LONDON (Reuters) – The Bank of England (BOE) has stepped up its monitoring of Lloyd’s of London’s SOLYD.UL whistleblowing systems, the central bank said on Monday///CRIMSON TAZVINZWA–
The Prudential Regulation Authority said the insurance market had agreed to additional requirements relating to whistleblowing after informing the regulator that its processes had been ineffective.
The PRA is the United Kingdom’s prudential regulator for deposit-takers (banks, building societies and credit unions), insurers and designated investment firms.2 It derives its responsibilities and its powers from the Financial Services and Markets Act (FSMA) 2000 (as amended by the Financial Services Act 2012 and the Financial Services (Banking Reform) Act 2013) (the Act), and the relevant EU Directives and directly effective regulations for which it is a competent authority.
The UK has avoided falling into recession, with the economy growing 0.3% in the third quarter of the year. The Office for National Statistics said the increase was largely thanks to the services and construction industries. It’s not all positive news, though – the stats show the economy’s growth has slowed to its lowest rate in almost a decade. While car production experienced an uptick in the three months to September, there were widespread falls in other areas of manufacturing, leaving overall output flat.
Analysts say there’s an ‘alarming loss of momentum’ in the UK economy hidden beneath the seemingly positive news that Britain’s avoided recession. Chancellor Javid called the 0.3% growth ‘solid’ but that’s probably raising a few eyebrows – it’s below forecasts, potentially propped up by Brexit stockpiling and annual growth is at its slowest in almost a decade – Tom Belger, Yahoo Finance UK
An activist holds a sign at a demonstration March 12 outside the Houses of Parliament in London, Britain. File Photo by Hugo Philpott/UPI | License Photo
Bank of England cuts forecast in 1st warning of no-deal EU exit//AIWA! NO!
The threat of Britain leaving the European Union this fall without a detailed agreement with the 28-member bloc led the Bank of England Thursday to cut its growth forecast for the next two years.The British central bank said in its revised outlook it expects the British economy to grow by 1.3 percent this year — down from a 1.5 percent expansion it projected in May. Thursday’s update also forecast 1.3 percent growth in 2020, a reduction of 0.3 percent from its initial calculation.
Bank of England Governor Mark Carney says U.K. households are “acting prudently.”
The bank’s forecast downgrade follows Boris Johnson‘s taking over as prime minister for Theresa May, whose departure was directly related to the absence of a Brexit agreement. Johnson has vowed to leave the EU on Oct. 31, with or without a deal.
The bank’s new outlook assumes London will leave with an agreement in place, but for the first time it warned of potential consequences of a no-deal, or “hard,” exit.
“In the event of a no-deal Brexit, the sterling exchange rate would probably fall, [consumer] inflation rise and [economic] growth slow,” the Bank of England said.
“Financial market participants’ expectations that the economy would be weaker in the event of a no-deal Brexit also mean that the sterling exchange rate tends to depreciate as the probability of a no-deal Brexit rises.”
“If Brexit proceeds smoothly to some form of deal, asset prices would adjust: the market path for interest rates would be likely to rise, the sterling exchange rate to appreciate, U.K.-focused equity prices to rise, and credit spreads would be likely to fall,” it added. “It is not possible to estimate precisely how asset prices would change in the event of a smooth Brexit. However, information from surveys, as well as observing how asset prices have moved as no-deal betting odds have changed.”
Britain has 240,000 businesses that trade exclusively with the EU and are not ready for border inspections that would follow a no-deal exit. Some wouldn’t have the required documents to sell to EU nations without a new agreement.
The Bank of England’s outlook cited a “material and broad-based slowdown” in world growth since the end of 2017 and said the risk of a recession is now at its highest point in three years, since Britons voted in mid-2016 to leave the alliance.
The bank voted Thursday to leave interest rates unchanged at 0.75 percent, despite continued influence of the trade conflict between the United States and China. It said a “smooth” EU exit, with a trade deal, would probably lead to interest rate hikes “at a gradual pace and to a limited extent” to return inflation to 2 percent, which is the level widely considered reflective of a healthy economy.
