Icetruck

The Bank of England has increased interest rates by 0.25 percentage points to 0.5% – the first rate rise since 2007.

Millions of mortgage borrowers face an increase in their monthly repayments after the decision by the Bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) but savers should see a boost.

The increase in the Bank rate was widely expected but marks a watershed moment after years of rock-bottom borrowing costs.

Governor Mark Carney said that with unemployment at a 42-year low and inflation above its 2% target, it was time "to ease our foot off the accelerator" of stimulus which has been supporting the economy.

Royal Bank of Scotland – which includes NatWest and Ulster Bank North – and TSB were among the first to confirm the hike was being passed on to some customers.

The Bank of England also signalled that it may increase rates further in the coming years.

But currency markets were unimpressed by the announcement, sending the pound more than a cent lower against the dollar to around $1.31.

The rate hike was announced alongside the Bank's Inflation Report, its quarterly assessment of the UK economy.

Detailed forecasts in the report implied rates hitting 1% by 2020, with one increase of a quarter percentage point likely next year.

The MPC was split on Thursday's decision, with seven members including governor Mark Carney voting for the increase but two – Sir Jon Cunliffe and Sir Dave Ramsden – voting to keep rates on hold.

Experts estimate eight million Britons have never seen an interest rate rise.

Policy makers cut the Bank rate to a historically low 0.5% in 2009 to try to help nurse the economy back to health at the height of the global financial crisis.

It was then cut again last summer in the aftermath of the Brexit vote, to 0.25%.

The decision to hike comes in the face of sluggish growth and warnings from some experts that it should be delayed to avoid further risking the economy.

The change in Bank rate is likely to be reflected in instant increases in floating rate mortgages and by more gradual changes of other rates, including unsecured borrowing and savings rates.

UK Finance, the trade body for Britain's lenders, says there were 9.2 million outstanding mortgage loans outstanding in June this year.

Of these, 3.7 million were on a variable rate – including tracker mortgages directly linked to the Bank rate as well as those on standard variable rates set by individual banks and building societies.

But the immediate impact of the rate hike will be less widespread than it would have been in prior years as a growing number – currently 4.4 million – were on fixed rate deals.

The Bank of England said it expected inflation – already at a five-year high of 3% – to peak at 3.2% in the coming month and for economic growth to remain subdued in the coming years.

It said stronger global growth, slightly more domestic price pressures and diminishing slack in the UK economy were the main reasons to lift rates.

Its position on Brexit has not changed: it believes it is already slowing the UK economy, and is taking into account a range of potential outcomes to the talks.

The forecasts are based on the presumption that consumers believe the talks will go smoothly.

The Bank slightly cut back its forecast for GDP growth for this year from 1.7% to 1.6%, and left the outlook for 2018 and 2019 unchanged at 1.6% and 1.7%.

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India uncles get life for raping niece, aged 10

A fast-track court in India has sentenced two men to life in prison for raping their 10-year-old niece, who gave birth to a baby girl in August.

Both men were the child's uncles. They were convicted of raping her on Tuesday.

The girl's pregnancy was discovered in mid-July when she was taken to hospital after complaining of a stomach ache.

The second uncle was arrested after the baby's DNA sample did not match that of his older brother, the first suspect.

The older uncle's trial took a month, while the younger uncle was convicted in a remarkable 18-day trial.

• The pregnant child caught in a media storm
• No abortion for 10-year-old rape victim
• Raped girl's baby 'was fathered by uncle'

The harrowing case of the 10-year-old victim has made headlines for weeks, both in India and globally.

She was 30 weeks pregnant when a local court in Chandigarh turned down her abortion plea, on the grounds that her pregnancy was too advanced. A panel of doctors had advised that a medical termination would be "too risky". Later, India's Supreme Court also refused to allow her an abortion on similar grounds.

Indian law does not allow terminations after 20 weeks unless doctors certify that the mother's life is in danger.

The girl was not aware of her pregnancy, and was told her bump was caused by a stone in her stomach, says the BBC's Geeta Pandey in Delhi. She gave birth in August and the baby was given away to child welfare authorities for adoption.

The girl initially told police and child welfare activists that she had been raped several times in the past seven months by the first uncle, who is in his 40s.

She had also testified to the court by video link and very clearly named the uncle and revealed details about her abuse.

The girl's father had told the BBC that the first uncle had not denied the charges against him. Police also said he had admitted to the allegations.

But after his DNA test results did not link him to the baby, police began searching for more suspects – and arrested the second uncle in September. A DNA test confirmed that he was the baby's father.

