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National Bank of Greece (NBG) leads the transformation of the Greek banking sector

Pavlos Mylonas, CEO, National Bank of Greece

NBG was the first Greek bank to embark on a large-scale transformation. Three years into its implementation, our transformation programme has developed into a competitive advantage, introducing a new effective way of working at NBG.

We decisively addressed legacy challenges. Our NPE ratio stands at less than 12% compared to 41% in 2018; we stand confident that we will converge to European asset quality benchmarks within a year. Our cost-to-core income ratio is down to 50% compared to 71% in 2018, marking efficiency improvements in our branch network and head office functions.

We strengthened our commercial offering across our retail and corporate businesses, enabling us to grow our healthy portfolio and boost cross-selling to our broad customer base. Leveraging new technologies, we are re-engineering our core processes, freeing up time for our front-line to better serve our customers.

Our digital transformation has demonstrated impressive results. NBG was the first bank in Greece to introduce fully digital onboarding for individuals and businesses, as well as the first to offer digital consumer and business loans. Today, NBG boasts the top position in Greece with 2.4 million active digital users, accounting for roughly one third of the market.

To deliver on our transformation agenda we are investing in technology and data infrastructure, embarking recently on a journey to replace our core banking systems. Over the next years, these investments are expected to further enhance NBG’s competitiveness and solidify its position among digital leaders in European banking.

The results of our transformation coincide with a unique confluence of positive forces: the decade-long efforts to restructure the Greek economy, the global post-pandemic rebound, and the inflow of recovery and resilience funds. We are well-placed to support our customers in creating a better, sustainable future with NBG as their partner – their bank of first choice.

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Bank of the Year Awards 2023 celebration highlights

The Bank of the Year Awards gala dinner paid tribute to the global banking industry's forerunners and their outstanding achievements.

Bank of the Year 2023 Bahrain winner – Bank ABC

The group CEO of Bank ABC talks about the bank’s plans to expand and develop its digital offering for its wholesale customers.

Bank of the Year 2023 Africa winner – UBA

The general managing director and CEO of the UBA Group talks about the banking group’s strategic priorities for 2024 and the next phase of digitalisation of financial services in Africa.

Bank of the Year 2023 UK winner – HSBC

The CEO of HSBC UK talks to Europe editor Anita Hawser about its new Innovation Bank and what’s in store in 2024 on the digital and financial fronts. 

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Why National Bank of Greece?

National Bank of Greece serves retail, private and commercial banking customers. Along with a comprehensive range of products and services, we offer in-depth financial expertise, extensive knowledge of numerous sectors and an international network supporting our customers' domestic and international operations.

We aim to respond to the ever-changing market and, in doing so, to our customers’ ever-changing needs. Customers want a bank that acts in the context of today’s realities and is straightforward with them at all times; a bank that learns from its experiences and whose top priority is to provide the best possible service.

National Bank of Greece is a leading retail and commercial bank with a strong home base in Europe that also follows its customers abroad. We are active internationally in areas in which we have substantial expertise, such as Private Banking, Energy, Commodities & Transportation (ECT) and Clearing.

Our goal is to exceed our customers’ expectations by retaining their trust and by standing out from the crowd through our professionalism and customer-centred approach. Everything we do is aimed at supporting our customers and helping them to achieve more. We believe this ambition is the essence of professional banking.

OUR STRATEGY & CORE VALUES

At National Bank of Greece, we always aim to put our clients first and to create sustainable, long-term value for all our stakeholders – clients, shareholders, employees and society at large.

Our strategy

National Bank of Greece serves retail, private and commercial banking clients, and is active internationally in a number of specialist activities, such as Private Banking, Energy, Commodities & Transportation (ECT) and Clearing.

To create sustainable value for our stakeholders – our clients, shareholders, employees and society at large – we concentrate on the following strategic themes: focus on the client, selectively grow our business, maintain a moderate risk profile, control costs while achieving healthy returns, embed sustainability bank-wide, and promote a strong, client-driven culture.

Our core values

Our core values act as an ethical compass, form the core of our corporate culture, and are the basis of everything we do. These values are: Trusted, Professional and Ambitious.

Our Business Principles

‘Our clients’ success is our success’. We can only truly realise this National Bank of Greece ambition if we know how to interact with our customers and with each other. We feel it is important for all employees to know what National Bank of Greece stands for and where we are going.

