Published: 16 January 2023
By Suzanne Evans, Director, Political Insight
The World Economic Forum’s (WEF) annual winter gathering in the Swiss mountain resort starts today. A record number of business leaders are set to make the trip, and the passage of commercial, private and government aircraft through Zurich’s airport suggests overall attendees are at pre-Covid-19 levels, Reuters reports. All in all, the WEF expects to welcome some 2,700 leaders from 130 countries, including 370 public figures. However, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and US President Joe Biden are not attending, and CNBC says only one G7 leader will attend, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz who will speak on the main stage. The list of public figures attendees on the WEF website features eight from the UK: Business Secretary Grant Schapps; Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch; Environment Minister Zac Goldsmith; Labour leader Keir Starmer and Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves; Richard Moore, head of MI6; the Lord Mayor of London Nicholas Lyons; and former Prime Minister Tony Blair. In 2019, a quarter of the Cabinet went to Davos, according to The Guardian.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman has revealed that wealthy investorswho came to the UK via the so-called "golden visa" route potentially have links to corruption or serious organised crime. The Tier 1 (investor)scheme was launched in 2008, allowing people from outside the EU to gain residency if they invested upwards of £2m into the British economy. Fears the system was open to abuse sparked a 2018 review into 6,312 migrants and adult dependants who came to the UK between the launch of the route and the introduction of reforms in 2015, when applicants had to open a regulated UK bank account before applying for a visa. The findings of the review have now been released. It concluded that “a small minority of individuals connected to the Tier 1 (investor) visa route that were potentially at high risk of having obtained wealth through corruption or other illicit financial activity, and/or being engaged in serious and organised crime". The review also concluded that the system "attracted a disproportionate number of applicants from the countries identified in the UK's National Risk Assessment of money laundering and terrorist financing", and the particular risk around financial criminality "meant that the immigration system was not as well-equipped to respond", as it needed specialists in the field to work on the cases. Braverman stressed that "the work carried out only implies that a particular individual potentially poses a risk of having connections to criminality - it does not mean guilt has been proven". However, she added that UK law enforcement had access to all the data and were "taking action as appropriate under their operational remits". "Whilst unable to comment specifically due to operational sensitivity of work, as an example of the range of actions we are taking, I can say that we have already sanctioned 10 oligarchs who had previously used this route as part of our extensive response to Russian aggression in the Ukraine," she said. She also pointed to a new Combatting Kleptocracy Cell in the National Crime Agency and "robust legislation to prevent corrupt elites abusing our open economy". The Tier 1 scheme was scrapped in 2022 as part of a "renewed crackdown on illicit finance and fraud" following the outbreak of war in Ukraine, and Braverman said she was "determined this government will ensure such mistakes are not repeated" and that “any future visa route to facilitate investment-based migration must not offer entry solely on the basis of the applicant's personal wealth".
The Government will ban some single-use plastic items such as cutlery, plates and bowls from October in England, Environment Secretary Thérèse Coffey said on Saturday. She claimed the decision follows a public consultation in which 95% of respondents were in favour of the bans. "We all know the absolutely devastating impacts that plastic can have on our environment and wildlife," she said. "These new single-use plastics bans will continue our vital work to protect the environment." The government said it is estimated England uses 2.7 billion items of single-use cutlery, most of which are plastic, a year as well as 721 million such plates, but only 10% end up being recycled. A ban on supplying plastic straws and stirrers and plastic-stemmed cotton buds came into force in England in 2020. Anti-plastic campaign group A Plastic Planet said it will continue to campaign for further bans, notably on plastic sachets, tobacco filters and wet wipes, which the Government is already considering banning.
A return to No. 10 Downing Street by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson ‘would be dreaded by businesses’ according to Sir Howard Davies, chairman of the NatWest group, because the markets would “not have a clue what his economic policy was”. Howard’s comments come as Johnson’s finances are under fresh scrutiny after it emerged he had access to a £800,000 credit facility while he was PM, guaranteed by millionaire Canadian businessman Sam Blyth, to whom he is distantly related. Asked about a potential comeback on BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Howard said: “Oh dear; I think that wouldn’t be well-received at this point because people would not have a clue what his economic policy was, and unfortunately running the country is not quite the same as running his own finances where it seems that there are mysterious people prepared to fill any budget gaps, that’s not the case for the country.” Johnson’s links to Blyth were first reported by the Sunday Times yesterday.
