Deutsche Bank Fined £500m

Deutsche Bank has been fined in excess of £500m by UK and US regulatory authorities for failures in its anti money laundering procedures.

Short The Euro!

#Trump's potential next ambassador to EU says he would "short the euro" since it "could collapse" in next 18 months. https://t.co/uciIZLdwQK

— Maxime Sbaihi (@MxSba) January 26, 2017

VW In Prosecutor's Crosshairs

*BRAUSNSCHWEIG PROSECUTOR EXPANDS VW INVESTIGATIONS:HANDELSBLATT

— Arne Petimezas (@APetimezas) January 27, 2017

RBS Increases Provisions For Fines

RBS announced on Thursday that it has set aside a further $3.8 billion to cover expected fines from U.S. authorities over its handling of residential mortgage-backed securities in the run-up to the 2008 financial crisis.

RBS said the additional provision would mostly be for a penalty expected to be imposed by the Department of Justice and other agencies over its issuing and underwriting of U.S. residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) during the U.S. housing boom of the 2000s.

RBS’s total package for provisions related to the mortgage-selling misconduct now stands at $8.3 billion.

Going For Growth

UK GDP grew 2.4% on annualised basis. In comparison US is coming in at 2.2%. 16 consecutive quarters of growth. All #DespiteBrexit

— Euro Guido (@EuroGuido) January 26, 2017

Bernie Ecclestone - A Perfect Example of Thinking Outside of The Box

In today's @FT: Analysis of why new US owners of #F1 moved against #BernieEcclestone plus stories like this: https://t.co/rLKa3Ue7Vl pic.twitter.com/GY2xUD9uow

— Murad Ahmed (@muradahmed) January 25, 2017

The Robots Aren't Coming

Adoption of #robots per 10,000 workers by country, leaders:
1. South Korea
2. Singapore
3. Japan
4. Germany
5. Sweden
UK near bottom ☹️ pic.twitter.com/VZqXxctTau

— Adam Bates (@AdamBates_D6) January 24, 2017

Samsung Confirms Dual Battery Fault

At a press conference today, Samsung officials said exhaustive tests on tens of thousands of devices and batteries had ruled out any problems with the device’s hardware or software.

Samsung confirmed what everyone knew, namely that it was a battery fault. Internal and independent investigations had “concluded that batteries were found to be the cause of the Note 7 incidents”.

In the case of the original battery, the casing was too small, causing it to short-circuit and ignite. It was replaced with a battery that had a different manufacturing defect but led to the same result.

Koh Dong-jin, the head of Samsung’s mobile business, is quoted by the Guardian:

“We sincerely apologise for the discomfort and concern we have caused to our customers.”

The company said there would be no fire risk involving future devices.

Meanwhile the heir to the Samsung throne, Lee Jae-yong, faces the prospect of arrest as prosecutors have accused him of making bribes worth millions of pounds to a close friend of South Korea’s president.

Schaeuble Positive On Brexit Trade Deal

Pretty positive statement from Schauble at @wef on ability to do new trade deal to minimise damage to both EU and U.K.

— Lawrence Freedman (@LawDavF) January 20, 2017

Momentous Change - Tax Rates

Hearing talk top rate of incomeTax to be reduced to 40% + new city of Ldn corporation Tax zone established 15% rate #GoingGlobal #brexit

— Purpleline (@purpleline) January 19, 2017

UK Unemployment Falls

ONS statistics released today show that unemployment in the UK fell by 52,000 to 1.6 million in November, the lowest number since 2006.

In the three months to November, unemployment continued to decrease after hitting a 10-year low in October last year.

The UK now has one of the lowest jobless rates in Europe at 4.8%. The employment rate is now 74.5%, up from 74% in the previous year.

Average earnings increased by 2.8% in the year to November, a 0.2% increase on the previous month.

Where is the much vaunted post Brexit apocalypse?

