Britain’s City regulator was urged on Monday by Labour to investigate whether leaks of the mini-Budget allowed hedge fund managers to make huge profits by shorting the Pound.
Shadow City minister Tulip Siddiq called for the probe by the Financial Conduct Authority amid reports that some hedge fund bosses had made “small fortunes” by betting that Sterling would fall after Chancellor’s Kwasi Kwarteng’s radical fiscal statement on Friday.
It also appeared that his plan to cut the 45p rate of Income Tax had leaked in advance of his mini-Budget.
One highly-respected economist said he had “got wind of” the abolition of this top rate of tax a couple of days before it was announced.
However, his revelation raised questions over whether this apparent leak, or others, may have reached the City before Friday.
Ms Siddiq told The Standard “The Financial Conduct Authority should investigate any potential wrongdoing, to determine whether it is possible that any leaks or information provided by this Conservative Government to their wealthy friends contributed to the collapse of the Pound.
“A weaker Pound means that imports such as food and energy will become even more expensive, at time when inflation and the cost-of-living crisis is already spiralling out of control.”
She spoke out after a report in The Sunday Times of a dinner about a week before the mini-Budget of hedge fund managers, who allegedly backed the Government, and were shorting the Pound, with a number of them said to have made a “small fortunes” betting against Sterling.
The Pound on Monday slumped to its lowest level against the Dollar since decimalisation in 1971, after the Chancellor hinted more tax cuts would follow those he announced last week.
Sterling fell by more than four per cent to just 1.0327 Dollars in early Asia trade before it regained some ground to about 1.06 dollars early on Monday, when the Euro also hit a fresh 20-year low amid recession and energy security fears.
Kwasi Kwarteng has previously brushed off questions about the markets’ reaction to his mini-budget – which outlined the biggest programme of tax cuts for 50 years – after it was announced on Friday using more than £70 billion of increased borrowing.
Mr Kwarteng on Sunday claimed the cuts “favour people right across the income scale” amid accusations they mainly help the rich.
He and Prime Minister Liz Truss have defended the package, despite analysis suggesting the measures will see only the incomes of the wealthiest households grow while most people will be worse off.
Tories are going to ride the disaster economics they create to line the pockets of their donors – what is new?
You only needed eyes and ears to predict this one, in this case the leak is the Tory government announcing their plans.
In a saner country kwasi and other cronies who have histories with hedge funds and basically just shorted our country and economy to make themselves more money would be prosecuted and maybe jailed. In this country it’ll just be ignored by the electorate. Maybe the daily mail will post a few stories about benefit scrounges or immigrants stealing all our cash to remind us who the real enemy is.
If this is true the tory government have broken the law – and not even for the first time this parliament.
There’s been several leaks from within the government over the past year or so, was only a matter of time before something substantial got leaked like this.
Are we going to investigate now? Or leave it like we have the other times
It’s clear that Kwarteng dropped a line to his friends at Odey before this.
Cunts, the lot of them
They’re deliberately fucking this country up as much as possible because they don’t expect to win the next GE.
They can then spend 4 years complaining about how everything is Labour’s fault, convince the plebs to vote for them again, get back in power, and spend 20 more years blaming everything on the 2025 Labour government.
**Another smash and grab**. Just like the international act of self harm that is Brexit and just like the many corrupt COVID contracts. Why is it always those who call themselves patriots and accuse others of talking Britain down are the same ones supporting those who are making millions shorting(betting against) the pound? Handing enormous contracts to their chums, scandal after scandal after scandal. NHS and all public services on their knees after 12 years of scandalous corruption and sheer incompetence.
There are two types of tory voters in the UK, millionaires… and morons. Check your bank balance to figure out which one you are.
The rich get richer. Fuck everyone else.
There is going to be a reckoning at the next GE.
Truss leadership campaign funded by American donors.
Truss appoints ex-Odey worker (asset management company) as Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Ex-Odey worker unveils “mini-budget” which sees £GBP fall to a historic low against the $USD.
