The Netherlands: Brexit: Amsterdam surpasses London as Europe’s leading share trading hub - by Ben Chapman

Amsterdam has surpassed London as Europe’s leading share trading hub in the wake of Brexit.

An average €9.2bn shares a day were traded on Euronext Amsterdam and the Dutch arms of CBOE Europe and Turquoise in January, according to data from CBOE Europe first reported by the Financial Times.

EU-based financial firms are banned from trading in London because the EU has not recognised UK regulations on exchanges as equivalent to its own.

Read more at: Brexit: Amsterdam surpasses London as Europe’s leading share trading hub | The Independent

Britain: Covid-19: London paramedic says worst still to come

Ambulances have been seen queuing outside some London hospitals including The Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel.

A spokesman for Barts Health NHS Trust, which runs the hospital, said: "We are facing significant pressure from high Covid-19 admission rates and non-Covid winter demands.

Read more at: Covid-19: London paramedic says worst still to come - BBC News

The Netherlands: Unilever officially no longer Dutch company

For 91 years, the company structure was divided between the Netherlands and Great Britain, with two head offices in London and Rotterdam. The company also had two boards and two types of shares.

To simplify its structure, the company decided in 2018 to opt for one main office. Initially, the choice fell on Rotterdam, possibly partly due to the government's announcement to abolish the dividend tax. However, after opposition from influential shareholders, London became the final choice. In the end, the abolition of the dividend tax in the Netherlands was not passed.

The restructuring means that important strategic decisions will subsequently be made in London. This brings an end to the long Dutch history of the company, but in practice – at least in short term – there won't be much change.

Read more at: Unilever officially no longer Dutch company | NL Times

Corona Virus: Travelers From Coronavirus Hot Spots Say They Faced No Screening - The New York Times

The Trump administration says Americans returning from coronavirus hot spots are being screened for symptoms. Some travelers say that is not happening.

Read full report at:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/13/us/politics/coronavirus-travelers-screening.html

Shopping in Europe - Sales offers: Best destinations for sales in Europe

You like traveling in Europe and you want to do shopping at the best prices? We have selected for you the best shopping destinations for your sales in Europe. Here are some good ideas for a shopping city trip in Europe.

 

Take a look and discover the fashion sales in Milan, London, Paris and the trendy sales in Amsterdam, Berlin and Brussels, If you really want the best prices in wonderful cities, go to Lisbon or Istanbul, the best destinations for cheap and smart shopping and book your hotel at the best price guaranteed in one of the best destinations for sales in Europe.

London, Milan, Madrid best three shopping locations. 

Read more at: Best destinations for sales in Europe - Europe's Best Destinations

Britain: Thousands protest in Britain for Kashmir outside Indian High Commission

Thousands of people, many waving Pakistani and Kashmiri flags, protested outside the Indian High Commission in London on Thursday in support of the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir.

India's decision to revoke special status for its portion of Kashmir, along with a communications blackout and curbs on movement, caused fury in Pakistan, which cut trade and transport links and expelled India's envoy in retaliation.

In London, protesters carried banners saying "Kashmir is Burning", "Free Kashmir" and "Modi: Make Tea Not War", according to a Reuters reporter.

 Read more: UPDATE 1-Thousands protest in Britain for Kashmir outside Indian High Commission

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Britain - Gartner Data and Analytics Summit: Use of big data analytics keeps the Netherlands dry and transforms fashion brands

The use of big data analytics has helped everything from water management in the Netherlands to both the retail and insurance industries to undergo digital transformation, as proven in a number of case studies at the Gartner Data and Analytics Summit.

From defending the Netherlands against the type of flood that claimed 1,800 lives 66 years ago to helping fashion brands sail confidently through the perilous waters of online shopping, the use of big data analytics has never had such a profound effect.

Sensor technology interconnected through the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence and data analysis have been applied to water management to keep Dutch communities safe in an era when climate change is beginning to cause the country real concern.

And in business, they have traditional industries such as retail and insurance to meet customer demand and improve internal processes.

A range of case studies were put forward at the Gartner Data and Analytics Summit in London this week to highlight how almost any sector or business function can undergo digital transformation through intelligent data insight

Read more: Use of big data analytics keeps Holland dry and transforms fashion br

Britain-Banking Industry-Brexit:Banks' post-Brexit 'fragmentation' plans hold risks and costs - by Sinead Cruise, Pamela Barbaglia

Several of the world’s biggest banks are in the process of relocating a number of staff who deal directly with clients and some back-office functions as Britain prepares to leave the European Union next March.