This calls for central principles, for a shared vision and drive. And that’s where our Business Principles come in – the basis for the ‘National Bank of Greece feeling’.

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COMMODITY FINANCE

Our Commodity Finance team aims to provide regional and international trading firms with comprehensive solutions for business financing with tailor-made products such as import financing, short-term bridge and warehouse financing, as well as receivables financing...

EVERYWHERE CONNECT

No one can predict the future, which is why putting money aside for great adventures and unexpected situations is so important. We will increasingly focus on developing high-impact projects that can help our clients...

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This savings account lets you stick with the basics. Of course full online and mobile banking is part of this account, and there’s no monthly service fee. Using our free debit card makes it even more convenient...

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NBG approves spin-off of payment services

National Bank of Greece’s board approved a plan on Tuesday for the spin-off of its payment services and its inclusion in a newly set-up company, NBG Pay.

The completion of the transaction is due for approval by National Bank’s shareholders and NBG Pay shareholders, along with all approval required by related authorities.

National Bank has signed an agreement with EVO Payments International Ltd to forge a strategic partnership in credit card acceptance.

This cooperation is expected to create significant value from synergies.

EVO has a 51% majority stake in the new company worth 158 million euros, putting NBG Pay’s value at €310 million.

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Greece Said to Ready 20% Stake Sale in National Bank Next Month

By Sotiris Nikas

Greece is preparing to sell a 20% stake in National Bank of Greece as part of its divestment plan for the country’s lenders.

The move is expected to take place mid-November, people familiar with the matter said, asking not to be identified as the details aren’t public yet. The aim is to attract as many long-term investors as possible.

The Hellenic Financial Stability Fund , a bank recapitalization tool established at the start of Greece’s bailout programs, holds about 40% of National Bank, whose market value was almost €5 billion ($5.3 billion) on Wednesday. But it has decided against divesting ...

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Money: Why are concert tickets so expensive? Here's who is really responsible

Ticket prices for some concerts have reached astronomical levels in recent years - we've looked at why and who is profiting. Read this and the rest of our Weekend Money content below and join us for live updates again from Monday.

Saturday 1 June 2024 07:51, UK

• Taylor Swift

Weekend Money

• Where is all the money going? Here's who is really responsible for concert tickets going crazy
• Strikes, new bank notes, cat fines and airport disruption: Main June money dates for your calendar
• Your comments: Man Utd WFH crackdown, Sterling's uni pledge, pebble fines and standing charges

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Ask a question or make a comment

By Katie Williams , Money team

Spending a fair chunk on going to see your favourite big artist is not new - but it certainly feels like concert prices have entered a new stratosphere.

Fans of Bruce Springsteen have paid upwards of £120 for "rear pitch" standing tickets for his May 2024 tour, while some expressed disappointment recently over the £145 price tag of standing tickets for Billie Eilish's 2025 UK leg.

And while you could have nabbed Beyonce or Taylor Swift tickets in the UK for £50 (before fees) if you took a "nosebleed" seat, these had limited availability and quickly sold out. General admission standing tickets for Swift's Eras tour - which comes to the UK next week - started at £110.40 and those at the front had to shell out £172.25. It didn't stop there - by the time many fans got to the front of the online ticket queue, the only tickets left cost upwards of £300.

So what's behind rising ticket costs? These are some of the reasons...

Fans willing to pay for big spectacles

Simply put, ticket prices would come down if people voted with their feet.

Matt Hanner, booking agent and operations director at Runway, said prices at the top level had "risen considerably" - but the increase was partly being driven by demand.

"We're seeing a lot more stadium shows, greenfield, outdoor festival-type shows which are now a staple of towns around the country," he said.

"There's a growing number of people that are happy to spend a large chunk of their disposable income on going to a major music event."

Jon Collins, chief executive of LIVE, the trade body representing the UK's live music industry, had a similar view.

He said there were more large-scale shows and tours now than ever, and there was "massive appetite" among music lovers for "bigger spectacles".

Fancy shows mean higher costs - with staffing, the price of the venue, transport, artists' needs, insurance and loads more to factor in.

Of course, all these things are affected by inflation. Collins said ticket prices also factored in the rising costs that had hit every venue from the grassroots scene to major arenas.

"You've got a couple of different factors - you've got the spectacle of the show and the production cost and everything that goes into the ticket price. But then you've also got the fundamentals," he said.

The cost of venue hire has increased "significantly" in the past couple of years due to electricity and gas price rises, he added.

