Nearly 80% of employers pay men more than women, UK data shows Business

Switzerland’s financial regulator has called for more power to punish and name and shame banks that break the rules, following the near-collapse of the country’s second-biggest bank, Credit Suisse, and its rescue by UBS.

Marlene Amstad, president of the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA), told reporters.

Our tools reach their limits in extreme cases, as seen in the case of Credit Suisse.

Finland has no power to fine. It is an exception when compared to other controllers.

He said most of the watchdog’s investigations into banks had to remain secret to protect stability, adding that this needed to change.

Back to the UK gender pay gap.

Banks HSBC:, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and: Standard Chartered According to a Reuters analysis, the gap between men’s and women’s salaries has widened in 2022.

At the banks that disclosed their pay gap by ethnicity, the gap was greatest between black staff and their white counterparts.

Businesses with more than 250 employees in Britain must disclose the difference in regular pay and bonuses between male and female staff. The deadline was yesterday, until April 2022.

HSBC:One of Britain’s worst gender pay banks reports that women are paid an average of 45.2% less than men. This was up from 44.9% last year.

The British arm of a US investment bank Goldman Sachs reported a gender pay gap of 53.2%, the largest among large financial employers and up from 51.3%.

Morgan Stanley’s UK business had a slightly wider gap of 40.8%, up from 40.5%, while Standard Chartered’s gender pay gap rose from 27% to 29%.

All four banks said the figures reflected the underrepresentation of women in senior roles, and said they were taking steps to address the issue.

Richard GnodeThe CEO of Goldman Sachs International wrote to the staff yesterday.

I assure you that we intend to change this, but of course it takes time.

In better news, most other major financial firms have made some progress in closing their gender pay gaps.

The average for the 20 largest employers fell to 30.1% in 2022 from 31.7% last year, but still remains well above the average for all UK employers of 8.3%.

Factory orders in Germany rose 4.8 percent in February from January, up from a 0.5 percent increase in January. Orders were still down almost 6% year over year. Industrial orders have rebounded in recent months after falling since last summer.

Carsten BrzeskiThe global head of ING’s macro department said:

Industrial orders have now risen sharply since November, brightening the outlook for German industry. However, the US slowdown and the long-term effects of the recent financial turmoil, as well as the broader impact of monetary tightening, could still spoil the party.

This strong industrial orders data supports recent optimism in German industry. Interestingly, production expectations had only just begun to moderate after initial excitement over the Chinese reopening at the start of the year.

Looking ahead, the outlook for German industry has clearly improved, even if the high inventory build-up since last summer is still likely to weigh on output in the short term. Beyond the short term, however, the question will be whether today’s boost in new orders is the start of an industrial revival or the expected slowdown in the US economy, the fallout from recent financial market turmoil and the broader impact of monetary tightening. spoil the party again.

Good morning and welcome to our current coverage of business, financial markets and the global economy.

Almost two-fifths of UK employers pay men more than women on average, showing a worse picture since companies were first forced to report their gender pay gap six years ago, despite a push for more equality.

An analysis of this year’s data by the Financial Times shows that 79.5% of employers paid their male employees more than their female colleagues, which is more than last year and six years ago.

You can view companies’ gender pay reports here. More on this later.

In other news. New car sales in the UK rose for the eighth consecutive month in Marchup 17% from a year earlier, though sales remain below pre-pandemic levels, according to preliminary industry data.

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) says this is the biggest month ever for electric vehicle battery registrations. More details will be released at 9am.

Asian stock markets struggledJapan’s Nikkei fell 1.6% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.66%. Other markets such as Shanghai, Singapore and South Korea’s Kospi posted modest gains. US stocks fell on Wall Street yesterday after data showed US job openings fell to their lowest level in nearly two years in February.

Asian markets also retreated after The Reserve of New Zealand unexpectedly raised interest rates by 50 basis points instead of the widely expected 25 basis points. Other central banks appear to be considering slowing or even stopping their rate hikes.

The agenda

• 8.15 BST. Spain S&P Global Composite PMI for March

• 8.45 BST. Italy S&P Global Composite PMI for March

• 8.50 BST. France S&P Global Composite PMI final for March

• 8.55 BST. German S&P Global Composite PMI Final for March

• 9:00am BST. UK new car sales for March

• 9:00am BST. Eurozone S&P Global Composite PMI final for March

• 9am BST UBS annual meeting in Basel

• 9.30 BST. UK S&P Global/CIPS Composite PMI final for March (forecast: 52.8)

• 13.30 BST. US trade for February

• 15:00 BST. US ISM non-manufacturing PMI for March