are a fifth cheaper in the year to date.
In New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the week down 677.96 points or 3.8%, while markets in France and Germany were down by nearly 3%.
Video:13 Nov: Why Is The Oil Price Down?
Traders were reacting negatively to the plunge in the oil price despite the likelihood that it could represent a $4bn (£2.5bn) stimulus to the world economy.
Laith Khalaf, senior analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown stockbrokers, said markets are mulling the question of whether a lower oil price is a "symptom or a cure" for weak global demand.
He said: "The answer is it is probably both, but the restorative qualities of a lower oil price are going to take some time to feed through, and in the meantime markets are focusing on the negatives."
Families in Britain are increasingly buying Christmas trees that were grown in the UK rather than ones that have been imported, according to UK suppliers.
The British Christmas Tree Growers' Association (BCTGA) estimates that in the last six years the total number being grown here in the UK has risen by as much as 20%.
This is reflected in the proportion of British and imported trees being bought at shops and markets across the country.
Six years ago it was evenly split with approximately half being shipped in from Europe, according to the BCTGA.
The association's members now say British-grown plants account for some 70% of the total number of trees sold in the UK.
Harry Brightwell, secretary of the BCTGA, told Sky News: "People are much more conscious of environmental issues and the fact of buying a British grown tree usually means the transport is less."
At Yattendon Estates, a Christmas tree farm in West Berkshire, a cold and frosty morning was no deterrent to customers looking to buy a tree as the calendar counts down the days to Christmas.
Manager Alastair Jeffrey said: "Ten years ago our European competitors stole a march on us… now UK industry has really concentrated on making sure we're right up to spec… quality is the name of the game."
The majority of trees sold in Britain are Nordmann Firs which, for a six foot tree, will cost upwards of £45.
Among the Nordmann Firs grown in Britain are those supplied to Downing Street, which this year took trees from Herefordshire and the Gower, according to BCTGA.
With up to eight million trees already being sold by British producers, the move away from European imports spells continued growth for this part of the rural economy.
Tax bosses have promised the service offered by public helplines will be improved, after it was revealed that almost a third of calls are getting cut off.
Research by consumer group Which? found that, in a sample of 100 calls, only 71 were not cut off with an automated message saying the service was "very busy".
Those calls that did survive this initial cut waited an average of 18 minutes to speak to someone, with the longest waiting 41 minutes.
The system's voice recognition also made mistakes when directing queries to other departments, with more complex phrases being misunderstood.
For example, when asked "do I need to pay tax on premium bond winnings?" the system asked if the caller was inquiring about changing a name or about a VAT surcharge notice.
The research comes in the run-up to the self-assessment tax return deadline of 31 January.
HM Revenue and Customs admitted the service "isn't good enough" and that new technology is being brought in to improve responses.
Which? executive director Richard Lloyd said: "With large numbers of people soon to be seeking help with their self-assessment tax return, we want to see HMRC doing more to monitor and improve their call-waiting times."
A spokesman for HMRC said: "HMRC receives over 40 million calls a year but we know that some of our customers can struggle to get through on our helplines at very busy times. This isn't good enough, and we are working hard to improve the range of services we provide.
"This year we are introducing new technology to help us answer more calls quicker at busy times, and we are improving the digital services we offer so that more customers can find all they need online.
"There is more to do, and we are committed to improving the service we offer all of our customers at all times, to help them find advice and support when they need it."
Written By Unknown on Sabtu, 13 Desember 2014 | 16.01
By Mark Kleinman, City Editor
Ministers will next week hail a "landmark" deal with Britain's nine biggest lenders to offer millions of consumers a new fee-free basic bank account.
Sky News has learnt that the Treasury will announce on Monday that the banks will establish accounts which end charges - whcih can be as high as £35 per item - for failed direct debit or standing order payments.
The new product will be provided by institutions which between them have more than 90% of the current account market, and will be available to people who are not eligible for a bank's standard current account and either have no bank account, or cannot use their existing accounts because of financial problems.
