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BUSINESS WITH PERSONALITY SCANDAL THE PLAYTIME IN THE CITY WOMAN AT THE WHAT TO SEE IN LONDON HEART OF THE THIS WEEKEND P28–29 LUANDA LEAKS P7 FRIDAY 24 JANUARY 2020 ISSUE 3,361 CITYAM.COM FREE CONTAGION Coronavirus breaks BAILEYFACES new ground as it nears UK shores GRILLINGON LCFCOLLAPSE ANNA MENIN Gloster told the meeting her investi- “I blame the FCA totally for the loss @annafmenin gation would interview Bailey, who is of my money,” he continued. “We lost due to take over as governor of the our savings and probably our funeral INCOMING Bank of England governor Bank of England in March, about his money. Everyone should be entitled Andrew Bailey will be interviewed oversight of LCF. to receive compensation.” about his oversight of collapsed Several investors who spoke at the Gloster told the meeting that the investment firm London Capital and meeting expressed confusion over the process of gathering documents Finance (LCF), an independent inves- distinction that, as one put it, “a for her investigation was nearing tigation revealed yesterday. company can be regulated by the FCA, completion, but was hindered by the LCF collapsed in January 2019, leav- but its products are not”. watchdog. There had “unexpected de- ing 11,600 investors who bought its One bondholder said he thought the lays in obtaining documents from the mini-bonds facing a collective loss of regulator “was going to look after” FCA”, and some were still outstanding. EMILY NICOLLE Wuhan — the city of origin for the up to £237m. him following the collapse of LCF, “I am not sure the FCA appreciated @emilyjnicolle virus. The disease has so far claimed While LCF itself and its marketing while another said she had seen the the scale of the task from the outset,” the lives of 18 people in China, with a material was regulated by the Finan- FCA’s logo on LCF’s website a week Gloster added. FOURTEEN people have been tested further 600 infected. cial Conduct Authority (FCA), which before the firm had collapsed into The independent investigation is for signs of the contagious The news came as the World Health Bailey has led since 2016, the bonds administration. due to report its findings by July. coronavirus in the UK, Public Health Organisation said it was “too early” themselves were not. “I thought [the logo] must mean it Gloster told the meeting that her England (PHE) said late last night, as to declare an international public The circumstances around the com- was regulated and safe,” she said. team was on track to meet the dead- the virus spreads outside of China. health emergency over the outbreak. pany’s failure are being investigated Earlier this month, the Financial line, but this was dependent on the Five patients across Scotland were Outside of China, confirmed cases by the FCA and Serious Fraud Office. Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) FCA providing it with the documents quarantined yesterday, while have been reported in Vietnam, the At a meeting of around 100 bond- said that just 159 LCF investors would it had requested. another suspected case appeared in US, Singapore, Japan, South Korea holders in central London yesterday, be eligible for compensation. An FCA spokesperson said: “We note Belfast last night. PHE said five of the and Thailand. Experts at Davos said Dame Elizabeth Gloster, who is lead- Several investors who spoke at the that Dame Elizabeth described the 14 people had tested negative, while they believe the virus most likely ing a probe into the watchdog’s han- meeting raised the issue of FCA’s approach as very accommodat- nine were still awaiting results. came from bats in marketplaces, dling of the case, was told by one compensation, with one saying the ing to the review’s requests. This has Four of the Scottish patients are before spreading to humans. bondholder that he felt the FCA had FSCS “seem to be offering the least certainly been our approach through- understood to be Chinese nationals “let him down”. they can”. out in the spirit of full transparency.” having recently travelled from £ CONTINUES ON P3 All tangled up: Apple hits back at EU proposals for a universal phone charger EMILY NICOLLE devices, amending a draft law that connector built into It added that such Some European politicians believe @emilyjnicolle all radio equipment in the bloc must all smartphones legislation was the new law would reduce waste, work with a common connector. stifles innovation unnecessary, as the while Apple said it will in fact do APPLE has lashed out at an EU bid Such a move would affect Apple rather than industry has already the opposite as many of its devices to make the tech firm ditch its more than any other electronics encouraging it, and begun to shift towards would be rendered obsolete. Lightning