Electricity firm Drax has agreed to pay a £6.1m fine levied by Ofgem after breaching its energy generation licence by charging National Gridexcessive prices to reduce power generation during times of grid constraint. Ofgem said Drax had, between 1st January 2019 and 31st July 2022, submitted and procured excessively expensive bids to turn down its generation in the Balancing Mechanism (BM), the Electricity National Control Centre’s (ESO) primary tool to balance supply and demand on Britain’s electricity network. Generators receive payments under the BM to increase or reduce power to the network at times of grid constraint, in a continuously open online auction during which thousands of trades issued daily in 30 minute trading periods. Any increased balancing costs are “ultimately borne by consumers," Ofgem said. Drax will pay the fine into a voluntary energy redress fund, having admitted the “inadvertent” breach.
Rolls-Royce confirmed on Friday that it has looked at two potential sites in southwest England to build its new Small Modular Reactor (SMR) power stations. The FTSE 100 firm has already short-listed three sites to build the so-called mini-nuclear plants, two in the northeast of England and one in north Wales.
Amigo Holdings has failed to find a cornerstone investor for its planned capital raise and “is therefore assessing whether there is sufficient interest for a syndicate of such investors to be formed in order to support a £45million capital raise”. The company ceased lending in November 2020 following a deluge of customer complaints that it had mis-sold loans, and only received approval from the Financial Conduct Authority in October 2022 to return to lending under certain conditions.
British fintech start-up Revolut Ltd. is close to finalising its long-overdue 2021 financial accounts, a move that could pave the way for the start-up to obtain a UK banking licence, two people with knowledge of the matter have told Reuters. In September, the Financial Times reported that the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) - the body responsible for regulating auditors - found Revolut's audit by accountancy firm BDO was “inadequate,” and that “the risk of an undetected material misstatement was unacceptably high.” Accounts now due to be published at the end of this month, if passed by the FRC, will open the way to regulators to give Revolut the banking licence it has sought for the past two years. One Reuters’ source says Revolut is likely to opt for an "authorisation with restriction" licence, meaning it will operate with limits on customer deposits before becoming fully operational as a bank after a trial period, the same route taken originally by Starling Bank and Monzo in 2016. Britain is a key market for Revolut, which launched as a prepaid card charging foreign-exchange fees that undercut established banks. Representatives for BDO, FRC and the Bank of England's Prudential Regulatory Authority, which approves banking licences, declined to comment on the Reuters’ story.
Sainsbury's has teamed up with online meal ordering and delivery firm Just Eat Takeaway for home delivery. Shoppers will be able to order items from Sainsbury's for delivery in under 30 minutes using the Just Eat app. The partnership will launch with more than 175 stores by the end of February, with a further roll-out across the country in 2023.
Marks & Spencer says it will open 20 new stores in its 2023-24 financial year as part of a £480m investment in its estate. The investment would generate over 3,400 new jobs natiionwide, the retailer said.
Broadcaster ITV says its new streaming platform ITVX has drawn strong demand in its first month and was well received by advertisers. The free, ad-funded service was launched on 8th December and replaced the ITV Hub, ITV Hub+ and BritBox UK. ITV said ITVX lifted streaming hours by 55% in its first month of service compared to the same period last year, and while demand was helped by the soccer World Cup in December, excluding that streaming was still up 29% year-on-year.
British chemical firm Ineos is nearing a deal to buy assets being sold by Sika AG to appease antitrust regulators, Bloomberg News reported yesterday, citing people familiar with the matter. In December, Sika and Germany-based MBCC Group received UK regulatory approval for their £4.5bn merger on the condition they sell a part of the business to address competition concerns. The deal values Sika’s admixture business at around £613m and could be announced as soon as today, the report said. Ineos apparently beat private equity firms including Cinven, CVC Capital Partners and Clayton, Dubilier & Rice to buy the assets.
Apple boss Tim Cook is taking a pay cut of more than 40% this year – but he will still take home £45million. In 2022, the 62-year-old was paid £82m, including £2m base salary, about £68million in stock awards, plus a bonus. This year, his stock award will be cut to £33m. The tech giant said the decision was based on 'balanced shareholder feedback, Apple's exceptional performance and a recommendation from Mr Cook'. Last year, advisory group Institutional Shareholder Services urged shareholders to vote against Cook's pay, which the group said was 1,447 times higher than the average employee. Apple shares have tumbled 22% on Wall Street in the past 12 months.
Why Media is an award-winning design, marketing, digital communications and PR agency offering tailored solutions to companies on a global scale. We have extensive experience in delivering design and marketing services to a spectrum of companies including professional services, property companies, financial institutions and shopping centres. We have offices in London UK, Hertford UK, Finestrat ES & Brescia IT.
Marketing Contact
Name: Claire White
E-Mail: claire@whymedia.com
Telephone: 01992 586 507