The participating lenders - which have agreed to launch the accounts by the end of next year - are Barclays, the Co-operative Bank, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, National Australia Bank (which owns the Clydesdale and Yorkshire), Nationwide, Royal Bank of Scotland, Santander UK and TSB.
Andrea Leadsom, the economic secretary to the Treasury, is expected to hail the development as a "landmark" agreement, saying that it should bring to an end the problem of consumers being locked out of their accounts when payments fail.
Sky News had previously revealed that some banks had expressed concerns during negotiations with the Government about the terms of the deal.
The provision of basic bank accounts, of which there are estimated to be more than 9m in the UK, is estimated to cost the industry more than £300m annually, with the new accounts likely to add substantially to that bill.
Earlier this year, a European Union Directive ordered member states to supervise the introduction of basic accounts which must charge fees described as "fair".
Ministers are understood to be pleased that they have secured an agreement to launch accounts with no fees, with customers offered services on the same terms as other personal current accounts provided by each participating lender.
This will involve customers having access to all standard over-the-counter services in bank and Post Office branches, as well as access to the entire national ATM network.
Some bank executives have warned that the structure agreed with the Treasury will mean that the new accounts are ultimately subsidised by consumers elsewhere in the banking system.
A further concern was raised that the new account could attract demand from large numbers of consumers who are not benefit claimants, but this is likely to have been alleviated by the eligibility restrictions agreed between the lenders and the Treasury.
The Government estimates that up to 7m people will participate in the Universal Credit welfare programme by 2019, with the new basic account expected to be restricted to that population.
The British Bankers' Association (BBA) has been leading the negotiations with the Treasury about the framework of the plans.
Neither the BBA nor the Treasury would comment on Friday.
More than £110bn has been wiped off the value of Britain's leading companies as the FTSE 100 suffered its worst week in three years.
The index closed down 161.07 points on Friday, a loss of 2.49%, making an overall drop of 6.6% since Monday - the largest weekly fall since August 2011.
The slide reflected a new five-year low for the price of Brent crude and worries about the global outlook, particularly after more disappointing economic figures from China.
The FTSE 100 is dominated by business with an interest in the energy and commodity sectors, meaning it has taken a bigger hit from weak oil prices.
Oil stocks have taken a hit as weakening demand and the prospect of oversupply sparked a fall in the price of oil by 10% this week to around $62 (£39.50) a barrel.
Video:What's Causing Falling Oil Prices?
The International Energy Agency on Friday cut its forecast for global demand for the fourth time in five months.
BP shares have fallen by 9% since the start of the week and are a fifth cheaper in the year to date.
In New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the week down 677.96 points or 3.8%, while markets in France and Germany were down by nearly 3%.
Video:13 Nov: Why Is The Oil Price Down?
Traders were reacting negatively to the plunge in the oil price despite the likelihood that it could represent a $4bn (£2.5bn) stimulus to the world economy.
Laith Khalaf, senior analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown stockbrokers, said markets are mulling the question of whether a lower oil price is a "symptom or a cure" for weak global demand.
He said: "The answer is it is probably both, but the restorative qualities of a lower oil price are going to take some time to feed through, and in the meantime markets are focusing on the negatives."
More than 100 flights have been cancelled and many others delayed after a major computer failure grounded planes in London and the South.
A glitch at the state-of-the-art UK air traffic control centre headquarters in Swanwick, Hampshire, caused severe disruption.
For a time no aircraft were able to take off at some of the UK's major airports. Some flights were allowed to land.
Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said the disruption was "simply unacceptable" and revealed the Government had asked NATS for a full explanation.
The computer problem is at Swanwick air traffic control centre
It was reported airspace over London had been closed but air traffic control company NATS denied this, saying airspace capacity was "restricted in order to manage the situation".
NATS later said the system had been restored and it was in the process of returning services to normal.
Video:Passengers Left Waiting On Planes
The glitch lasted from 3.27pm to 4.03pm and Sky sources said a flight planning server had failed.
Airports affected by the disruption included Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and London City.
Aberdeen and Edinburgh were also hit by the computer problem. Other airports that reported delays included Birmingham, Manchester, Luton and Bristol.