"You've got the increase in the cost of people… very justifiable costs like increases in minimum wage and living wage. At every stage of the process we've got these cost increases that will all push through the pressure on the ticket price."

Are artists being greedy?

How much money artists really earn off live touring is of interest to many - but the music industry is generally reluctant to release details.

The people we spoke to suggested it was not as simple as artist greed because, as we mentioned earlier, there's a lot to pay for before anything reaches their bank accounts.

The Guardian spoke to anonymous insiders about this topic in 2017. Its report suggested that between 50-70% of gross earnings were left for promoters and artists. The piece also cited a commonly quoted figure that the promoter takes 15% of what is left and the act will get 85%.

It all depends on the calibre of the artist and how much work the promoter has had to put in - they could end up with a bigger share if it was a hard push to get the show sold.

The people we spoke to said music acts and their teams would discuss the ticket price, and the bigger the act, the more sway they have - but it's ultimately set by the promoter.

Taylor Swift - arguably the biggest popstar on the planet right now - is personally earning between $10m and $13m (£8m - £10.5m) on every stop of her Eras Tour, according to Forbes. She is reported to take home a whopping 85% of  all revenue  from the tour.

But it's worth pointing out, too, that she's been known to be generous with her cash, having given $100,000 bonuses to the dozens of lorry drivers working on the tour.

What have other artists said? 

Some artists have been critical of the high ticket prices being demanded by others.

Tom Grennan told ITV two years ago that he had seen "loads of artists putting tickets out that are way too expensive for the times that we are in", adding that he wanted people to enjoy shows without worrying if they could pay their bills.

Singer-songwriter Paul Heaton was also praised for capping ticket prices for his tour with Jacqui Heaton at £30 in a bid to tackle music industry "greed" and help people during the cost of living.

British star Yungblud recently announced his own music festival, Bludfest - saying the industry was too expensive and needed to be "shaken up".

"I believe that gigs are too expensive, festivals are too expensive, and I just wanted to work to create something that has been completely done by me," he told Sky News.

Meanwhile, frequent Swift collaborator Jack Antonoff has said "dynamic pricing" by ticket sale sites such as Ticketmaster was also an issue when it came to cost.

He told Stereogum that he wanted artists to be able to opt out of the system - which basically means ticket prices increase when a show is in demand - and be able to sell them at the price they choose.

On its website, Ticketmaster describes its "Platinum" tickets as those that have their price adjusted according to supply and demand.

It says the goal of the dynamic pricing system is to "give fans fair and safe access to the tickets, while enabling artists and other people involved in staging live events to price tickets closer to their true market value".

The company claims it is artists, their teams and promoters who set pricing and choose whether dynamic pricing is used for their shows.

Ticketing website fees

As well as dynamic pricing, "sneaky" fees by online ticket sites are also causing issues for live music lovers, according to the consumer champion Which?.

A report from the group last month said an array of fees that isn't seen until checkout can add around 20% to the cost of concert and festival tickets.

Which? has urged a crackdown on the "bewildering" extra charges, which include booking, "delivery" and "transaction" fees, venue charges and sometimes charges for e-tickets.

The Cure lead singer Robert Smith tweeted that he was "sickened" after fans complained last year about processing fees  on Ticketmaster that wound up costing more than the ticket itself in some cases.

Responding to the Which? findings, Ticketmaster (which was far from the only company named) said: "Fees are typically set by and shared with our clients… who all invest their skill, resource and capital into getting an event off the ground. Ticketmaster supports legislation that requires all-in pricing across the industry."

Live Nation and Ticketmaster sued over 'dominance'

The US government is suing Ticketmaster owner Live Nation over allegations the company is "monopolising" the live events industry.

Justice department officials said it was unfair for the firm to control around 70% of primary ticketing for concerts in America. 

Live Nation has been accused of using lengthy contracts to prevent venues from choosing rival ticket companies, blocking venues from using multiple ticket sellers and threatening venues that they could lose money and support if Ticketmaster wasn't the chosen seller.

Live Nation said the lawsuit reflected a White House that had turned over competition enforcement "to a populist urge that simply rejects how antitrust law works".

"Some call this 'anti-monopoly', but in reality it is just anti-business," it said.

And it said its share of the market had been shrinking and its profit margin of 1.4% was the "opposite of monopoly power".

The lawsuit "won't solve the issues fans care about relating to ticket prices, service fees and access to in-demand shows", the company said.