India's courts have received several petitions in recent months, many from child rape survivors, seeking permission for abortions.

In most cases, their pregnancies are discovered late because the children themselves are not aware of their condition.

In September, a 13-year-old girl was given court permission to terminate her pregnancy at 32 weeks. The boy she was carrying was born alive in Mumbai but died two days later.

In May, a similar case was reported from the northern state of Haryana where a 10-year-old, allegedly raped by her stepfather, was allowed to abort. She was about 20 weeks pregnant, doctors said.

None of the girls can be named for legal reasons.

The scale of abuse in India

• A child under 16 is raped every 155 minutes, a child under 10 every 13 hours
• More than 10,000 children were raped in 2015
• 240 million women living in India were married before they turned 18
• 53.22% of children who participated in a government study reported some form of sexual abuse
• 50% of abusers are known to the child or are "persons in trust and care-givers"

Sources: Indian government, Unicef

Source – bbc.com

Health care enrollment counselors facing stiff challenges

It's not easy being an advocate for the Affordable Care Act right now.

Health care advocacy groups are making an against-all-odds effort to sign people up despite confusion and hostility fostered by Republicans opposed to President Barack Obama's signature domestic policy achievement.

The Trump administration has taken numerous steps to undermine the law, and many states are doing little to promote coverage as health insurance open enrollment begins this week. Health care advocates are particularly concerned about people in Republican-led states with hundreds of thousands of uninsured residents, like Florida, Texas and Georgia.

Many of these groups are scrambling to fill in the gaps and combat misinformation, helping people decide which insurance policies are best for them and encouraging them to act quickly during the tight enrollment period of Nov. 1 through Dec. 15.

A coalition of nonprofits in Kansas' largest county paid $66,000 for a television commercial airing 500 times in the coming weeks and created fliers dispelling myths about the law. They're being sent home in the backpacks of 20,000 students, and distributed with utility bills to another 8,000 residents. They also hired 12 new enrollment counselors, up from their usual four.

"We knew that we needed to band together," said Molly Moffett of the Community Health Council of Wyandotte County.

President Donald Trump repeatedly claims that the Affordable Care Act is in a death spiral, and has withdrawn support for it in many ways, fostering turmoil that has prompted many insurers to drop out or raise rates by double digits. The consulting firm Avalere Health predicted that individual plans bought through the health insurance marketplaces will rise an average of 34 percent nationwide.

Now that it's time to enroll again, his administration has slashed marketing budgets completely in some areas, and shortened the sign-up period from 12 weeks to six. Across the country, Trump cut spending on health care counselors, or navigators, by roughly 40 percent, from $62.5 million to $36.8 million, and reduced advertising from $100 million spent last year to $10 million, according to federal health officials.

Almost every state will feel the spikes at a time when enticing consumers to sign up for coverage has never been harder.

In Florida, where premiums are expected to rise 49 percent, the Epilepsy Foundation of Florida is hosting a handful of house parties during which navigators will assist with sign-ups.

Victor Rodriguez said during a phone-banking session in Miami that he recently began getting insurance through disability, but he's planning to re-enroll his wife through the federal marketplace.

"I'm concerned that (the law) is going to go away or the premiums are going to be very high and we are going to be priced out," he said.

In Ohio, the largest state navigator group shuttered its program after losing nearly 88 percent of its funding, dropping from $1.7 million to $486,000. The group helped sign-up about 10,000 residents last year, said Lisa Hamler-Fugitt, executive director Ohio Association of Food Banks.

It was similar in Iowa, where Planned Parenthood of the Heartland in Des Moines dropped out after its funding went from more than $304,000 last year to $45,000.

Shelli Quenga leads South Carolina's navigator program under the Palmetto Project, which previously served all 46 counties in the state. This year, her group will be in only the most densely populated areas after losing nearly half its funding. Rural areas will feel the brunt.

"You have so much land to cover and not very much money to do it," said Quenga. "Our state is mostly rural, so that means traveling great distances between small numbers of people, and it's just not cost-effective to do that when you also only have six weeks."

Enrollment groups warn the cuts will have real-life consequences when people miss the opportunity to get the right insurance for them.

Health policy experts and insurers also worry the cuts and misinformation could disrupt the market's delicate balance — meaning more sick people will sign up because they need insurance the most, while those who are younger and healthier (and wait longer to sign up) will stay away.

One group that targets this crowd, Young Invincibles, has beefed up social media efforts around the county and has had a surge of volunteers.

