Thursday newspaper round-up: Bitcoin, KPMG, SSP
The governor of the Bank of England has called EU demands for City banks to comply with Brussels regulations unacceptable, in a combative speech backing the government’s hardline stance in the next round of Brexit talks. Andrew Bailey said the UK should refuse to allow Brussels to restrict how the UK industry develops and look instead to global financial regulators as the main rule makers. - Guardian
KPMG has confirmed that its chairman is stepping aside after the accounting giant launched an investigation into controversial comments he made to staff in a virtual meeting this week. Bill Michael, who took over as chairman in 2017, told staff on Monday to “stop moaning” about the pandemic and the impact of lockdown on people’s lives, adding that they should stop “playing the victim card”. - Guardian
Silicon Valley's love affair with Bitcoin stepped up a gear on Wednesday after Twitter said it could follow Tesla's lead with a major investment in the digital currency. Twitter's finance chief Ned Segal said the firm is watching Tesla's move closely and had long considered buying Bitcoin. - Telegraph
The airport and railway caterer behind Upper Crust and Camden Food Co is considering tapping its shareholders for up to £500 million amid continuing turmoil in the travel market. SSP Group, which raised £216 million of equity in March, said last night that it had made no decision about a fundraising but given the “significant uncertainty” around Covid it “continues to evaluate a range of funding options, both debt and equity, that would further strengthen its balance sheet”. - The Times
Robert Jenrick is facing growing opposition from high street businesses over government plans to allow town centres to be converted into housing without planning permission. Business organisations representing 27 different professions and traders including booksellers, butchers, cinema operators and cycle traders have written to the housing secretary urging him to reconsider the policy. - The Times