"We will defend against these baseless allegations, use this opportunity to shed light on the industry and continue to push for reforms that truly protect consumers and artists."

As well as reportedly controlling most of the ticketing market, Live Nation also owns and represents some acts and venues.

Canadian artist Dan Mangan told Moneywise this was enabling the company to take "more and more of the pie".

He said when venue rent, equipment and other costs were taken into account, lesser known artists could take as little as 20% of ticket sales.

Another major cost on tickets in the UK is VAT (value added tax).

At 20%, it's pretty hefty. It was brought down to 5% and then 12.5% as the live music industry was hampered by COVID, but returned to the pre-pandemic level in April 2022.

The charge puts the UK "out of step" with other countries, Collins said.

"In competitive major markets like France, it's 5%. Germany it's 7%, Italy it's 10%. Sales tax in the US is typically 6% or 7%. So we are significantly out of step with other markets when it comes to how much VAT we charge on tickets," he said.

Touring now bigger source of income for major stars

With the decline of physical products and the rise of subscription listening, artists are earning less from making music - and income from live shows has become more important for the biggest stars.

Writer and broadcaster Paul Stokes said major stars who would have toured infrequently in the past were now willing to put on more shows as it becomes increasingly profitable.

Some artists will even pencil in multiple nights at huge venues like Wembley Arena, he said - something that wouldn't have been considered two decades ago.

"When Wembley was built and they said 'we'll be doing regular shows' you'd think 'are there acts big enough to fill this massive stadium?'

"It's become absolutely part of the live calendar that artists will come and play not just one night at Wembley, but two or three every every summer."

Stokes said this demand has also prompted the scale of shows that we've become used to seeing, featuring expensive production and pyrotechnics.

Not being felt evenly

While a night out seeing a platinum-selling artist is likely to be an expensive affair, industry figures are also keen to point out that the escalation in ticket prices isn't necessarily happening at a lower level.

Collins said that while major stars were putting on arena shows, there would be plenty of other live music taking place at the same time, "from the free pub gig to the £10 ticket at the grassroots venue, to the £30 mid-cap".

"There's an absolute range of opportunities for people to experience live music, from free through to experiencing the biggest stars on the planet," he said.

But concertgoers choosing to save their cash for artists they're more familiar with may have led to a "suppression" of prices for lesser-known acts, Hanner noted.

"Everyone's short of disposable income because there's a cost of living crisis. [Artists' and promoters'] core costs are going up as well, so it's more expensive for everyone. That fear of pricing people out is just being compounded," he said.

"I think [that] has definitely led to prices being suppressed [at the lower level], when really they should have been going up."

With May in the rearview mirror, here are the key money dates for your calendar in June. 

1 June onwards - benefit changes

While benefits rose 6.7% from 8 April for many claimants, those who had their last assessment period before then will have had to wait until June to receive the new, higher rate. 

The exact date in June when that payment is made will depend on when you were assessed.

Also from 1 June, all people claiming Housing Benefit alone will be asked to claim Universal Credit instead within three months of receiving the letter.

Failure to do so could result in you losing your entitlement.

1-2 June - Heathrow disruption

Hundreds of border force officers at Heathrow Airport are striking until Sunday in a dispute over rosters.

More than 500 of its members working on passport control at terminals 2, 3, 4 and 5 are taking action.

Disruption is expected over the weekend as families return to the UK at the end of the half-term holiday.

5 June - new banknotes

Banknotes featuring the face of the King will enter circulation across the UK. 

Notes that feature the portrait of the late Queen will remain legal tender and will co-circulate.

The new banknotes will only be printed to replace those that are worn and to meet any overall increase in demand.

10 June - £500 cat fines

All cats over 20 weeks old in England must be microchipped by 10 June.

You could face a £500 if you miss the deadline and don't get your cat microchipped in the following 21 days.

The law does not apply to the rest of the UK.

16 June - Father's Day

As the day dedicated to dads and father figures approaches, it may be worth remembering to put some cash aside to treat them in mid-June.

19 June - inflation data released

We'll get May's inflation data in the monthly drop from the Office for National Statistics. 

This will give us the clearest indication of whether the Bank of England will lower interest rates.

Remember, the Bank's target is 2% (April's headline rate was 2.3%), so the closer we get to that number the better. 

20 June - interest rate decision

Another Monetary Policy Committee meeting at the Bank of England will determine whether we finally get a drop in interest rates. 

