Britain Financial News

Central banks are raising interest rates at the fastest pace in more than 40 years—and signs of stress are showing.

Scammers conned British investors out of £36m of Binance’s cryptocurrency last year, according to figures released by City of London Police.

The European Union has approved new sanctions against Russia, including a price cap on Russian crude oil and refined products.

Numerous private sector consortiums, central banks, and governments around the globe are debating the need and the potential that central bank digital currencies (CBDC) may bring to their society. The European Central Bank (ECB) and Bank of England (BoE) have dedicated working groups exploring the opportunities and risks at play, with several design choices drafted and published. Specifically, the Hackathon sought to address the potential risk of fragmentation in payments markets and retail deposits, unless interoperability between existing and new forms of money can be solved with this retail CBDC design. The Hackathon required participants to connect to Barclays’ simulation of a central bank, Payment Interface Providers (PIPs), commercial banks, and other ecosystem services. This simulation was based on the Bank of England’s (BoE) platform model for retail UK CBDC provision. The teams represented a range of players, including IBM, Lloyds Banking Group, Mastercard, Industria, REGnosys, Rethink Ledgers, UST, SDK.finance, and Barclays (Barclays was not eligible for a place).

The derivatives-based investment strategy that tipped the UK’s pension sector into crisis started with good intentions: Help companies fulfil promises they made to employees to pay a steady income through retirement.

UK equity fund outflows this year have already beaten their previous all-time annual high, as global market turmoil continued to panic investors.

"There is an opportunity for the UK to benefit from this economic and social value, both domestically and globally," says the paper, adding that the country's position in global finance will be partly determined by its approach to the nascent sector.This year, Singapore has overtaken the UK as the number two destination for investment in DLT and crypto-asset based businesses.To fight back and ensure its place at the top table, the country must have a joined-up strategy across government, regulators and the legal system that is alive to the potential benefits as well as the risks of crypto-technologies, and provides clarity for businesses and consumers interacting with them, says the paper.There must also be a continued review of UK law and regulation to ensure it provides the basis for recognising digital assets and digital transactions, as well as an improvement in the responsiveness and service levels of the UK’s regulators in their processing of applications for new businesses in the sector.Separately, Ousmène Jacques Mandeng, a visiting fellow at the LSE and blockchain advisor at Accenture, has called for the launch of a CBDC and the issuance of blockchain-based gilts to support the competitiveness of the City of London.He writes: "The bank introducing a wholesale CBDC and the Treasury announcing that a significant share of gilts will be issued on blockchain could be catalysts for the adoption of blockchain-based financial applications.

The British government wants to "take back control" of immigration and asylum laws from the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. 

The major crypto exchange FTX has listed a new perpetual futures contract for the US Dollar Index (DXY), ideal for traders who want to bet on the direction of the currently very strong US dollar.

BlackRock, Columbia Threadneedle and Schroders have put limits on the amount large investors can withdraw from their UK property funds, as pension clients look to cash in their holdings in less-liquid assets.

Barclays has named a new head of its dealmaking unit in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, as the UK lender continues to shake-up its senior ranks.

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LONDON — There are growing fears of a housing market crash in the U.K., after a swathe of tax cuts announced by the government sent interest rate expectations soaring, driving up lending rates for homebuyers.

Ukrainian forces say they have discovered evidence of Russian losses as they continue to make progress on the eastern front.

Legal and General has attempted to reassure investors that it remains in strong financial health despite the crisis that engulfed the gilt and liability-driven-investment markets last week.

The long wait for authorisation is believed to have stemmed from AML compliance issues, which have since been resolved.The FCA's green light will provide some succour for Revolut, which is still awaiting the watchdog's approval for a UK banking licence.Revolut submitted the licence application in January last year, and the FCA's tardiness in responding has been a source of frutration for the firm's go-getting boss Nik Storonsky. In June, he openly called out the regulator for its slow progress in processing the paperwork.

Denmark's Queen Margrethe II has issued an apology, just days after stripping some royal titles from four of her grandchildren. 

Billionaire businessman Elon Musk has been strongly criticised after posting a series of Tweets about Russia's invasion of Ukraine. 

It is becoming increasingly challenging to support a bullish short-term view for cryptocurrencies as the total crypto market capitalization has been below $1.4 trillion for the past 146 days. Furthermore, a descending channel initiated in late July has limited the upside after two strong rejections.

Businessman and best-selling author Robert Kiyosaki described Bitcoin [BTC], silver, and gold as a “buying opportunity” amid the rise of the US dollar and interest rate.