"That lack of awareness and confusion over what's available has kind of tripled and become so much more difficult this year because of all the repeal efforts in Congress," said Erin Hemlin, a director with Young Invincibles.

Alaska is one of the few states offering good news for consumers: a drop in premiums. But a 25 percent budget cut meant the Alaska Primary Care Association had to cut its marketing program. A coalition of local groups stepped in to pick up some of the slack.

In Texas, where premiums are rising an average of 23 percent and many counties only have one or two providers, local health officials fear the price spike and lack of competition will turn consumers away.

"When you are sitting with a family of four below 125 percent of the federal poverty level and they look at you in the eye and say, 'Do I buy food for my kids tonight or do I pay a premium,' it's heartbreaking to see," said Daniel Bouton, a director at the Community Council of Greater Dallas.

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Associated Press writer Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.

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Follow Kelli Kennedy at https://twitter.com/kkennedyAP

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Source – abcnews.go.com

SEC warns famous crypto-currency backers

Celebrities, sports figures and social media stars have been warned by US regulators about endorsing crypto-currencies.

Paris Hilton, boxer Floyd Mayweather and others have all publicly backed digital currency funding drives.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said the endorsements could break laws on selling securities.

Those promoting crypto-currencies must say if they are being paid for the endorsement, it said.

Cash caution

In its official warning, the SEC pointed to the growing numbers of public figures who have talked about the funding drives, known as Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs), that crypto-currencies run to raise cash.

About 270 separate crypto-cash start-ups have sought funds via ICOs in 2017, said the New York Times. In total, the ICOs have raised more than $3bn (£2.27bn), it said.

The SEC said any virtual coins or tokens bought by investors through an ICO were subject to the same laws governing the sale of stocks and shares sold via mainstream stock markets.

These laws require anyone backing a security to disclose their relationship with the company offering the investment opportunity.

"A failure to disclose this information is a violation of the anti-touting provisions of the federal securities laws," it said, adding that keeping quiet about any financial arrangement could be considered fraudulent.

It said it was keeping an eye on people who promote the crypto-currencies to ensure laws were not broken.

In a separate but related bulletin, the SEC cautioned against following the investment advice of any public figure.

"It is never a good idea to make an investment decision just because someone famous says a product or service is a good investment," it said.

It encouraged investors to do their own research into potential money-making schemes and not rely on paid endorsements, it said.

Regulators in Switzerland, Britain and Malaysia have also issued warnings about the risks associated with ICOs. Financial watchdogs in China and South Korea have gone further and banned them altogether.

Source – bbc.com

Impossible as it may be to believe, the biggest event in markets today was not the Bank of England's decision to raise interest rates for the first time since July 2007.

It was, in fact, the appointment of a new chairman of the board of governors of the US Federal Reserve – the world's most important central bank.

President Trump confirmed on Thursday evening that he was nominating Jerome 'Jay' Powell as successor to Janet Yellen, who has held the post since early 2014.

At a White House news conference, he described Powell as a "consensus builder for sound monetary policy" and said he understands what it takes to make the economy grow.

As it happened, while sterling fell sharply against the dollar following the UK's interest rate decision, the markets barely moved when the appointment was confirmed. That was probably because Powell's nomination was leaked 24-hours earlier.

The move marks a break with recent tradition as Ms Yellen's three immediate predecessors were all reappointed for a second four year term by presidents from the opposite party to the one that put them in office.

Ronald Reagan kept faith with Paul Volcker, who had been appointed by Jimmy Carter; Bill Clinton reappointed Alan Greenspan, who had been appointed by Mr Reagan and reappointed by George HW Bush; while Barack Obama reappointed Ben Bernanke, who was appointed by George W Bush.

So Ms Yellen, the 15th holder of the post, will be disappointed not to have been nominated for a second four-year term.

On Wednesday, Mr Trump described her as "excellent", having indicated during the US presidential election campaign that he intended to replace her.

Her performance at the Fed is generally regarded as having been a solid one.

While the US economy has ticked over during her tenure, rather than enjoyed explosive growth, unemployment has fallen steadily on her watch.

Moreover, she has been able to preside over a return to what might be regarded as "normal" conditions, having raised interest rates four times from the effective rate of zero to which they had fallen under her predecessor, Ben Bernanke, following the global financial crisis.

She also brought to an end the Fed's asset purchases – Quantitative Easing in the jargon – put in place to stimulate economic growth after the crisis and, more recently, began to unwind that $4.2tn worth of purchases.