Heathrow said at least 75 flights have been cancelled and up to 400 delayed.
It said the problem was likely to have a knock-on effect for flights on Saturday because aircraft and crew will not be in the correct positions.
Gatwick saw 15 cancellations and London City between 10 and 15.
Video:What Is Causing Airspace Problems?
British Airways said: "We are working hard to look after our customers who have been affected by the air traffic control failure experienced by all airlines at Heathrow, Gatwick and London City airports.
"We anticipate disruption to both departing and arriving aircraft but will do all we can to minimise any impact."
Speaking to Sky News, NATS managing director of operations Martin Rolfe defended his organisation's handling of the chaos.
"It was a technical failure at our Swanwick centre which handles 6,500 flights a day," he said.
"We went through our backup systems and restored things relatively quickly but not without delays to passengers, which we hugely regret.
"These things are relatively rare. We are a very busy island for air traffic control, so we're always going to be operating near capacity.
Video:Timelapse: Skies Clear Over London
"What we've seen today is a very quick response. We didn't close any airports, we didn't close any airspace. We reduced the flow to make sure everything could be handled safely."
East Midlands and Birmingham airports said they were virtually unaffected.
One passenger caught up in the travel chaos was Matt Warren. He tweeted: "Stuck on the tarmac at Heathrow airport. Air traffic control failures. No flights in or out."
David Fitzgerald, who was stuck in a plane on the tarmac at Gatwick, should have been going to Dublin for a 3pm departure.
"We were boarding but then we were told the news there was a major failure at air-traffic control," he said.
"The good news is that some aircraft are being allowed to leave using a lower flight level - it's only the higher flight level that's affected."
Video:November: How Busy Is UK Airspace?
Nick Adderley, a police chief superintendent, was also stuck on the tarmac at Gatwick after trying to fly home to Manchester.
He told Sky News: "This is a business flight for me… [I am] trying to get home after a business meeting in London.
"There are a number of people on board trying to get connecting flights to go on holiday. The spirits are pretty high. The mood is pretty good at the moment."
The centre at Swanwick has been subject to a number of computer glitches since NATS moved there from its old headquarters in West Drayton in west London in the early part of the last decade.
One of the worst problems was a year ago - on Saturday 7 December 2013 - when thousands of passengers were left stranded when hundreds of flights were grounded following a technical fault at the Hampshire centre.
Written By Unknown on Jumat, 12 Desember 2014 | 16.01
The energy regulator says it has secured £4.6m in fines from three energy companies for failing to meet obligations to low-income households.
Ofgem said Scottish Power would pay £2.4m missing targets under the government's Community Energy Saving Programme while SSE would pay £1.75m and GDF Suez £450,000.
The programme was set up by the government to help people living in low-income areas with loft and wall insulation and new boilers.
The regulator said the failure by the companies to meet the targets meant thousands of households faced higher heating bills as they "missed out on measures like insulation during the early months of 2013, where consumers experienced a particularly cold winter."
It said the companies would have received larger fines if they hadn't taken steps to make up their shortfalls.
Video:Energy Firms Failing Poorest Homes
Referring to the fine for SSE, Ofgem's senior partner in charge of enforcement, Sarah Harrison said: "Our action today is a clear signal that failure to deliver environmental obligations on time is not acceptable."
However, the fines are smaller than the £28m penalty for North Yorkshire-based Drax and £11.1m fine for British Gas handed down for similar failings earlier in the year.
Ofgem said the money will go to charities and funds that benefit vulnerable customers.
Two City watchdog executives who were criticised on Wednesday over the disclosure of a probe into the insurance industry are expected to give evidence on the crisis to a powerful panel of MPs.
Sky News understands that Clive Adamson, the Financial Conduct Authority's (FCA) director of supervision, and Zitah McMillan, its communications chief, are likely to appear before the Treasury Select Committee before Christmas.
A further session with Martin Wheatley, the FCA's chief executive, is expected to be held in the new year.