The banks, which include JP Morgan (JPM.N), Goldman Sachs (GS.N), Citi (C.N), Morgan Stanley (MS.N) and Bank of America (BAC.N), plan to “fragment” their operations by expanding or launching services in more than just one city.

While beefing up operations in traditional financial centres such as Frankfurt, Luxembourg and Paris, they are also seeking to expand in cities such as Madrid, Milan, Berlin and Dublin.

Playing down the links with Brexit, the banks say the moves will bring them closer to clients and cut the costs of concentrating their operations in expensive London.

But the rush to set up offices in continental Europe has been mainly triggered by the fear of losing the benefits of EU “passports”, which remove internal borders and allow banks operating in London to serve clients across the bloc.

“It is an enforced change in strategy. If Brexit wasn’t happening, would we be doing all this? No, of course we wouldn’t. And neither would anyone else,” said an insider at a large U.S. bank.

“Does it get you closer to clients? Yes, of course it does. But people are trying to make a virtue out of a necessity,” said the insider, who declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the subject.

Read more: Banks' post-Brexit 'fragmentation' plans hold risks and costs | Reuters

Brexit: EU prepares to move two agencies from London - Laurence Pete

EU leaders have officially launched the competition between member states to decide which will host two London-based EU agencies, responsible for medicines and banking.

The relocation must take place by the Brexit deadline - 30 March 2019
.
Some countries are bidding to host both the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and European Banking Authority (EBA).

It means hundreds of jobs moving from London, along with significant revenue from hotel stays and conferences.

Read more: EU prepares to move two agencies from London - BBC News

Banking Industry EU: JPMorgan to Move Hundreds of Staff from London to Three EU Offices following Brexit

JPMorgan Chase & Co. plans to move hundreds of London-based bankers to expanded offices in Dublin, Frankfurt and Luxembourg as it prepares for the U.K. to lose easy access to the European Union’s single market after Brexit, the firm’s head of investment banking said.

"We are going to use the three banks we already have in Europe as the anchors for our operations," Daniel Pinto said in an interview Tuesday in Riyadh, referring to the New York-based firm’s local entities. "We will have to move hundreds of people in the short term to be ready for day one, when negotiations finish, and then we will look at the longer-term numbers."

Global banks are preparing to move some London-based operations into new or expanded bases inside the EU after British Prime Minister Theresa May triggered the formal mechanism for quitting the 28-nation bloc. Before the June referendum, JPMorgan Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon told U.K. employees that as many as 4,000 could be relocated in the event of Brexit. In January, he said that number could be higher -- or lower -- depending on how the government’s negotiations played out.

"We have to plan for a scenario where there is no U.K.-EU passporting deal, and we have to move a substantial portion of our business to continue serving our European clients," Pinto said. "We’ll have to wait to see what kind of deal can be achieved and see what we need to do from there."

Read more: JPMorgan to Move Hundreds of Staff to Three EU Offices on Brexit - Bloomberg

Britain: London’s reaction to Brexit: “A bloody disaster… we’re second division now” - by Ryan Ramgobin

London voted overwhelmingly in favour of United Kingdom to remain a member of the European Union, with 59.9% of votes cast wanting to Remain.

Seven of the ten areas with the highest share of the Remain vote were in London, with Lambeth, Hackney and Haringey, polling over 75% to stay in the bloc.

The referendum result left swathes of London shocked and disappointed.

Several believe that immigration was misrepresented in the lead up to the referendum.

One woman was dismayed with the result: “We’re one of the countries that benefit from immigration.

I think that asylum seekers and refugees are a separate issue and why would you close the door on people who are in need?”

Another Remain voter believed Leave campaigning was “almost like propaganda.”

“You open up a newspaper… there’s a picture [with the caption] ‘coming soon to a greenfield near you’ and they have pictures of these Syrian refugees…”

Read more: London’s reaction to Brexit: “A bloody disaster… we’re second division now” | UK | News | The Independent

Brexit: London Mayor Elections 2016: Amid Tight Brexit Polls, Pro-EU Sadiq Khan Poised For Victory

With the referendum on the U.K. leaving the EU looming June 23, a so-called Brexit has become a prominent topic of debate leading up to the London mayoral election, in which Khan is facing off against pro-leave politician Zac Goldsmith to become the leader of the nation’s capital.

