Barclays: Can whistleblowers be confident after City watchdogs issue warning notice to CEO Staley ahead of possible fine?

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Regulators did not find he “that he acted with a lack of integrity or that he lacks fitness and propriety to continue to perform his role” over attempt to out a whistleblower
The scandal over Barclays boss Jes Staley’s attempt to out a whistleblower is reaching its end game, and it’s looking good for him and the bank he runs.
Barclays this morning revealed that Mr Staley has been issued with a warning notice from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA).
These are sent out prior to the imposition of a penalty. Their existence isn’t usually revealed until the recipient has decided whether to either appeal or take it on the chin. However, Barclays has its AGM on May 1, which falls before the statutory 28 day period recipients have to make a response is up.
Read more Barclays boss Jes Staley to be fined over whistleblower scandal Barclays CEO falls victim to email prankster posing as chairman Barclays security chief 'faces investigati..

Confronting a Crisis? Now, Kim Jong-un Can Just Pick Up the Phone

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Confronting a Crisis? Now, Kim Jong-un Can Just Pick Up the Phone Photo A South Korean official testing the hotline with a North Korean counterpart on Friday. Credit South Korean Presidential Blue House SEOUL, South Korea — North and South Korea on Friday installed what officials said was the first-ever hotline between their top leaders, another sign of improving relations on the divided Korean Peninsula.
President Moon Jae-in of South Korea was expected to use the hotline, which was installed in his office, to talk with the North’s leader, Kim Jong-un, before the two leaders hold their summit meeting on the Korean border next Friday. But no date has been set for their first call.
The two Koreas have run a telephone hotline at the so-called truce village of Panmunjom — the venue for the inter-Korean summit — for years. Duty officers from both sides man their telephones at Panmunjom daily in case one side calls the other. The line has been cut off at times when bilateral relations have ..

A View from the Top: Peter Fulton, the 'galloping gourmet' in charge of Hyatt hotels

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The keen cook spills the beans on his rise from pot washer to hospitality executive
“Cut my arm and I bleed food and beverage,” says Peter Fulton.
Now executive vice-president of Hyatt hotels, and group president of Europe, Africa, Middle East and South-West Asia, he was originally inspired as a young lad growing up in Christchurch, New Zealand, by the “Galloping Gourmet” on television, Graham Kerr. When he left school, he knew he wanted to cook: “But I didn’t want to be a chef chef, I wanted to learn all the skills of catering and hospitality.” Which may explain how he started off as an apprentice pot washer at the Travelodge at Auckland airport.
Read more A View from the Top: Naina Lal Kidwai on life after HSBC A View from the Top: Anne-Marie Curtis, editor-in-chief of ELLE UK Joanna Dai, the ex-banker taking on the world of women’s fashion A tenuous Scottish connection led him to the Napier College of Commerce and Technology, where he won the “Taste of Scotland” competition th..

Bank of England interest rate-setter Michael Saunders dismisses signs of UK economic slowdown

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Michael Saunders one of two members of the MPC to vote in March for an immediate hike in the cost of borrowing from 0.5 per cent to 0.75 per cent
A member of the Bank of England’s rate-setting Monetary Policy Committee has said the apparent slowdown in the UK economy is likely to be a blip, suggesting that he will vote again for interest rates to rise again next month.
Read more Michael Saunders hints at support for interest rate rise What the new man in charge of setting UK interest rates really thinks Michael Saunders, an external member of the MPC, was one of two members of the nine person committee to vote, unexpectedly, in March for an immediate hike in the cost of borrowing from 0.5 per cent to 0.75 per cent in order to curb growing inflationary pressures.
Financial markets earlier this week had bet heavily on the entire MPC swinging behind an increase at its May meeting.
But official data on the economy this week, including retail sales, has come in weaker than expected, pr..

Pound sterling continues to slide after Mark Carney puts May interest rate rise in doubt

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It followed sharp falls on Thursday evening after the Bank of England Governor drew attention to 'mixed data' on the UK economy
The pound continued to fall against the dollar on Friday morning as markets reacted to Governor of the Bank of England Mark Carney’s comments casting doubt on an interest rate rise in May.
Sterling slipped 0.3 per cent to $1.4047 and was also 0.15 per cent down against the euro at €1.1394.
It followed sharp falls on Thursday evening after Mark Carney drew attention to “mixed data” on the UK economy revealed this week. The BoE governor said he didn’t want to be “too focused on the precise timing” of when rates might next rise and that the UK should “prepare for a few interest rate rises over the next few years.”
Read more Pound sterling slumps after Mark Carney casts doubt on May rate hike Traders had priced in a high likelihood that the BoE’s Monetary Policy Committee would raise rates next month.
“I don’t want to get too focused on the preci..

