Economic news

Gold price climbs while Swiss franc reaches 10-year high

Platforms now rival traditional betting groups in scale despite their services being illegal in most countries

Rise in passive funds and long-term investments shows country’s burgeoning equity culture

Mortgage experts share their tips for anyone starting out on the journey to owning their own home.

Chicago Fed president Austan Goolsbee forecasts a potential short-term economic bump from President Trump’s tariffs, followed by a summer drop-off.

The Treasury seems to think relaxing financial rules will boost growth. There’s little evidence for this idea – and every reason to believe it could exacerbate risks

In its desire to ensure the City of London remains attractive after Brexit, the Treasury seems to have forgotten one of the major lessons of the 2008 financial crisis: when regulation is lax, risks accumulate. This month, it launched a consultation about whether it was time to lighten the rules governing alternative asset managers, including private equity and hedge funds, in the belief that doing so will boost growth. There is little evidence to support this idea, and every reason to think it could exacerbate systemic risks.

The proposal is consistent with Rachel Reeves’s belief that expanding the financial sector will deliver economic prosperity. The chancellor has suggested that post-crisis regulations went “too far”. Those regulations included an EU directive targeting alternative investment funds. Before 2008, these funds operated mostly in the dark. There was no means of systematically tracking the leverage they were using, nor the dangers this might pose.

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