While the London mayor exhibits limited power over the outcome of the referendum, a pro-Brexit mayor would have been seen as a symbolic defeat both for the Prime Minister David Cameron and for his entire pro-EU campaign, experts said. London has historically been heavily integrated into the EU financial and political system as well as statistically anti-Brexit.

“It’s crucial [for the EU campaign] that Goldsmith won’t be winning,” said Charles Lichfield, an EU analyst for risk consultancy Eurasia, saying Khan’s win is “certainly not something that the pro-Brexiters could use.”

Nearly 60 percent of Londoners who responded to a recent YouGov poll said they supported the U.K. staying in the EU. London has long been considered not only an international capital but a European one where EU nationals from across the continent live, work and study. With the London stock exchange and a thriving financial services sector, the capital is a financial hub that facilitates trade within the EU and beyond, and many citizens have expressed fear the city would lose some of its status and economic standing.

The debate over a Brexit centers on national sovereignty, security and economic strength. Supporters of the U.K. leaving the EU say the country would be better able to control its national borders without constraints from the EU while maintaining London would keep its economic prowess with or without the EU trading bloc. Proponents of staying in the EU argue the country’s membership is part of what has contributed to security and a thriving economy. The margin between the two camps has remained tight in the weeks leading up to the June vote, and the latest results from the Financial Times’ Brexit poll tracker — which takes the average of recent polling data — put support for remaining in the EU at 46 percent, and support for leaving at 43 percent.

If Goldsmith wins — a seemingly unlikely possibility as Khan was leading according to the most recent polling information — pro-Brexit campaigners would have been able to point to London as a symbol of the necessity for a Brexit, arguing if the European hub could recognize the necessity of leaving Europe, then everyone could, Lichfield explained.

Current London Mayor Boris Johnson came out in favor of a Brexit in February, going against the stance both of his Conservative Party and of the prime minister, a close political ally. A pro-Europe London mayor such as Khan would complete a pro-European trifecta of the prime minister, the London mayor and the chancellor of the exchequer — three of the most powerful positions in the U.K., all lobbying for the U.K. to stay in the EU.

Read more: London Mayor Elections 2016: Amid Tight Brexit Polls, Pro-EU Sadiq Khan Poised For Victory

Britain Brexit: The Brexit Referendum: Provincial England Versus London And The Celts - by Peter Kellner

For a great many voters, the side they will end up taking in the referendum will be a verdict on the kind of country we have become and how we got here.

Voter stereotypes are often wrong. Forget Mondeo Man and Worcester Women: there was – is – nothing special about them. On most issues, different groups vary less than might be imagined. On taxation, say, or the health service, or welfare reform, there is a large overlap in the views of Mail and Guardian readers, young and old voters, university graduates and those with few qualifications – even Ukip supporters and Liberal Democrats.

Europe is different. A special analysis for Prospect of recent YouGov surveys uncovers unusually deep divisions in public attitudes. For once the differences do match the stereotypes. There is a huge contrast between the kinds of people wanting Britain to stay in the EU and those wanting Brexit.

A separate survey, for Prospect, explores the roots of this division. It finds that voters on both sides agree that Britain’s economic problems are still severe. What divides them is what has caused these problems. But it is a measure of the downbeat mood of the nation as the referendum approaches that, given a choice of 14 EU countries in which to live, including the UK, most of us would pick one of the other 13.

Let’s start with the basic in-out numbers. YouGov questioned more than 16,000 people during the two weeks following the agreement between David Cameron and the rest of the EU heads of government on changes to Britain’s terms of membership. A sample this size allows us to look at sub-groups with some confidence. Overall, our sample splits 50-50 among those who take sides. We detected a modest shift from a slight majority for Brexit at the start of the fortnight to a slight lead in the second week for remaining in the EU. But, overall, neither side has a decisive advantage.

The graphic shows what we found. At one end of the spectrum, 91 per cent of Guardian readers want Britain to remain in the EU, while 97 per cent of Ukip supporters want Brexit. Apart from Ukip, the supporters of all the other significant opposition parties are strongly pro-EU, with 75-80 per cent saying they will vote for staying in. Conservative voters divide 56-44 per cent for Brexit; however, there are signs that the Prime Minister is beginning to win some of them round to the “remain” camp.