Royal Mail boss Moya Greene announces retirement plans leaving one fewer female FTSE 100 CEO

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Greene will step down at the group's AGM in July
Royal Mail chief executive Moya Greene will retire next in September after more than eight years in the role, the company announced on Friday.
Ms Greene will stand down from the board at the group’s AGM on 19 July, and will remain at the firm to provide advice and counsel until 14 September.
She will be replaced by Rico Back, currently CEO of Royal Mail’s European subsidiary General Logistics Systems, and has been a senior executive within the group for 18 years.
Read more Royal Mail fined for sending 300,000 nuisance emails Royal Mail said Ms Greene will “pursue a range of other interests, including developing her portfolio career” following her departure.
“It has been my pleasure and a great privilege to serve as CEO of this cherished UK institution. I am proud of what we have achieved over the last eight years. It is very pleasing to note that around 20 per cent of this company is owned by our employees and retail sha..

Regulators propose fine for Barclays boss Jes Staley over whistleblower scandal

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The lender's chief executive said he had not been aware that he had broken any rules
The UK’s financial watchdog wants to impose a fine on Barclays boss Jes Staley for breaching conduct rules when he tried to identify a whistleblower at the bank in 2016.
Mr Staley had tried to identify the author of two anonymous letters, which were sent to the board and a senior executive in June 2016. The letters, considered to be whistleblowing, raised concerns about a senior employee who had been recruited by Barclays earlier that year.
Read more Barclays agrees to pay $2bn to settle US fraud case Barclays: a bank desperately in need of boredom it won't get Barclays posts 10% profits rise despite investment division's woes The lender, which reported the incident to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Bank of England’s Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) said Mr Staley had taken measures to identify the author of the letters because he considered them to be “an unfai..

Swaziland’s King Wants His Country to Be Called eSwatini

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Swaziland’s King Wants His Country to Be Called eSwatini Photo King Mswati III of Swaziland. Credit Taiwan Presidential Office, via EPA, via Shutterstock A landlocked, rural nation in southern Africa, Swaziland has significant problems. Nearly a third of the country’s population lives in extreme poverty, and about as many are infected with H.I.V., one of the world’s highest prevalence rates for the virus. Life expectancy is low, around 50. A recent drought and an infestation of armyworms, an invasive species, devastated crops.
So the kingdom’s 1.4 million residents might have been surprised on Thursday when King Mswati III, one of the world’s few remaining absolute monarchs, announced the news: The country will henceforth be known as eSwatini, the kingdom’s name in the local language. (It means “land of the Swazis” in the Swazi — or siSwati — tongue.)
The king, who has reigned since 1986, announced the name change — an adjustment, really — during a ceremony in the city of Manzini on Th..

Venture Capitalists Seek ‘Safe Harbor’ for Virtual Currencies

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Venture Capitalists Seek ‘Safe Harbor’ for Virtual Currencies Photo A virtual currency mining site in Gondo, Switzerland. Some large virtual currencies are distributed on a daily basis to computers helping to maintain the network, while some are created through so-called initial coin offerings. Credit Fabrice Coffrini/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images SAN FRANCISCO — Venture capitalists and entrepreneurs have been lobbying federal regulators to protect at least some virtual currencies from being categorized as securities, a designation that would carry significantly more oversight.
The venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz helped assemble a group of investors and lawyers that met with the Securities and Exchange Commission in late March. They also proposed a “safe harbor” for some virtual currencies, according to a copy of the proposal reviewed by The New York Times and three people briefed on the effort who agreed to speak on the condition of anonymity because the proceedings wer..

Building firms waiting more than a year for bricks as raw material costs rocket, study shows

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Weakened sterling has compounded rising price of raw materials
Building firms are having to wait more than a year for bricks, according to new research which also shows material prices are “rocketing”, with the extra cost often being passed on to consumers.
Bricks were reported as being the material in shortest supply and with the longest wait time, according to a study of small and medium-sized building companies carried out by the Federation of Master Builders (FMB).
Firms reported a wait time of more than a year for bricks, and up to six months for roof tiles.
Read more UK construction output suffers worst fall for five years The FMB said the supply shortage was caused by an increase in the price of raw materials required to produce bricks, which has been compounded by the weaker value of sterling, as well as high demand due to a buoyant international market.
The builders involved in the study are also at a disadvantage to the larger construction groups that can afford t..