Odey makes bank by shorting £GBP.
How is it that someone has come in after Boris Johnson that is even WORSE. The worst part is we are genuinely helpless against stopping it, the economy is going to go to shit and if we thought that the UK was being stripped and sold off badly before, I fear this is the start of something much worse.
Kwarteng was on the payroll of hedgefunds prior to becoming chancellor.
Some hedge funds always short currency before every budget because it’s likely to dip regardless owing to uncertainty. Always a gamble, but someone’s going to take it, this time it just paid off more than usual because we’ve got the most inept gov we’ve had in my lifetime.
Not everything is a massive conspiracy.
I wouldn’t be surprised if this were true.
That said I think betting against the pound was always going to be on the cards just before this budget announcement. There were enough mutterings in the press about tax cuts and fairly clear that they would benefit the wealthy more, rather than circulating back into the UK economy.
Seen people on twitter try to claim that there is no way in hell that the Tories could possibly have crashed the pound to help their hedge fund pals
shut up keir and find a policy more interesting than “slightly reducing the worst excesses of the most recent tory policy”
the only leak here was truss getting elected by tory members
While I do think he definitely gave his mates a heads up on the budget, “we shortened the pound because they Government are an absolute disaster” is certainly a valid defence.
Why are “hedge funds” even (still) a thing? Shares sure, investments fine. hedge funds? Fuck off!
I it still a leak when policy is written by & for those who benefited?
100% did, I have no proof, I have heard nothing about it except this post but yet I know 100% someone in the financial sector made money from insider information being touted about….. How do I know? Because that’s just what they do.
Do you really expect good economic plans from a guy whose name sounds like a Harry Potter spell that causes Chlamydia?
Is this can be proven then heads need to roll across the board.
Personally myself I would hsve shorted the £ just based 9n Liz winning, everybody knew exactly what she was going to do to the economy.
Labour needs to look at itself to be honest as it’s as corrupt as the Tories .
22 comments
Britain’s City regulator was urged on Monday by Labour to investigate whether leaks of the mini-Budget allowed hedge fund managers to make huge profits by shorting the Pound.
Shadow City minister Tulip Siddiq called for the probe by the Financial Conduct Authority amid reports that some hedge fund bosses had made “small fortunes” by betting that Sterling would fall after Chancellor’s Kwasi Kwarteng’s radical fiscal statement on Friday.
It also appeared that his plan to cut the 45p rate of Income Tax had leaked in advance of his mini-Budget.
One highly-respected economist said he had “got wind of” the abolition of this top rate of tax a couple of days before it was announced.
However, his revelation raised questions over whether this apparent leak, or others, may have reached the City before Friday.
Ms Siddiq told The Standard “The Financial Conduct Authority should investigate any potential wrongdoing, to determine whether it is possible that any leaks or information provided by this Conservative Government to their wealthy friends contributed to the collapse of the Pound.
“A weaker Pound means that imports such as food and energy will become even more expensive, at time when inflation and the cost-of-living crisis is already spiralling out of control.”
She spoke out after a report in The Sunday Times of a dinner about a week before the mini-Budget of hedge fund managers, who allegedly backed the Government, and were shorting the Pound, with a number of them said to have made a “small fortunes” betting against Sterling.
The Pound on Monday slumped to its lowest level against the Dollar since decimalisation in 1971, after the Chancellor hinted more tax cuts would follow those he announced last week.
Sterling fell by more than four per cent to just 1.0327 Dollars in early Asia trade before it regained some ground to about 1.06 dollars early on Monday, when the Euro also hit a fresh 20-year low amid recession and energy security fears.
Kwasi Kwarteng has previously brushed off questions about the markets’ reaction to his mini-budget – which outlined the biggest programme of tax cuts for 50 years – after it was announced on Friday using more than £70 billion of increased borrowing.
Mr Kwarteng on Sunday claimed the cuts “favour people right across the income scale” amid accusations they mainly help the rich.
