UK has limited room for pre-election tax cuts, OECD says

By William Schomberg LONDON (Reuters) -The government of British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has little room to cut taxes ahead of the next national election expected in 2024, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said on Wednesday. The OECD raised its growth projections for Britain’s economy in its latest set of forecasts for…

Read More

Aramco, ENI, United Airlines invest in UK-based low-carbon fuel venture

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The venture units of oil firms Saudi Aramco and Italy’s ENI have joined the world’s largest passenger carrier United Airlines to invest in British start-up OXCCU’s efforts to slash the prohibitively high cost of lower-carbon aviation fuel, the companies said on Wednesday. Aviation produces around 2% of the world’s planet-warming emissions…

Read More

UK’s payments regulator lays down mandatory reimbursements in APP fraud victims

(Reuters) -Britain’s Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) said on Wednesday it has made it mandatory for banks and payment firms to reimburse victims of online bank fraud within five days, in cases where users at a business send money to a bank account controlled by fraudsters. Thousands of people have seen their savings swept away in…

Read More

Marketmind: China disappoints again, fanning speculation on stimulus

A look at the day ahead in European and global markets from Sonali Desai China’s keenly awaited trade data for May did little to stir markets increasingly inured to weakening momentum in the world’s second-largest economy, although it will fuel further speculation of policy stimulus measures from Beijing. For the record, exports posted a bigger-than-expected…

Read More

Client exodus from PwC Australia grows as $48 billion pension fund pauses work

By Lewis Jackson SYDNEY (Reuters) – HESTA, one of Australia’s largest pension funds, on Wednesday froze work with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Australia, the latest fund to blacklist the firm amid a national scandal over its misuse of confidential government tax plans. The A$72 billion ($48 billion) fund is “very concerned” and will “restrict consideration of PwC…

Read More

Zhao-controlled Binance trading firms at heart of SEC lawsuit

By Angus Berwick and Tom Wilson LONDON (Reuters) – Two offshore trading firms controlled by Binance founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao lie at the centre of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) lawsuit launched against the world’s largest crypto exchange, which highlights concerns over client funds. Swiss-registered Sigma Chain received customer funds from Binance, the…

Read More

Prince Harry tells London court ‘vile’ press has blood on its hands

By Michael Holden and Sam Tobin LONDON (Reuters) -Prince Harry launched a fierce attack on the “vile” press on Tuesday, blaming tabloids for destroying his adolescence and later relationships, as he gave evidence for almost five hours in his lawsuit against a tabloid publisher. As he became the first senior British royal to appear in…

Read More