comment

How will financial markets cope with 2021? There are two shafts of light: effective vaccines and a decent Brexit deal – and we can all surely agree there is huge relief that common sense has prevailed from all quarters. But beyond those, and beyond the prospect of a bumpy first half of the year and … Read more

The failings of City watchdogs is not a tremendously festive subject, but it is an important one. Andrew Bailey, the Governor of the Bank of England, has been in the firing line over the collapse of a firm called London & Capital Finance, which went under while he was chief executive of the Financial Conduct … Read more

The small-print villains: Insurers risk losing what little trust people have left in them for good, says VICTORIA BISCHOFF By Victoria Bischoff for the Daily Mail Published: 22:00 GMT, 22 December 2020 | Updated: 22:24 GMT, 22 December 2020 Some firms have really gone above and beyond for their customers over the course of the … Read more

MAGGIE PAGANO: Pharma industry doing so well because ministers and commerce have been collaborating at an exceptional level for some decades By Maggie Pagano For The Daily Mail Published: 22:20 GMT, 21 December 2020 | Updated: 22:25 GMT, 21 December 2020 Describing any British industry as world-class these days is sure to get you a … Read more

RUTH SUNDERLAND: Persecution of supposedly rich, whilst imagining rest of us can escape share of bill not realistic way to repair national balance sheet Covid-19, a virus with no respect for wealth or status, has reminded us of our common humanity  It has also exposed deep inequalities – we may be in the same storm … Read more

HAMISH MCRAE: Second half of 2021 will give us a feel for how next growth phase of economy might unfold – but it’s a tricky six months before we get there Next year will be a year of two halves The first half will be a scramble – trying to patch things together again after … Read more

JEFF PRESTRIDGE: City’s regulator Financial Conduct Authority has let down ALL investors – now heads must roll By Jeff Prestridge for The Mail on Sunday Published: 21:51 GMT, 19 December 2020 | Updated: 22:23 GMT, 19 December 2020 Surely, it is time for the Government to launch a review into the workings of the City’s … Read more

As one of the world’s great financial centres, one might think that funds for investment, capable of taking established companies and start-ups to the next level, would be easy to come by. Talk Talk, as a no-frills challenger in a telecoms and broadband market which has come into its own in the pandemic, is a … Read more

As a rule, public servants rarely apologise, even when faced with world-class mistakes.  Montagu Norman never said sorry for putting Britain back on the gold standard in 1925 and there was no mea culpa from the late Eddie George over the Barings implosion in 1995. In that context, the apology by Andrew Bailey to bondholders … Read more

You know it’s a problem when a brand becomes a verb. If ever there’s a tell-tale sign that a company has cornered too much of a market, it’s when its name transcends being a noun. And I have a confession to make: I’m as guilty of Amazoning stuff as the next person. Don’t get me … Read more