There has been no recession during Ms Yellen's term of office, something her three immediate predecessors – Mr Bernanke, Mr Greenspan and Mr Volcker – cannot claim, although the latter two were in office for a considerably longer period.

Yet there has been a mood for change, which is why, Ms Yellen is the first Fed chairman not to be reappointed for a second four year term since Jimmy Carter replaced G William Miller – the man blamed for the inflationary upsurge in the late 1970s that eventually helped tip Mr Carter from office – in August 1979.

Many leading Republicans, in particular, believe the Fed – via its balance sheet expansion – has strayed into policy-making areas that should, by rights, be left to the politicians.

Under Ms Yellen's watch, also, US inflation has remained stubbornly below the 2% rate the Fed is supposed to target.

While Mr Powell is clearly a change of personnel, he at least represents continuity, since he has been on the Fed's board of governors for the last five years and his views on policy decisions have been broadly in line with those of Ms Yellen.

He represents a less marked break with her era than John Taylor or Kevin Warsh, the two other front-runners to succeed Ms Yellen, and he is expected to continue with her policy prescription of gradually unwinding QE while raising interest rates gently.

Mr Powell, 64, comes from more of a business background than either Ms Yellen or Mr Bernanke, both of whom were academic economists.

His degree is in law – some may see it as ominous that he is the first Fed chairman since the disastrous Mr Miller not to have an economics degree – and, although he worked in the US Treasury department during George H W Bush's presidency, he was employed at Carlyle Group, the US private equity giant, from 1997 to 2005.

That is not to say he lacks expertise in regulatory and related matters. During his time at the US Treasury, he was involved in a number of banking rescues, as well as bringing to book a number of miscreants when Salomon Brothers, a leading Wall Street bank, was accused of rigging auctions for US Treasury bonds.

Crucially, while he has supported the policies over which Ms Yellen presided, father-of-three Mr Powell's Republican background may help negate some of the criticism that she regularly received from Capitol Hill.

His appointment, then, will represent change – but not too radical change.

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Source – News.sky.com

Impossible as it may be to believe, the biggest event in markets today is not the Bank of England's decision to raise interest rates for the first time since July 2007.

It is the appointment of a new chairman of the board of governors of the US Federal Reserve – the world's most important central bank – and it is that appointment to which certainly the bond and currency markets will be looking most closely today.

President Trump is widely expected to name Jerome 'Jay' Powell this afternoon as successor to Janet Yellen, who has held the post since early 2014.

The move will mark a break with recent tradition as Ms Yellen's three immediate predecessors were all reappointed for a second four year term by presidents from the opposite party to the one that put them in office.

Ronald Reagan kept faith with Paul Volcker, who had been appointed by Jimmy Carter; Bill Clinton reappointed Alan Greenspan, who had been appointed by Mr Reagan and reappointed by George HW Bush; while Barack Obama reappointed Ben Bernanke, who was appointed by George W Bush.

So Ms Yellen, the 15th holder of the post, will be disappointed not to have been nominated for a second four-year term.

On Wednesday, Mr Trump described her as "excellent", having indicated during the US presidential election campaign that he intended to replace her.

Her performance at the Fed is generally regarded as having been a solid one.

While the US economy has ticked over during her tenure, rather than enjoyed explosive growth, unemployment has fallen steadily on her watch.

Moreover, she has been able to preside over a return to what might be regarded as "normal" conditions, having raised interest rates four times from the effective rate of zero to which they had fallen under her predecessor, Ben Bernanke, following the global financial crisis.

She also brought to an end the Fed's asset purchases – Quantitative Easing in the jargon – put in place to stimulate economic growth after the crisis and, more recently, began to unwind that $4.2tn worth of purchases.

There has been no recession during Ms Yellen's term of office, something her three immediate predecessors – Mr Bernanke, Mr Greenspan and Mr Volcker – cannot claim, although the latter two were in office for a considerably longer period.

Yet there has been a mood for change, which is why, Ms Yellen is the first Fed chairman not to be reappointed for a second four year term since Jimmy Carter replaced G William Miller – the man blamed for the inflationary upsurge in the late 1970s that eventually helped tip Mr Carter from office – in August 1979.

Many leading Republicans, in particular, believe the Fed – via its balance sheet expansion – has strayed into policy-making areas that should, by rights, be left to the politicians.

Under Ms Yellen's watch, also, US inflation has remained stubbornly below the 2% rate the Fed is supposed to target.

