Another bank tax warning

Afternoon all,

In quite a Groundhog Day scenario, top finance leaders are warning the Chancellor against a tax raid on banks at the Budget this month. They say that steeper taxes on the sector would drive businesses out of Britain. Among the big cheeses who have written to John Healey are UK Finance, TheCityUK and the CBI.

Meanwhile, the excitement around the Airtel Money listing has been punctured a little by a muted debut on the London Stock Exchange today. But at least it didn’t list in the US… Revolut boss Nik Storonsky said today that a primary listing in New York has “always” been the goal for the fintech giant.

We’ll be back in your inbox on Monday at 8am. In the meantime, have a great weekend!

Matt

“Tax decisions should be assessed not simply by the revenue they are expected to raise in the short-term, but by their effects on investment, competitiveness and the capacity of firms to support households and businesses,” the group of City grandees said.

The Chancellor met the top bosses of Britain’s biggest banks this week as speculation ramps up the industry will be used for a quick cash raid as Healey looks to rebuild his fiscal headroom that has been shattered by the Iran war.

The mobile payments firm has priced its shares at £1.96 apiece, which hands it a price tag of around £5.3bn. Existing shareholders, which include the Qatar Investment Authority and Mastercard, have offered up 270m shares, raising around £529m.

The fintech’s stock opened flat before rising two per cent and then tumbling into the red, down one per cent.

Christian Bittar, formerly a trader at Deutsche Bank, had his conviction overturned by the Court of Appeal on Friday after serving five years in prison for rigging the primary European interest rate, the Euro Interbank Offered Rate (Euribor), in the run-up to the financial crisis. He previously pleaded guilty to the charge.

“For reasons we will set out at a later date, this conviction has been quashed,” Lord Justice Edis told the court.

Lord Watson, who became a senior vice president at the US tech giant in September, said Palantir is “very targeted by the people that are targeting Israeli companies”.

Watson faced criticism from left-wing activists upon joining Palantir due to the firm’s contract with the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) and US’ Immigration and Customers Enforcement.

Non-compete clauses have become particularly common in the highly competitive tech and finance sectors, where employers are fearful of former staff using intellectual property to their advantage at an industry rival. 

But the strict legal hurdles have also been a blight for fast-growing tech companies, which have sounded the alarm over their inability to take on talent at the pace and rate they need to grow. 

Retaining the individuals who allocate capital and fund business expansion should be considered a national priority, but Healey looks more likely to drive them away, writes Tom Goddard.

Musical theatre can be self-referential, didn’t you know? Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine certainly do. Their Into The Woods maxes out on meta gameplay in this technically brilliant but at times baseless musical that can be terribly proud of itself.

We must cherish the live sport offering in Britain and celebrate what it gives us, writes Pitch Experiences chief Neil Bailey.

Would you like to advertise with us or become a sponsor? Please reach out to: [email protected]