Many economists predict a cut from 5.25% will happen in August, but June isn't ruled out.

27 June - doctors' strike

Junior doctors in England will begin a five-day strike at 7am over pay.

The last strike by junior doctors led to 91,048 appointments, operations and procedures being postponed.

30 June - meter readings

Not a fixed date - more of a reminder.

From 1 July, the energy price cap will fall by £122 per year.

Your provider will do most of the work, but you can help keep your bill accurate by submitting meter readings (unless you have a smart meter) ahead of this date. 

The big topics covered in the Money blog this week that got you commenting were...

• Manchester United giving staff who don't want to come into the office a week to resign
• Raheem Sterling offering to pay for 14 people to go to university
• Fines for pebble-taking tourists on beaches
• The standing charge rising despite the energy price cap being cut

Let's start with the two football-related stories. 

Sir Jim Ratcliffe, new part-owner of Manchester United, sent an email round on Tuesday offering all non-playing staff the chance to resign (with their annual bonus paid early) within the week if they do not like his plan to stop working from home ...

Some praised his decision... 

Well done Sir Jim Ratcliffe. Finally, somebody who has the guts to stand up and end this 'working from home' nonsense! edwinbasnett

Sir Jim has got it right, decisions are decisive and provide clear expectations and an option to get out. WFH doesn't work at the levels seen following COVID, I'm sure it does for some but many take advantage and it's far more difficult to manage. Tel

Others not so much...

Thankfully there's not quite so stark an ultimatum from my employer, but I am planning to leave soon. It's a nonsense commuting to an office where I then engage with other colleagues over Teams/Zoom. Jim

Who wants to work for a **** like that anyway with that attitude? No filter

Earlier in the week, we learnt Raheem Sterling will financially support 14 students through university. 

Applications for the Raheem Sterling Foundation Scholarship Programme - which closed on Thursday - were open to students of black, African and Caribbean heritage from socio-economically under-represented backgrounds to help bridge the equality gap.

This will be the second year the Chelsea forward will assist successful applicants at King's College London and the University of Manchester.

Readers said...

Sterling is a credit to sport, football and his heritage. I hope more footballers will join him and his endeavours. Judy

This is brilliant - I have never understood why professionals in many fields do not give more back to their communities. Just a visit to their old primary school could turn a bright light on for so many kids. Why don't many more do it? Old white woman

Well done Raheem Sterling for financially supporting 14 students who would like to attend university. Sometimes professional football players get a negative press but this is amazing, well done. Anthony G

Away from football and to Cumbria - where beach-goers have been warned they could face a fine of up to £1,000 if they remove pebbles or shells across the area.

You said...

Why aren't the same rules applied to stop Southern Water dumping all their s*** into our seas. They take millions of pounds from normal people who trust them to process it correctly. Anti s outhern water

So that means the thrill of going to the beach and collecting a few shells is stopped. What about the scallop shells used in restaurants and supermarkets? What about the sacks of shells sold at garden centres? What about the tonnes of sand used every day etc etc? JR

Has the world gone mad? £1,000 fine for taking pebbles home from a beach? I think most children take a few pebbles home with them.  Bob

Many of you responded to last Friday's announcement that while the energy price cap would fall in July, standing charges - the set amount you pay for gas and electric each day regardless of use - would be going up.

Martin Lewis's explanation of it can be read here...

Here's what you said...

Are there any regulations for energy supplies regarding the standing charge? Every time the unit price drops my supplier raises the standing charge. SianW

Our energy bills have dropped, now the heating is off. However, the high daily standing charge means my bills are off the starting blocks even before the switches are flicked. Come the winter the price cap will rise again - not unlike profiteering in wartime. Porthy

My standing charges are almost three times what they used to be. I've cut back on my usage to the point I pay more a month in standing charges than I do usage so having the unit price drop makes little impact. P hunt

The energy companies have ripped us off for the last two years. The daily standing charge has to go. The shareholders have had real good dividends over the past few years, and therefore must pay for the people that can't pay their bills, because of the bonuses they have received. michael rogers

The Money blog is your place for consumer news, economic analysis and everything you need to know about the cost of living - bookmark news.sky.com/money.

It runs with live updates every weekday - while on Saturdays we scale back and offer you a selection of weekend reads.

Check them out this morning and we'll be back on Monday with rolling news and features.