charger, alleging the company, as most Apple devices use would harm adopting USB-C charging The European Commission proposed rules would “create an its proprietary Lightning port while consumers in connectivity as standard. estimates defunct charger cables unprecedented amount of waste”. the majority of Android devices Europe and the The USB-C port is already generate approximately 51,000 The European Parliament last have a USB-C port. economy as a in use on Apple’s tonnes of waste a year. It will file a week pushed forward calls for a “We believe regulation that forces whole,” Apple said Macbook computers and report on the new law’s impact universal charger for all mobile conformity across the type of yesterday. on the iPad Pro. later this month. FTSE 100▼ 7,507.67 -64.25 FTSE 250▼ 21,540.56 -222.42 DOW▼ 29,160.09 -26.18 NASDAQ▲ 9,402.48 +18.71 £/$▼ 1.310 -0.003 £/€▲ 1.187 +0.002 €/$▼1.104 -0.005 02 NEWS FRIDAY 24 JANUARY 2020 CITYAM.COM NEVER AGAIN Prince Charles says the lessons of the Holocaust remain ‘searingly relevant’ at 75th anniversary commemoration THE CITY VIEW Business needs to be heard on immigration VER the last few years, the Home Office has managed to preside over the Windrush debacle, been forced to Oapologise for a heavy-handed refusal to issue visas because of minor administrative errors, and admitted that it has no idea of how many customs agents it has. It is, in short, a department in which things seem to go wrong with alarming regularity. It now has to build a brand new immigration system by the end of 2020. So the proposal by the CBI, IoD, FSB and a host of other acronym-soup trade bodies to offer significant support to the government in drawing up a new immigration regime is very welcome indeed. Their asks, delivered in a letter to home secretary Priti Patel today, are sensible. Flexibility for skilled workers in the points system and THE PRINCE of Wales spoke at Yad Vashem, Israel’s memorial to Holocaust victims, in Jerusalem yesterday at an event marking the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Nazi extermination camp Auschwitz. He said the forces of hatred and intolerance “tell a new sponsorship process for migrants and their employers are new lies, adopt new disguises, and still seek new victims”. More than 1m people, the vast majority Jews, were killed at the camp. vital parts of any functioning, modern system. A temporary route for workers who might not hit the points threshold or get in through sponsorship should allow some sectors who rely on labour from abroad to thrive even after the end of free movement. But most sensible of all, a salary threshold “set at a level that supports the economy and protects wages”. The HS2 ‘has 67 days to start question of whether cheaper Labour from abroad suppresses pay (especially in low-skilled work) remains contentious. The evidence suggests that the link is not straightforward, but many workers think and feel differently. That the business groups now work’ or else face delays appear to recognise the sensitivity of this debate is to be welcomed. Increasing pay, upskilling a domestic workforce and levelling up the economy are clear objectives for this ALEX DANIEL government’s own review written by times of the year,” it said. government, so ministers are unlikely to be sympathetic to @alexmdaniel former HS2 chair Douglas Oakervee. “Delays may also reduce the amount According to the NAO, contractors of time allocated for the latter stages of employers’ groups who appear interested only in accessing THE CONTROVERSIAL HS2 rail project including Balfour Beatty, Vinci, Kier a programme... which are complex and affordable labour. However, the government must not go was delivered a stark deadline today, as and Costain have until the end of risky parts of delivering a project on forward with proposals to extend the £30,000 salary threshold the government spending watchdog March to get spades in the ground and time and budget.” declared the scheme would be delayed begin main civil construction work. In its response this morning, the DfT for skilled workers from non-EU nationals to all foreign even further unless construction If they do not, the estimated opening conceded it had made “significant nationals after Brexit. Instead this threshold must be lowered, begins in the next 67 days. date of between 2029 and 2033 for the underestimations of both the cost and and there are encouraging noises from Whitehall that this will In its fourth report on the project in first phase between London and the schedule of HS2 in the past”. happen. New research from the Federation of Small Businesses, seven years, the National Audit Office Birmingham looks increasingly Critics seized on the report to criticise (NAO) also said the Department for remote.

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