Mr Adamson and Ms McMillan are leaving their FCA roles in the coming weeks, ostensibly as part of a restructuring which the regulator has insisted is unconnected to a report published on Wednesday by Simon Davis, a leading City lawyer.
Mr Davis's report said the FCA's approach to briefing a national newspaper about a proposed review of an area of the pensions market was "high risk, poorly supervised and inadequately controlled.
When it went wrong, the FCA's reaction was seriously inadequate and fell short of the standards expected of those it regulates."
Mr Adamson, Mr Wheatley and Ms McMillan were all criticised in Mr Davis's report, alongside David Lawton, the FCA director of markets.
Their ponderous response to the appearance of the newspaper story about their probe in March meant that panicked selling by investors in insurance companies such as Aviva and Phoenix went on for more than six hours the following morning.
All four forfeited their bonuses for last year as a result, while any discretionary payouts for the current year are also under threat because of the £3.8m cost of the inquiry, Sky News has learnt.
In a statement on Wednesday, Andrew Tyrie, the TSC chair, said the report's findings illustrated a regulator "pursuing the wrong strategy in the wrong way".
He accused the FCA of falling "well below the standards it requires of the firms it regulates" and said further investigation was required.
"The Committee will, among many other things, examine whether these errors were a one-off or whether they reveal something amiss, perhaps seriously amiss, with the standards and culture of the FCA. We will also examine remedies, both those proposed or already announced, and others."
George Osborne, the Chancellor, said he was confident that the FCA would learn the lessons of Mr Davis's report.
Household water bills are to fall by around £20 over the next five years.
The 5% drop, excluding inflation, would see average bills come down from £396 to £376 by the end of the decade, according to the industry regulator.
The price ruling by Ofwat confirms a provisional determination in August.
When the process for setting bills began last year, water companies had submitted plans which would on average have cut bills by 2% in real terms.
Ofwat rejected a request by the UK's biggest water company, Thames Water, to increase household charges by 3% over the period 2015-20 to help pay for the £4.2bn super-sewer project.
The firm has been told it must instead cut them by 5%.
It also said utility firms must improve efforts to tackle water leakage, supply interruptions, sewerage water flooding of properties and see cleaner water at beaches.
Ofwat chief executive Cathryn Ross said: "With bills held down by 5% and service driven up over the next five years, customers will get more and pay less.
"Where companies stepped up to do the best they could for their customers we did not need to intervene, but where companies fell short we stepped in to make sure customers get a good deal.
"Now the hard work begins. Companies will only build trust and confidence with their customers if they deliver.
"Those who do can look forward to fair returns, while those that don't will be hit in the pocket and face a tough five years ahead."
Written By Unknown on Kamis, 11 Desember 2014 | 16.01
The London-based HSBC head of foreign exchange trading for Europe, the Middle East and Africa has been sacked.
Stuart Scott was dismissed from his role on Tuesday, according to sources. HSBC declined to comment.
The dismissal comes in the wake of the investigations launched by authorities on both sides of the Atlantic.
In 2007, Mr Scott won the FX Week annual award for Best Bank for Emerging European, Middle-Eastern and African Currencies.
Last month, a forex trader at investment bank Goldman Sachs' London office left his job following claims of misconduct during previous employment at HSBC.
During his time at HSBC the trader, Frank Cahill, worked for Mr Scott.
Mr Cahill has not been accused of wrongdoing at Goldman Sachs.
The HSBC dismissal is the latest chapter in a succession of wrongdoing claims to hit the banking sector.
Other banks, including Barclays, remain under investigation into allegations that manipulation occurred in the forex industry.
Foreign exchange is a massive industry, with trades globally valued at more than £3tn daily.
City watchdog the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) previously said that forex manipulation occurred at six banks during a five-year period to 2013.
HSBC has been fined a total of $618m (£394m) by US and UK authorities following investigations into rate-rigging.
The FCA discovered that trader groups gave themselves names such as The 3 Musketeers, The Co-operative and The Players amid attempts to rig key benchmarks.
The groups used chat rooms to swap information and prompt trades for their own benefit and not clients.