The Money team is Emily Mee, Bhvishya Patel, Jess Sharp, Katie Williams, Brad Young and Ollie Cooper, with sub-editing by Isobel Souster. The blog is edited by Jimmy Rice.

An investigation has been launched into whether the biggest banking merger since the financial crisis could harm competition.

The Competition and Markets Authority announced the inquiry into Nationwide's £2.9bn takeover of rival Virgin Money this morning.

The move would bring together the fifth and sixth largest retail lenders, creating a combined group with around 24.5 million customers and nearly 700 branches.

It would spell the end of the Virgin Money brand, with Nationwide planning to rebrand the business within six years.

The CMA has invited interested parties to give their views on the deal, as it considers whether it could "result in a substantial lessening of competition" in the market.

Nationwide struck the takeover agreement in March, and last week a clear majority of 89% of Virgin Money shareholders voted in favour, helping to clear the path to complete.

The government has sold £1.24bn of its shares in NatWest, accelerating the process of private ownership.

The Treasury's shareholding in the high street bank has fallen by approximately 3.5 percentage points to 22.5%.

NatWest, formerly Royal Bank of Scotland, received multibillion-pound bailouts during the 2008 financial crisis, leaving the government with an 84% stake.

The government has been selling down its stake in the lender, with Chancellor Jeremy Hunt planning to sell all of its interest in the bank by 2025 or 2026 should the Conservatives be re-elected.

There was supposed to be a public share sale this summer, allowing individuals, not just institutional investors, to purchase stock, but the plans have been shelved due to the election.

In recent years, the sell-off has become more rapid. In 2018, the government owned 62% of the group, but by December of last year that was down to just under 38%.

In March, that fell below 30%, meaning the government was no longer classed as a controlling shareholder in the lender.

Earlier this year, NatWest wrote to shareholders asking them to support an increase in the amount of stock the bank could buy back from the government in a year, from just under 5% to 15%.

The establishment of Great British Energy is among the last remnants of the "green prosperity plan" devised and championed by Ed Miliband, the shadow secretary of state for energy security and net zero, three years ago.

The former Labour leader's vision was to spend £28bn per year in the first five years of an incoming Labour government on decarbonising the UK economy.

However, as the current leader Sir Keir Starmer recognised, the issue was swiftly weaponised by the Conservatives because all the money - as Mr Miliband himself had made clear - would have been borrowed.

More importantly, the plan did not survive contact with Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, who has made fiscal responsibility her priority.

The £28bn-a-year spending pledge was watered down in February this year to one of £23.7bn over the life of the next parliament.

A sizeable chunk of that will be on Great British Energy, described by Mr Miliband as "a new publicly owned clean power company", which Labour has said will be initially capitalised at £8.3bn.

And, instead of the money being borrowed, Labour is now saying "it will be funded by asking the big oil and gas companies to pay their fair share through a proper windfall tax".

Read on  here... 

Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee are joining Glasgow as cities with Low Emission Zones where motorists could face fines up to £480 if they don't comply.

The zones were introduced two years ago, but drivers were given a grace period before charges began.

In Dundee, the grace period ended today - in Edinburgh and Aberdeen it's tomorrow.

A non-compliant vehicle entering the zone can be charged £60, which doubles with each subsequent breach up to a maximum of £480.

If paid within 14 days, the initial fine will be halved to £30.

Despite the warning, only 55% of drivers in Scotland are confident they know where the zones are in operation, according to online marketplace Carwow.

Some 30% of Scottish motorists are not sure if they understand the rules and 24% are not sure if their vehicle is compliant.

"We therefore need to tackle the lack of understanding among motorists about Low Emission Zones in Scotland – where they are and which cars are compliant - because, without better knowledge, millions of drivers are at risk of being fined," said Sally Foote, chief commercial officer at Carwow.

The Low Emission Zones aim to discourage high-polluting vehicles from entering certain areas, just like those in English cities like Sheffield and Bristol.

Unlike English Clean Air Zones, Scottish LEZs apply to all types of vehicles except motorbikes and mopeds.

Non-compliant vehicles are not allowed into those zones whatsoever, unlike English LEZs, which apply a daily charge.

Ultra-low emission vehicles are automatically compliant, but others must conform to certain Euro emission ratings, which can be found in your V5C logbook - or you can check online.

Cars, vans, minibuses, taxis and private hire vehicles with a petrol engine must have at least a Euro 4 rating, while those with diesel engines should have a Euro 6.