While Mr Powell is clearly a change of personnel, he at least represents continuity, since he has been on the Fed's board of governors for the last five years and his views on policy decisions have been broadly in line with those of Ms Yellen.

He represents a less marked break with her era than John Taylor or Kevin Warsh, the two other front-runners to succeed Ms Yellen, and he is expected to continue with her policy prescription of gradually unwinding QE while raising interest rates gently.

Mr Powell, 64, comes from more of a business background than either Ms Yellen or Mr Bernanke, both of whom were academic economists.

His degree is in law – some may see it as ominous that he is the first Fed chairman since the disastrous Mr Miller not to have an economics degree – and, although he worked in the US Treasury department during George H W Bush's presidency, he was employed at Carlyle Group, the US private equity giant, from 1997 to 2005.

That is not to say he lacks expertise in regulatory and related matters. During his time at the US Treasury, he was involved in a number of banking rescues, as well as bringing to book a number of miscreants when Salomon Brothers, a leading Wall Street bank, was accused of rigging auctions for US Treasury bonds.

Crucially, while he has supported the policies over which Ms Yellen presided, father-of-three Mr Powell's Republican background may help negate some of the criticism that she regularly received from Capitol Hill.

His appointment, then, will represent change – but not too radical change.

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Source – News.sky.com

Pope Francis recalls cost of war with WWII site visits

Pope Francis called war "the destruction of ourselves" during visits Thursday to an American military cemetery and the site of a Nazi massacre in Rome as he marked the Catholic All Souls' Day commemorating the dead.

Francis laid flowers on 10 graves among the 7,680 American war dead buried in the Sicily-Rome American Cemetery, which also commemorates a further 3,095 who went missing in campaigns to liberate southern and central Italy from Sicily north to Rome during World War II.

Francis urged that the sight of the arcs of white headstones would stand as a call for peace, saying "no more war, no more of these useless massacres."

The pope said that humanity hasn't learned, or hasn't wanted to learn, the lessons of war.

"How often in history, when men think of making war, they are convinced of bringing a new world, they are convinced that they are making spring. It ends in winter; ugly, cruel, a reign of terror, of death," the pope said.

Calling for prayers for all the dead, the pope made special mention of those "who are dying in the battle every day," referring again to what he has called "a war of pieces," referring to the many eruptions of violence and attacks around the globe.

The pope has a second stop planned at the Ardeatine Caves, the site of one of the worst massacres of Nazi-occupied Rome.

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Source – abcnews.go.com

Hunter kills bear that had been moved at governor's request

A hunter in Canada killed one of three young bears that were relocated to northern New Hampshire after the governor stepped in to save their lives.

The state's Fish and Game department had planned to euthanize the black bears and their mother in May after repeated problems with them feasting on trash and bird feeders culminated with two of them entering a home near Dartmouth College. Several children were in the home at the time, but no one was injured.

Officials argued the plan was necessary because the animals were no longer afraid of humans, and would likely find new neighborhoods to frequent if moved. But Gov. Chris Sununu, a first-term Republican, instead ordered them relocated after public outcry.

Andrew Timmins, the state's bear project leader, said he got a call from the hunter in Quebec on June 17, about three weeks after the three juvenile bears were trapped in Hanover, tagged and moved. He received confirmation from his Canadian counterpart on Wednesday that the bear had traveled into Canada and was killed as part of the country's spring bear hunt season.

"I wasn't surprised in the least," Timmins told The Associated Press.

The bear's death was first reported by the Valley News.

Timmins said he also wouldn't be surprised if the other two yearlings meet the same fate, though that may never be known because some hunters engage in what he called "shoot, shovel, shut up" and don't report their take.

"The fact that all three didn't immediately become issues somewhere suggest that moving them was at least worth the attempt, but I don't want people to automatically assume that not hearing anything means success," he said. "Quebec, Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, all have fall bear seasons right now. They could get taken this fall, but maybe they integrated into the wild and it was worthwhile. Time will tell."

New Hampshire has roughly 6,100 bears, and a record 898 were killed in last year's hunt. The problems with bears foraging for food in residential areas in Hanover are years in the making, Timmins said, but the situation has improved after town officials repeatedly visited problem properties and asked residents to secure their garbage and remove bird feeders that attract the animals.

The mother bear wasn't trapped because she left Hanover to mate. But Timmins said she returned to the area in late August, and the state plans to trap and move her if she returns again with new cubs in the spring.