Read more: The Brexit Referendum: Provincial England Versus London And The Celts

European High Speed Rail System: Eurostar debuts London to Marseille high-speed rail link

European Hi-Speed Rail Services

Eurostar on Friday began whisking passengers from London to Marseille in a journey that took just over six hours as the international rail company opened a permanent and direct route connecting Britain and southern France The new year-round transport service will see high-speed TGV trains race from the heart of London to the French cities of Lyon, Avignon and Marseille, the company announced.

Eurostar said travellers departing from St Pancras International would be able to reach Lyon in four-and-a-half hours, Avignon in just less than six hours, and the Mediterranean city of Marseille in six-and-a-half hours.

Lyon is considered to be the capital of French gastronomy, while Avignon attracts tens of thousands of tourists for its annual theatre festival.

Marseille, France’s second-largest city, is a historic Mediterranean port, long considered a gateway between continental Europe and much of the world.

Read more: france 24 - Eurostar debuts London to Marseille high-speed rail link - France 24

Britain: London Book Fair 2015: The Buzz Books of the Show

With no single title emerging as the big book of the fair, a handful of titles--fiction and nonfiction--caught the attention of fair-goers, and the wallets of editors. Here, a rundown of some of the books people were talking about at this year's London Book Fair:

Two debut novels which sold in rumored seven-figure deals--Yaa Gyasi's Homegoing and DeSales Harrison's The Waters & the Wild--were of course subjects of chatter. Gyasi's book, an epic about two half-sisters born in 18th century Ghana, was nabbed just before the fair, in a deal William Morris Endeavor's Eric Simonoff brokered with Knopf's Jordan Pavlin. Harrison's literary thriller sold in the States on the eve of the fair, with agent Bill Clegg, who now has his own shingle, closing a North American rights deal with Penguin Random House's Kate Medina.

Another novel that came up in talk during the fair was Affinity Konar's Mischling, which Lee Boudreaux won U.S. rights to, after a two-day auction. Sterling Lord's Jim Rutman sold the book, which is set in Poland in 1944 and follows twin sisters selected by Josef Mengele as subjects of his horrific genetics studies. (Mengele is the German SS officer and physician known, infamously, as Auschwtiz's "Angel of Death.") After Auschwitz is liberated, one sister, along with a fellow survivor, sets off on a journey across Poland to find the other sister, as well as Mengele, in order to exact revenge on the Nazi doctor. The book, which Boudreaux plans to publish in fall 2016, had also sold, at press time, in a number of other countries. Sterling Lord's Szilvia Molnar closed preempts in, among other places, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Italy, and Israel. 

Ali Land's debut, Good Me, Bad Me, also cropped up in various conversations. Christina Kopprasch at Flatiron Books nabbed the novel, at auction, from Sasha Raskin at the Agency Group. At press time, sales had also closed in, among other places, France, Germany, Holland, and Greece. In the novel Milly, the teenage daughter of a serial killer, gets a seemingly fresh start at life, thanks to being raised in a foster home and given a new identity. In spite of this, Kopprasch explained, Milly's "ambition to be good is tested." Land, Kopprasch added, currently works as a private investigator, but has long been interested in this novel's subject matter; she has a background in adolescent mental health, and her college dissertation was called "Children Who Kill."

Read more: London Book Fair 2015: The Buzz Books of the Show

Britain: Oil reserves found at site near UK's Gatwick airport

A small British oil producer said it had discovered a possible world class oil resource in the countryside to the south of London that could contain billions of barrels of oil.

 The London-listed explorer UK Oil Gas Investments (UKOG) said on Thursday up to 100 billion barrels of oil could lie below the green fields around Gatwick Airport, however it cautioned that only a fraction of that could be recovered.

The news sent shares in the small firm up 200 percent and prompted the national press to dub the area “Britain’s Dallas”. Oil industry analysts struck a note of caution however.

“We think we’ve found a very significant discovery here, probably the largest [onshore in the UK] in the last 30 years, and we think it has national significance,” UKOG Chief Executive Stephen Sanderson told the BBC.

Britain has for decades relied on the North Sea for its oil needs, particularly during the 1980s when Margaret Thatcher’s government reaped the rewards of booming output and high prices. But output there has started to fade since the turn of the century.