Grants are available to people living within 20km of a LEZ who have no other choice but to sell or adapt their vehicles.

Hackers say they have stolen confidential information from all Santander staff and millions of customers, reports the BBC.

A gang going by the name of ShinyHunters posted an advert on a hacking forum claiming to be selling 30 million people's bank account details, six million account numbers and balances, 28 million credit card numbers and HR information for staff.

Earlier this month, the bank said data was accessed belonging to customers in Chile, Spain and Uruguay and all current Santander employees, but nothing that would allow transactions to take place.

As of March, Sandander as a whole employed more than 211,000 people and as of 30 June 2021, 20,900 employees worked for Santander UK.

Santander has declined to comment on the claims beyond a statement released on 14 May.

It read: "Certain information relating to customers of Santander Chile, Spain and Uruguay, as well as all current and some former Santander employees of the group had been accessed.

"No transactional data, nor any credentials that would allow transactions to take place on accounts are contained in the database, including online banking details and passwords. The bank's operations and systems are not affected, so customers can continue to transact securely.

"We apologise for the concern this will understandably cause and are proactively contacting affected customers and employees directly."

ShinyHunters have previously sold data stolen from AT&T and claim to be selling private data hacked from Ticketmaster, the BBC reported.

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Argentina Bonds Climb as Milei Deregulation Plan Moves Forward

Argentina’s sovereign bonds rallied after President Javier Milei’s main legislative attempt to deregulate the economy moved closer to a decisive Senate vote after weeks of stalemate.

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(Bloomberg) — Argentina’s sovereign bonds rallied after President Javier Milei’s main legislative attempt to deregulate the economy moved closer to a decisive Senate vote after weeks of stalemate.

Argentina Bonds Climb as Milei Deregulation Plan Moves Forward Back to video

Members of the general, budget and constitutional committees approved sending the so-called omnibus bill to all senators. Lawmakers achieved “dictamen,” or consensus, Wednesday night on putting it to a floor vote in the opposition-controlled Senate, which by law is at least a week away. Budget committee members also agreed to do the same for the accompanying fiscal bill.

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Argentina’s dollar bonds climbed across the curve Thursday, posting some of the best gains among its emerging-market peers. Notes due in 2046 advanced roughly one cent to trade just below 46 cents on the dollar, gaining for a third straight session, according to indicative pricing data compiled by Bloomberg.

The bills, first introduced as a single package in December, passed the lower house in late April after being significantly watered down. They went to the relevant upper chamber committees on May 7, but have been bogged down in negotiations until now. The package still contains a modified chapter with incentives for foreign investors in large projects like mining, known as RIGI.

Milei’s party holds only seven of the 72 seats in the Senate, while the main Peronist opposition holds 33. That means the libertarian president had to broker deals with the pro-business PRO party and members of two other moderate groups to get it passed, underscoring a pragmatism long sought by foreign investors.

Milei was hoping to get the package approved and sign a pact with the nation’s governors by May 25, a national holiday, but ended up holding a solo event instead. Amid the stalemate, the president fired his cabinet chief, Nicolas Posse, replacing him with former Interior Minister Guillermo Francos. Francos spent his first day on the job Tuesday discussing the bill with Senate bloc leaders and heralded the negotiations alongside Vice President Victoria Villarruel to get the bill through.

Lawmakers agreed Wednesday that Milei should have expanded executive powers on administrative, financial, economic and energy matters, as well as the ability to dissolve dozens of special-purpose federal government funds. They also allowed the privatization of nearly a dozen firms, including airline Aerolineas Argentinas, public utilities, train and postal service companies, and the expansion of the income tax base.

Lawmakers negotiated some changes to the reform package’s sections on income taxes — like raising the minimum taxable income to accommodate constituents from the better-earning southern Patagonia region — and adding some exclusions to a tax amnesty meant to encourage the declaration of taxable assets abroad, according to an early copy of the legislation seen by Bloomberg News. The proposal also still contains a labor reform Milei considers essential to encourage companies to hire.

If the drafts are approved on the floor, the bills would head back to the lower house for it to accept any modifications before going into effect. If successful, Milei will have more power to cut expensive subsidies, eliminate costly government bodies and attract foreign investments to balance the country’s budget and restart a tanking economy.

(Updates with market reaction, plus additional detail on fiscal bill, potential impacts, and concessions made during negotiations.)

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