Theresa May Brexit Speech Live

China Makes Play to Replace Dollar With Yuan As Reserve Currency

China offers to world AIIB, BRICs bank, Silk Road, 1 Belt 1Road, RCEP, FTAAP. US had only TPP to balance that. Now gone with Trump #WEF17

— Nouriel Roubini (@Nouriel) January 17, 2017

Xi is making a skilful pitch at Davos #WEF17 to make China the champion of free trade and globalisation, and to replace the Dollar with the Yuan as the global reserve currency.

Wolrd Economic Forum Davos 2017 Live - #WEF17

#WEF17 Tweets

IMF Revises UK Growth Forecast Upwards To 1.5%

In its latest World Economic Outlook, the IMF said it now expects the UK economy to grow by 1.5% this year, marking a 0.4% upward revision to forecasts made in October.

For why?

"A stronger-than-expected performance during the latter part of 2016"

So much for the post Brexit financial apocalypse predicted by the Remainders!

Trump Promises "Fair" Deal for UK

Donald Trump promises UK “fair” trade deal @economiamag | https://t.co/1ZpeXb4Iiy pic.twitter.com/LypVz5NANU

— ICAEW Talk (@ICAEW_talk) January 16, 2017

Samsung Identifies Cause of Galaxy Note 7 Fires

Reuters reports that a Samsung Electronics investigation into what caused some Galaxy Note 7 smartphones to catch fire has concluded that the battery was the main reason.

This of course comes as no surprise to anyone, as it has been assumed to be the issue from the very first reports of fires. However, notwithstanding that, Samsung will announce the results of their investigations on 23 January, one day before their fourth quarter results. 

However, it seems that Samsung may have other things to worry about:

South Korea Prosecutor Seeks Arrest of Samsung Chief for Bribery https://t.co/cHmg0fQQCu

— Dr. Mark P. Barry (@DrMarkPBarry) January 16, 2017

First-time Buyers Highest Since 2007

The Halifax report that there were more first-time home buyers in 2016 than at any time since the start of the financial crisis.

The Halifax estimated there were 335,750 first-time buyers last year, the highest figure since 359,900 in 2007.

However, the average first-time deposit has more than doubled since 2007 to stand at more than £32,000.

The Halifax also found the average price of a first home broke through the £200,000 barrier for the first time.

Halifax housing economist Martin Ellis attributed the increase in first-time buyer numbers to continuing low mortgage rates and high levels of employment, which had "supported the market". He is quoted by the Telegraph:

"Government schemes such as Help to Buy have improved affordability, enabling more first-time buyers to buy their own property."

Yet again the dire predictions of Project Fear have been proven wrong.

Carney Admits Project Fear Was Wrong

Mark Carney, currently Governor of The Bank of England, has finally admitted that the EU has more to lose from Brexit than the UK.

He also admitted that Britain's economy will defy his own gloomy forecasts, that formed the bedrock of Project Fear,and grow at a faster rate than expected.

The Bank of England is now “very likely” to improve its economic forecast next month, Mr Carney said as he said he was “surprised” that the economic slowdown that he forecast has not materialised.

He is quoted by the Telegraph:

"In the run up to the referendum we felt that it was the largest risk [to the economy]. There were a series of things that could have happened that would have had financial stability consequences. Of course having got through the night the day after the scale of the immediate risks around Brexit have gone down.

I am not saying there are greater short term risks on the continent in the transition than there are in the UK."

The question is, how much longer will he remain in his job?

US Charges Three UK Traders

Reuters reports that t he U.S. Justice Department has brought charges against three former traders (based in the UK) at JPMorgan Chase & Co, Citigroup Inc and Barclays Plc arising from a global probe into the manipulation of foreign exchange rates at major banks.

Richard Usher, formerly of JPMorgan, Rohan Ramchandani, formerly of Citigroup, and Christopher Ashton, formerly of Barclays, were charged with conspiring to restrain trade in an indictment filed at a federal court in Manhattan.