He and Prime Minister Liz Truss have defended the package, despite analysis suggesting the measures will see only the incomes of the wealthiest households grow while most people will be worse off.
Tories are going to ride the disaster economics they create to line the pockets of their donors – what is new?
You only needed eyes and ears to predict this one, in this case the leak is the Tory government announcing their plans.
In a saner country kwasi and other cronies who have histories with hedge funds and basically just shorted our country and economy to make themselves more money would be prosecuted and maybe jailed. In this country it’ll just be ignored by the electorate. Maybe the daily mail will post a few stories about benefit scrounges or immigrants stealing all our cash to remind us who the real enemy is.
If this is true the tory government have broken the law – and not even for the first time this parliament.
There’s been several leaks from within the government over the past year or so, was only a matter of time before something substantial got leaked like this.
Are we going to investigate now? Or leave it like we have the other times
It’s clear that Kwarteng dropped a line to his friends at Odey before this.
Cunts, the lot of them
They’re deliberately fucking this country up as much as possible because they don’t expect to win the next GE.
They can then spend 4 years complaining about how everything is Labour’s fault, convince the plebs to vote for them again, get back in power, and spend 20 more years blaming everything on the 2025 Labour government.
**Another smash and grab**. Just like the international act of self harm that is Brexit and just like the many corrupt COVID contracts. Why is it always those who call themselves patriots and accuse others of talking Britain down are the same ones supporting those who are making millions shorting(betting against) the pound? Handing enormous contracts to their chums, scandal after scandal after scandal. NHS and all public services on their knees after 12 years of scandalous corruption and sheer incompetence.
There are two types of tory voters in the UK, millionaires… and morons. Check your bank balance to figure out which one you are.
The rich get richer. Fuck everyone else.
There is going to be a reckoning at the next GE.
Truss leadership campaign funded by American donors.
Truss appoints ex-Odey worker (asset management company) as Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Ex-Odey worker unveils “mini-budget” which sees £GBP fall to a historic low against the $USD.
Odey makes bank by shorting £GBP.
How is it that someone has come in after Boris Johnson that is even WORSE. The worst part is we are genuinely helpless against stopping it, the economy is going to go to shit and if we thought that the UK was being stripped and sold off badly before, I fear this is the start of something much worse.
Kwarteng was on the payroll of hedgefunds prior to becoming chancellor.
Some hedge funds always short currency before every budget because it’s likely to dip regardless owing to uncertainty. Always a gamble, but someone’s going to take it, this time it just paid off more than usual because we’ve got the most inept gov we’ve had in my lifetime.
Not everything is a massive conspiracy.
I wouldn’t be surprised if this were true.
That said I think betting against the pound was always going to be on the cards just before this budget announcement. There were enough mutterings in the press about tax cuts and fairly clear that they would benefit the wealthy more, rather than circulating back into the UK economy.
Seen people on twitter try to claim that there is no way in hell that the Tories could possibly have crashed the pound to help their hedge fund pals
shut up keir and find a policy more interesting than “slightly reducing the worst excesses of the most recent tory policy”
the only leak here was truss getting elected by tory members
While I do think he definitely gave his mates a heads up on the budget, “we shortened the pound because they Government are an absolute disaster” is certainly a valid defence.
Why are “hedge funds” even (still) a thing? Shares sure, investments fine. hedge funds? Fuck off!
I it still a leak when policy is written by & for those who benefited?
100% did, I have no proof, I have heard nothing about it except this post but yet I know 100% someone in the financial sector made money from insider information being touted about….. How do I know? Because that’s just what they do.
Do you really expect good economic plans from a guy whose name sounds like a Harry Potter spell that causes Chlamydia?
Is this can be proven then heads need to roll across the board.
Personally myself I would hsve shorted the £ just based 9n Liz winning, everybody knew exactly what she was going to do to the economy.
Labour needs to look at itself to be honest as it’s as corrupt as the Tories .