UKOG’s oil find is located in Britain’s southern Weald Basin, a largely rural area near the airport which lies adjacent to Europe’s largest onshore oil field, located at Wytch Farm.

Read more: Europe - Oil reserves found at site near UK's Gatwick airport - France 24

Goldman Sachs boss: 'imperative' that UK stays in EU - by Szu Ping Chan

Britain must stay in the European Union if it wants to retain its status as the one of world's main financial hubs, the president of Goldman Sachs has warned.

Gary Cohn said London was the only financial capital to rival New York. He added that the US investment bank wanted to keep its European headquarters in the city.

"I think for the UK it's imperative to keep the financial services industry in London," he told the BBC. "We all want to stay in London.

Read more: Goldman Sachs boss: 'imperative' that UK stays in EU - Telegraph

Inequality: 7 cities that are playgrounds for the rich and nightmares for the poor - by Aaron Cantú

Seven years after Wall Street’s near total collapse, housing markets in the world’s major cities are surging once again, driven by megadevelopers and superrich individuals flush with cash. Financial Times reports that investors spent $1.2 trillion on “high-end commercial properties in 2013,” an 80 percent increase from 2010.

The seeds of the buying boom was planted in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, when the Federal Reserve cut interest rates and pumped commercial banks with cash in exchange for toxic assets (known as quantitative easing), relieving affluent buyers of risk in global property markets.

In many of the world’s major metropolitan areas, private capital investment in real estate has become a central component of urban planning, and following market logic, these cities compete with each other for developers’ money. That means that urban planners in a global capitalist hub, like New York, will bend over backwards to accommodate developers and investors so that their money doesn’t go to London instead.

This jousting for capital in real estate is having an increasingly obvious side effect: Diverting attention from the growing ranks of the desperately poor. Ironically, in nearly all global cities where housing markets are booming, there is also a concurrent rise or entrenchment of homelessness.

Using a recent survey from Knight Frank on global property markets, we can glimpse at this grotesque urban duality. If anything, it captures the essence of our gilded age. Here’s a list of just 7 cities in the US and abroad that best illustrate this phenomenon.

Read more: 7 cities that are playgrounds for the rich and nightmares for the poor - Salon.com

EU Hi-Tech Industry: EU startup scene in bustling, vibrant shape so why can't Silicon Valley Find Europe ? - by Sten Tamkivi

Go to Europe these days – to Berlin, London, Helsinki – drop in on any of the regional tech confabs and you will quickly see that the European startup scene is in the most bustling, vibrant shape it’s ever been.

The potential is everywhere, and the energy is undeniable. Then you return Stateside, in my case to Palo Alto, and Europe isn’t just irrelevant among the tech industry power-set. It has virtually ceased to exist.

That is a mistake. Blame for the ruptured relationship lies on both sides of the Atlantic, but it is Europeans that have the power, and should have the motivation, to mend things.

I’m proud to be Estonian and European, but recently realized that very soon I will have been living in California for 10 percent of my life. I had a front-row seat to the first Internet boom as an exchange student at the super-wired Monta Vista High School in Apple’s backyard. I returned to the U.S. with some frequency initially as an executive with Skype, and later to pursue a business degree at Stanford.

My latest perch in Silicon Valley today is as an entrepreneur-in-residence with venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz.

Let me give you a small taste of the way Europe was woven into the discussion at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business. Over the course of four quarters I heard one professor make one joke about short-term macroeconomic troubles in Greece.

We also had a visit from a well-dressed and charming British banker in our private equity class. That’s it. No European startups, no cases of European success stories or failures. A joke and a banker.

Read more: Why Silicon Valley Can’t Find Europe | TechCrunch

German invasion of London begins as fans of Munich, Dortmund descend on Wembley - Joe Prince-Wright

The Germans are coming.

If you’re walking around Trafalgar Square or outside Buckingham Place this weekend, expect a few more people dressed in Lederhosens or eating Sauerkrauts than you would usually see.

But they are in London for a reason, to witness one of the worlds greatest sporting events.
At 2:45pm ET on Saturday, two bitter rivals from the Bundesliga will square off under the arch at Wembley Stadium.

Ever since Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund defeated Barcelona at Real Madrid respectively, attentions in London switched to what could be a troublesome match up.

Read more: German invasion of London begins as fans of Munich, Dortmund descend on Wembley | ProSoccerTalk