"Our decision to destroy them wasn't because that's what we like to do. Some would say that's the easy way out, just destroy them," said Timmins. "But with some of these animals, you put them through less stress and hardship by making that decision … We simply have not had a lot of luck moving bears we consider habituated."

A spokesman for Sununu did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.

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Source – abcnews.go.com

National prosecutors group pressing FCC on prison cellphones

A group of national prosecutors is pressing federal regulators to find a solution to the dangers they say are posed by inmates' access to illegal cellphones inside prisons, adding their voices to others adamant that a technological fix is needed to shut down the dangerous devices.

In a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai, National District Attorneys Association President Michael Freeman writes his members have seen effects of inmates' use of cellphones, such as witness intimidation and harassment.

"The numbers appear to keep rising at the expense of public safety," Freeman wrote, noting that 13,000 cellphones were confiscated in Georgia's prisons in 2014. "As Chairman, you have also expressed the desire for the FCC to further address this issue, and we strongly encourage you to do so as soon as possible."

The letter, which is dated October 27, was obtained Thursday by The Associated Press. It's the latest in growing calls for the FCC to do something to quell the problems caused by the phones, which corrections officials say allow inmates to continue their criminal enterprises behind bars and even plot acts of violence against the officers who guard them and people outside prison.

South Carolina prisons director Bryan Stirling has been among the most vocal in the country in speaking out about how dangerous the phones, thrown over fences, smuggled by employees — even delivered by drone — can be in the hands of prisoners. Last year, he took Pai on a tour of a South Carolina prison to show him firsthand the benefit of technologies such as jamming, which renders cell signals useless.

Stirling, who says the phones present the biggest threat to prison security, has been exploring technological solutions to shut down smuggled phones. But he and other directors have been hampered by a decades-old law that says federal officials may grant permission to jam the public airwaves only to federal agencies, but not state or local ones.

Telecommunications companies are opposed, saying jamming cell signals could set a bad precedent and interfere with legal cell users nearby.

Pai has signaled willingness to work on the issue. In March, after Pai took testimony from Stirling and a former South Carolina corrections officer who was nearly killed in an assassination attempt orchestrated by an inmate using an illegal phone, commissioners voted 3-0 to approve rules to streamline the process for using technology to detect and block contraband phones in prisons and jails across the country.

Facing mounting pressure from directors like Stirling, as well as U.S. Justice Department officials and members of Congress, Pai has said he'll arrange a meeting with corrections officials, telecom companies and the FBI, reporting progress back to Congress.

"I share your concerns about the proliferation of contraband wireless devices in prisons and the potentially devastating implications for public safety," Pai wrote last month in a letter to U.S. Rep. David Kustoff of Tennessee. "We continue our efforts to push for even better procedures and solutions for this very serious problem."

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Kinnard can be reached at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP. Read more of her work at https://apnews.com/search/meg%20kinnard

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Source – abcnews.go.com

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor

The City regulator has launched an inquiry into the London-listed technology company Telit Communications, weeks after its chief executive departed amid doubts about his true identity.

Sky News has learnt that the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has begun making inquiries into events at Telit, which makes products enabling access to the Internet of Things (IoT).

Details of the FCA's investigation remained vague on Thursday, although it is expected to include examining the timing and disclosures relating to a share sale in May by Oozi Cats, the former chief executive.

That sale was carried out by Berenberg, the investment bank which is joint broker to Telit.

Subsequent share transactions are also understood to be attracting the scrutiny of regulators.

Finncap, which acts as Telit's nominated adviser – a required role for companies listed on London's junior Aim stock market – and joint broker, was appointed to those roles in August, two days before Telit's board hired lawyers to investigate a previously undisclosed indictment against Mr Cats in the US.

Sources said that the FCA, which has responsibility for the UK Listing Authority, had notified both Telit and Finncap of its probe, although they added that it was "at a very early stage".

The technology group has seen its shares slide by a third over the last 12 months as it has struggled to reassure investors about the health of its finances.

Mr Cats had originally been placed on leave by Telit amid suggestions of links between him and a US fugitive by the name of Uzi Katz who was accused of wire fraud in Boston in 1992.

Telit, whose clients include Tesla, the electric car manufacturer, is now searching for a permanent replacement for Mr Cats and several independent non-executive drectors.

Sources said that a string of candidates approached to join the board had turned down the opportunity on account of the uncertainty about its future.

Telit has begun exploring a sale of parts of its business which it regards as not core to its long-term future, including its automotive division.

Telit, the FCA and Finncap all declined to comment.

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Source – News.sky.com