In the City

Earlier this year, the UK government directed its antitrust watchdog, the Competition and Markets Authority, to be "less risk averse" and to align more closely with its pro-growth agenda. We invited the CMA's interim chair Doug Gurr to update us on that mission and to explain what the group is doing to support the government's pledge to make it easier for businesses and the economy to grow. 

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Just a few months ago, the UK housing market seemed to be finding its footing. That hope has since faded. In June, house prices fell to their lowest rate in over two years, according to new figures from Nationwide Building Society. This surprised economists who had been expecting a small uptick. The decline follows the government’s April decision to raise transaction taxes—a move that’s added to the burd...

It’s no secret the Labour government’s policy to tax the UK’s wealthiest as part of its effort to fix a budget crisis left by the Conservatives has caused Prime Minister Keir Starmer some headaches. The biggest exodus of wealth in the UK’s recent history appears to be underway, and the data shows the departure is likely to be a drain on the economy. But is it enough for Chancellor of the Exche...

London has long prided itself on being a global tech hub, promoting the image of a thriving and ambitious capital for innovation. But that reputation is beginning to slip. Major UK fintech firms like Revolut and Wise are shifting their focus—and listings—to the US, drawn by stronger valuations, deeper market liquidity and better access to compute infrastructure.

As more companies look across the Atlantic, can London liv...

With the UK government’s spending review fast approaching, all eyes are on Westminster. In a matter of days, the public will gain a clearer sense of how funding is set to be allocated across departments over the next three years. There’s growing speculation that Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves will make a significant push on infrastructure—a signal, perhaps, of shifting priorities.

In this week’s e...

Today's show features a special episode from Bloomberg's Merryn Talks Your Money mini-series on how to navigate the UK housing market. Professor Yolande Barnes at University College London joins host Merryn Somerset Webb to discuss the market as a whole: what’s the outlook for home prices, what’s the best strategy when purchasing your first property and why the UK is at risk of an oversupply in houses. 

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Francine Lacqua hosts this week's episode from the Qatar Economic Forum in Doha, where she and guests Matthew Martin, a Bloomberg senior reporter covering sovereign wealth funds, and Bloomberg deals reporter Dinesh Nair, discuss the wave of dealmaking emerging from the Middle East.

Following US President Donald Trump’s recent visit to the region, the White House announced that Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates ...

The UK government’s plan to scrap the “non-dom” tax status—a policy that allowed wealthy foreign residents to avoid taxes on overseas income—was designed to close a loophole and raise billions of pounds in tax revenue. However, according to a new study from the Centre for Economics and Business Research, it might end up costing the economy more than it brings in if just one in four of the 74,000 people...

It's been a whirlwind week for UK trade — first a deal with India, and now, a surprise announcement: a US-UK trade agreement. With aims to reduce trade barriers and increase market access for American imports and industrial exports, this latest deal sets the stage for closer economic ties between the two countries.

Hosts David Merritt and Francine Lacqua speak with Dan Hanson from Bloomberg Economics to unpack the US-U...

London is closing the gap with New York for the title of world’s top financial center, according to the latest Global Financial Centres Index. Is it a signal that the the UK’s efforts to rejuvenate its banking and investment sectors post-Brexit are starting to pay off?

On this week’s In The City, host David Merritt sits down with Chris Hayward, Policy Chairman of the City of London Corp., who makes the a...

On Tuesday, Megan Greene, one of the Bank of England’s most hawkish policymakers, said that while President Donald Trump’s wave of global tariffs is likely to raise prices in the US, the effect in the UK could be the opposite. “I think that the tariffs actually represent more of a disinflationary risk than an inflationary risk,” she says.

On this week’s In The City, hos...

On this week's In the City, hosts Allegra Stratton and David Merritt delve into the likely nationalization of British Steel and how the crisis at the Chinese-owned company is forcing the Labour government to rethink its relationship with Beijing. Featuring Bloomberg Opinion columnist Matthew Brooker and senior economics reporter Philip Aldrick, the discussion pr...

On this week’s In the City, host Francine Lacqua discusses the rise of private credit amid economic uncertainty driven in large part by US President Donald Trump and his global trade war. 

Joined by Bloomberg senior reporter Silas Brown, Lacqua looks at how key figures like Blackrock Chief Executive Officer Larry Fink have emphasized a shift towards private markets, and the importance of non-publicly tra...

UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves has delivered her Spring Statement, and Bloomberg Chief UK Economist Dan Hanson and senior reporter Phil Aldrick join host Allegra Stratton to share their assessment. Aldrick posits that it wasn't "quite the horror show that some people were fearing" because restoring Britain's fiscal headroom didn't require severe public service and welfare cuts. But Hanson notes that even so, she's lef...

In this week’s episode of In the City, we explore whether more European businesses will decouple from American companies and Wall Street. Bloomberg deals correspondent Dinesh Nair describes the Trump-induced separation as yet another “unprecedented” rupture initiated by the Republican president. But it could be good news for Europe in the long run, being the spark needed the unify and galvanize European&...