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Employment outlook weakest in three years
LONDON (Reuters) - Britons’ employment prospects are at their bleakest in three years, a quarterly survey by recruitment firm Manpower suggested on Tuesday, with employers planning no net increase in jobs over the next three months.

Motor insurers face regulatory probe
LONDON (Reuters) - The Office of Fair Trading on Wednesday launched a probe into the motor insurance market amid concerns that a lack of competition between vehicle repair and replacement companies is inflating the cost of cover.

It’s not just bankers seeking a way round bonus tax
Fund managers, stockbrokers, and even some financial advisers will be hit by the new 50 per cent levy on “bankers’” bonuses

Slowing inflation boosts expectations of more QE
LONDON (Reuters) - Inflation eased in November for a second successive month, chiming with Bank of England forecasts and bolstering expectations the central bank will have scope to provide additional stimulus to the sluggish economy next year.

Investors urged to sell before next tax rise
Seven out of ten wealth advisers warn that capital gains tax will almost certainly be raised in a pre- or post-election Budget

Investors urged to sell before next tax rise
Seven out of ten wealth advisers warn that capital gains tax will almost certainly be raised in a pre- or post-election Budget

Non-UK buyers drive up prime London house prices
LONDON (Reuters) - Prime central London homes have gained about 1,200 pounds a day in value over the past year, taking their average price to 3.2 million pounds at end-November and underscoring their role as a safe haven for rich non-UK buyers.

Services pick-up gives little comfort on UK economy
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain’s dominant services sector picked up slightly last month, defying forecasts it would stagnate, but analysts said the data did little to ease concerns that the economy could contract early next year.

Banks restrict lending to existing customers
More people are applying for loans but fewer are securing one, and those banks that are lending are only doing so to their existing customers

Jobs decline deepens - REC/KPMG survey
LONDON (Reuters) - British recruitment firms said the number of people placed in permanent jobs fell at the fastest pace since 2009 in November, highlighting the pressures on the economy at a time of public spending cuts and worries about the euro zone.

Services pick-up gives little comfort on UK economy
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain’s dominant services sector picked up slightly last month, defying forecasts it would stagnate, but analysts said the data did little to ease concerns that the economy could contract early next year.

HSBC fined record 10 million pounds for mis-selling to old
LONDON (Reuters) - The Financial Services Authority slapped a 10.5 million pound fine on HSBC on Monday for mis-selling products to elderly customers paying for care home costs, the biggest-ever fine for a retail banking offence.

Investors urged to sell before next tax rise
Seven out of ten wealth advisers warn that capital gains tax will almost certainly be raised in a pre- or post-election Budget

It’s not just bankers seeking a way round bonus tax
Fund managers, stockbrokers, and even some financial advisers will be hit by the new 50 per cent levy on “bankers’” bonuses

“Absolute return” no refuge in stressed markets
LONDON (Reuters) - Investors who bought into “absolute return” funds hoping to make money in relentlessly turbulent trading are instead finding their capital eroded in markets that are making a habit of sudden mass flight from risk.

Top bankers destroy value, study claims
Bankers should count themselves lucky they are being hit by a mere 50 per cent additional tax on bonuses, a report argues, because their benefit to society is negative

Europe’s rich move assets amid euro fears
LONDON (Reuters) - Europe’s richest investors are moving money out of euros amid fears the single currency may not survive a sovereign debt crisis, with U.S. dollars and yen among the favoured destinations, bankers say.

HSBC fined record 10 million pounds for mis-selling to old
LONDON (Reuters) - The Financial Services Authority slapped a 10.5 million pound fine on HSBC on Monday for mis-selling products to elderly customers paying for care home costs, the biggest-ever fine for a retail banking offence.

Banks restrict lending to existing customers
More people are applying for loans but fewer are securing one, and those banks that are lending are only doing so to their existing customers

Striking public sector workers challenge government
BIRMINGHAM (Reuters) - Hundreds of thousands of public sector workers went on strike on Wednesday to protest over pension reform, in a walkout billed by unions as the biggest in a generation but derided by Prime Minister David Cameron as a “damp squib”.

Battle looms over BA pensions
British Airways signalled the start of a protracted battle with the Pensions Regulator over the price tag on its retirement obligations, the outcome of which will be crucial to its tie-up with Spain’s Iberia

Britons inject record 9 billion pounds of housing equity
LONDON (Reuters) - Britons injected a record 9.146 billion pounds of equity into their homes between April and June, Bank of England data showed on Wednesday, highlighting the weak state of the housing market.