UK banks don’t need to ‘ditch’ foreign customers
Big data analytics firm Hello Soda is today disputing claims that banks need to ‘ditch’ customers to lower their risk. A study by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) this week found that banks were turning away or closing the accounts of customers deemed to be high risk, which includes foreign nationals and students, with two large British banks closing around 1,000 personal accounts a month to curb these risks. In addition, the FCA warned that banks could fall foul of competition law...
Businesses unable to pay millions in tax – as HMRC changed its bank details without telling them
Tens of millions of pounds in VAT and corporation tax due to the Government since February has not been paid as HMRC changed its bank details without telling businesses. Large tax payments from a number of businesses have bounced and remain uncollected, The Daily Telegraph has discovered, leaving firms with late payment penalty notices and in the dark over how to pay. In February HMRC changed its bank account details for firms which pay tax using IBAN, a method mainly used by...
Main financial business concerns
The possibility of the UK leaving the EU and the challenges of introducing auto-enrolment pensions were the joint-leading financial concerns for UK businesses, according to research by insolvency trade body R3. When prompted with a number of possible business concerns, 23% of UK businesses said they were concerned that ‘Brexit’ would have a significant financial impact on them, and another 23% said they were concerned about the impact of auto-enrolment pensions. Other business...
Google’s payday loan advert ban: Industry reacts
Trade bodies representing alternative lenders have responded to Google’s policy to ban payday loan adverts from its systems. The policy was announced on Wednesday May 11 as David Graff, director of global product policy for Google, effectively told the world that the search engine “will no longer allow ads for loans where repayment is due within 60 days of the date of issue.” In a statement published on Google’s site Graff said: “We have an extensive set of policies to keep bad...
Atradius publishes Payment Practices Barometer
A new research report from leading trade credit insurer Atradius examines the payment behaviours of B2B trade creditors and the payment experiences of more than 3,000 businesses based in Western Europe. The report reveals: Late payment affects 90% of businesses in Western Europe Nearly 40% of the value of B2B invoices in Western Europe paid late 45% of the value of B2B invoices in Great Britain remain unpaid past due date 39% of GB businesses surveyed intend to check their...
UK ‘losing sight of the economy’, says Institute of Chartered Accountants
The Government is “losing sight of the economy” and using the EU referendum as an excuse for policy inaction, according to Europe’s biggest accountancy body. In a letter to the Business Secretary, the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) attacks ministers for having “no clear consensus” on how to boost growth and raise living standards. It cautions Sajid Javid that the Government’s preoccupation with the referendum is causing ministers to neglect a...
Debt management firm director handed suspended jail sentence
A director of three debt management firms has been sentenced to 15 months in prison, suspended for two years, after being found guilty of fraud by abuse of position. David Hall, director of Debts Reduced Limited, Linked Finance Limited, and a firm set up in his own name (together referred to below as ‘the firms’), was sentenced at Cardiff Crown Court on Friday April 8. He was also given 200 hours of community service. The case was brought by South Wales Police following its own...
Overall drop in CCJs, but SMEs continue to struggle
Despite the encouraging news that the number and total value of county court judgments (CCJs) issued against businesses in England and Wales fell sharply during the first quarter of 2016, the picture for SMEs is a cause for concern. According to figures released by Registry Trust, CCJs are now at the lowest level since before the financial crisis, but SMEs are bucking the trend by recording more CCJs than larger businesses over the last year. The research shows that although the volume of...
Sir John Vickers slams Bank of England for laxity over banks’ safety
Sir John Vickers, the architect of the Government's post-financial crisis banking reforms, has dramatically escalated his battle with the Bank of England over the future safety of the UK’s big banks. Speaking exclusively to The Independent, Sir John said Governor Mark Carney’s recent letter to the Treasury Select Committee shows that the Bank’s new domestic capital proposals for UK lenders don’t even go as far as those proposed by the international regulatory authorities for...
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