BUSINESS LIVE: Aviva buys Probitas; Value reduction of the Hipgnosis portfolio; Clarkson has record year

Companies House has been given new legal powers to tackle scammers who use other people’s addresses to fraudulently register companies.

The homes of British residents have been entered into the company register as correspondence addresses without their consent, when in reality they have no connection with the company in question.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, says about the markets this morning:

“There was a cautious mood despite Japan’s Nikkei 225 breaking new ground to trade above 40,000 points. The push to take the index to new record highs is undoubtedly a significant milestone, but whether it actually marks an end to more than three decades of stagnation remains to be seen. still under discussion.

‘One swallow does not make a summer and the fact that it has taken since 1989 for the index to claim a new record level is probably cause for some reflection rather than outright joy.

‘Later this week, the latest decision on eurozone interest rates and US employment figures could help shape the story for equities.

“Bitcoin is about to reach new heights – flirting with the $69,000 level it reached in November 2021. The launch of exchange-traded funds tracking the cryptocurrency has provided a major catalyst.”

Wizz Air saw a rise in passenger numbers last month as the low-cost carrier said load factors “continued to be impacted by reallocated Israeli capacity.”

The Hungarian airline saw the number of passengers increase by 15.8 percent year-on-year to 4.4 million in February.

Aviva will rejoin the Lloyd’s of London market after agreeing to acquire insurance syndicate Probitas for £242m.

Britain’s largest life insurer said the acquisition would help boost the growth of its capital-light general insurance business, particularly its global corporate and specialty business.

Britain has had three female prime ministers, but has yet to have a female governor of the Bank of England or the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

That could change if Labor wins the next election and Rachel Reeves becomes number 11.

Tory unrest is growing today amid signs that Jeremy Hunt will fund a 2p cut to National Insurance with increases in other taxes in the Budget.

The Chancellor and Rishi Sunak are still working to finalize the crucial Budget package, just 48 hours before it is due to be delivered.

The CBI has called for the scrapping of a ‘stealth tax’ on mileage reimbursement in Wednesday’s budget after figures showed it was causing some employees to refuse to take their cars on business trips.

Approved Mileage Allowance Payments (AMAP) allows companies to reimburse approximately two million employees for using their cars or vans for business travel, without having to pay additional taxes.

The number of reports of suspected fraud filed by banks will reach one million per year for the first time, the Mail has revealed.

Fraud is one of the reasons why individuals or companies may be forced to close their accounts, also known as ‘debanking’.

The pound at 8am was $1.2677, up from $1.2651 at the previous close.