Tory leadership: Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt on Scotland
Tory leadership: Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt on Scotland//aiwa.press
Foreign minister Jeremy Hunt took aim at rival Boris Johnson’s “do or die” pledge to take Britain out of the European Union on Oct. 31 no matter what, saying the frontrunner to become prime minister could destroy Brexit and the government.
The race to replace Prime Minister Theresa May has heated up this week, with Hunt stepping up his criticism of Johnson, who has responded by hardening his promise to deliver Brexit at the end of October, with or without an agreement with the bloc.
More than three years after Britain voted to leave the EU, Brexit is dominating the race to become leader of the Conservative Party leader and the next prime minister.
The winner could face a battle with parliament, which rejected May’s deal three times and is opposed to a so-called no-deal Brexit.
“I’m not talking boots on the ground,” Trump said. “I’m just saying if something would happen, it wouldn’t last very long.”
On Tuesday, Johnson said Britain would leave the EU on Halloween “do or die, come what may”, pledging to negotiate a new deal with the bloc to be able to win over parliament.
But Hunt, who also wants Brexit to happen at the end of October but would extend the deadline if a deal was in sight, criticised the stance, saying it could open the way to opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn winning a new election.
“If we do it in this kind of ‘do or die way’, the risk is that we’ll just trip into a general election because parliament will stop it, as they did in March, and then we’ll have Corbyn in Downing Street, and there will be no Brexit at all,” Hunt told BBC radio.
But he also turned his fire on the EU, agreeing with a caller that the bloc had treated Britain “like dirt”.
“That’s exactly what I feel and I don’t think they have shown respect for us at all,” he said.
The two contenders are now hoping to win over the governing Conservatives’ around 160,000 members, whose votes will ultimately decide who becomes prime minister. However, they will also be keeping an eye on the Northern Irish party which props up the current government.
Arlene Foster, the leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, said she had a good relationship with both Hunt and Johnson but added: “It’s very important that we leave on the 31st of October.” Both contenders say they do not want a no-deal Brexit, but concede that, if needed, they would lead Britain out of the bloc without a deal with differing levels of enthusiasm — a scenario businesses say could cripple the world’s fifth largest economy.
The Bank of England governor has rubbished a key Boris Johnson claim for avoiding economic damage after a no-deal Brexit, in a severe blow to the Tory leadership favourite.
Mr Johnson dismissed fears about crashing out of the EU by arguing the UK could still enjoy tariff-free trade under what is known as “Gatt 24”, until a permanent agreement was struck. But Mark Carney pointed out the trade law could only be invoked if there was an agreement in place – and the central point of a no-deal Brexit was the absence of a deal.
“The Gatt rules are clear. Gatt 24 applies if you have a [withdrawal] agreement, not if you’ve decided not to have an agreement, or you have been unable to come to an agreement,” he told the BBC.
“We should be clear that not having an agreement with the European Union would mean that there are tariffs, automatically – because the Europeans have to apply the same rules to us as they apply to everyone else.”
Alistair Burt, a former minister and supporter of Jeremy Hunt, Mr Johnson’s rival, said: “You have got to be on top of the detail – no-deal would be very dangerous.”
To use Article 24 of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (Gatt) – avoiding tariffs on goods – a trade agreement must be agreed in principle, rather than be an aspiration.
Its use also needs the two sides to agree, meaning the UK could not simply impose it on the EU after a crash-out departure.
During Tuesday night’s TV debate, Mr Johnson was challenged by Rory Stewart on the import taxes – and therefore border controls – that would be required on agricultural goods crossing to and from the Republic.
He replied: “There will be no tariffs, there will be no quotas, because what we want to do is get a standstill in our current arrangements under Gatt 24 – or whatever it happens to be – until such time that we have negotiated an FTA [Free Trade Agreement].”
The answer appeared to betray the former foreign secretary’s lack of detailed knowledge, a persistent criticism of his record in office.
