Latest news with #MatthewScott
BBC News
3 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Conference to discuss fly-tipping problem across South East
Police and crime commissioners (PCCs) across the South East have been invited to attend a conference to discuss tackling organised criminal waste dumping. According to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, during 2023/24 there were 101,694 cases of fly-tipping in the South East National Audit Office estimates that illegal waste dumping, much of it organised, costs the economy more than £900m a year. Kent PCC Matthew Scott has invited colleagues Katy Bourne and Lisa Townsend - from Sussex and Surrey respectively - to discuss a problem he has called "the new county lines". Tuesday's event will also see representatives from regional organised crime units and the Environment Agency (EA) Scott said: "What this summit is about is bringing together those who have the powers like the Environment Agency and local councils to see how we can work better to tackle this criminality because, tragically, the outcomes for fly-tipping and waste crime are very low."In the two years up until December, the EA received 3,407 incident reports of suspected criminal activity, such as dumping and burning waste, in the South East scale fly tipping is punishable with a fine of up to £50,000 or 12 months imprisonment if convicted in a magistrates' court, or an unlimited fine and up to five years' imprisonment if convicted in a crown court. The conference will be held at the Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council building in Kings Hill, Kent.
BBC News
13-05-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Kent PCC demands answers from force over X post case
The "ordeal" of a retired special constable who was arrested and handcuffed after a post on X was "unacceptable", according to Kent's Police and Crime PCC Matthew Scott said he was "taking the matter extremely seriously" and had asked Kent Police chief constable Tim Smith for an explanation, the Local Democracy Reporting Service Foulkes, from Gillingham, was handcuffed by six officers and had his electronic devices seized two days after he was alleged to have accused a pro-Palestine social media post of being antisemitic in October Police told the BBC it had apologised to Mr Foulkes, removed a caution from his record and would hold a review. Mr Scott said in a statement: "The ordeal that Julian Foulkes has been through during the last 18 months is unacceptable. "I am pleased that Kent Police has apologised to him and removed the caution from his record."He thanked Mr Foulkes for his service in policing and said he was "truly sorry" for his added: "I am taking this matter very seriously and I am raising these concerns with Kent Police and the chief constable." The Telegraph reported how Mr Foulkes, 71, was arrested for challenging a pro-Palestine supporter on the social media said that on 30 October, 2023, an individual had tweeted threatening to sue former home secretary Suella Braverman, who had called pro-Palestine protests "hate marches", if she called them an paper said Mr Foulkes had responded: "One step away from storming Heathrow looking for Jewish arrivals…" Mr Foulkes said he was taking legal action against Kent Police over his alleged on the doorstep of home in Gillingham, Mr Foulkes, who spent a decade as a special constable, said: "It's all very disappointing. "It has got to end and that's why someone has to take stand."Mr Foulkes' legal action is being backed by the Free Speech Union which has raised £35,000 of a £50,000 through an appeal. Kent Police said it had examined the caution and on review of the circumstances, expunged it.A spokesman added: "The chief constable telephoned Mr Foulkes on Sunday to personally apologise on behalf of the force for the distress caused and the way the matter was investigated. "He has ordered that a review take place, which will be led by the force's Professional Standards department."
The Guardian
11-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Appointment of chief constables is a fair and open process
Police and crime commissioners (PCCs) are elected to appoint chief constables and hold them to account. The article about chief officer appointments in London and Merseyside (Two top job openings in UK policing get one applicant each, 6 May) includes a comment from a senior policing source that suggests there no checks and balances on who we choose. The legislation on the appointment of chief constables is clear: our decision must be either agreed with, or vetoed by, the local police and crime panel – a body made up of cross-party councillors and independent members. In addition, the Home Office circular says that PCCs should appoint an independent person as part of the process to ensure that it is fair and open, and that the candidate is selected on merit. PCCs have been widening the search for new chief constables as much as we can to find suitable candidates. However, there are different barriers to the recruitment of senior officers, such as pensions, the number of candidates available and ScottKent police and crime commissioner
Yahoo
14-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
How the ‘trade of the year' in the bond market became a nightmare for investors after Trump's tariffs
Huge washouts hit the $29 trillion Treasury market in recent days, as investors looking to exploit small price differences in the bedrock of financial markets were overcome by volatility resulting from President Trump's tariff fight. The Treasury cash-futures 'basis trade,' as it's widely known, had been a growing source of concern in recent years. Federal Reserve officials who focus on banking supervision warned in February that any 'rapid unwinding' could exacerbate market stress. The trade seeks to profit from tiny differences between Treasury futures and the underlying cash Treasury, using leverage to supersize potential gains. Nasdaq set to lead Dow, S&P 500 higher on tech tariff pause amid mixed signals 'Are we out of our minds?' My husband and I are in our 70s. Should we use $600K of our savings to buy our dream home? My tenant convinced me to take out a $175,000 home loan to buy stock — then he stole my home Treasury yields are surging despite market chaos. This isn't normal — and it worries Wall Street. How the 'trade of the year' in the bond market became a nightmare for investors after Trump's tariffs But a different, more widespread basis trade among investors has been causing the real havoc in markets lately, according to traders and investors. It hinges on moves in the swaps market, a cornerstone of global trading activity. Specifically, it relates to the swaps spread, or difference, between the 30-year floating Secured Overnight Financing Rate, or 'SOFR,' and Treasury yields. SOFR is the new, more transparent benchmark rate that replaced the scandal-plagued London Interbank Offered Rate, or 'LIBOR,' over the past few years. Hedge funds and other investors started flocking to this lesser-known basis trade in earnest a few months ago in anticipation of 'pro-growth' and market-friendly policies that would be a priority of the Trump administration after Inauguration Day. The trade counted on the spread to widen, but that hasn't been playing out. Instead, the world got the biggest global trade fight in a century in the form of tariffs, and extreme volatility in bonds that has forced a sudden washout of some leveraged players. There's a fear that tariff turmoil is upending both basis trades, rocking hedge funds and forcing positions to be indiscriminately liquidated. That raises the threat of a market breakdown as Treasury yields jumped this week, despite a sharp selloff in equities. Worries of a wider crisis were seen by analysts as a reason why Trump moved on Wednesday to pause certain tariff increases against most U.S. trading partners. 'Since the beginning of all this tariff talk, there's been a massive tightening of the SOFR swaps spread,' said Matthew Scott, head of core fixed-income and multiasset trading at AllianceBernstein. 'There's been a trend of investors selling cash bonds to reduce risk, and fear of foreign buyers pausing purchases amid tariff uncertainty.' Things came to a head earlier this week as conditions deteriorated dramatically. The chart below shows the 30-year SOFR swap spread collapsing overnight on Tuesday. What had been called 'the trade of the year' was suddenly hit by extreme volatility, said Brij Khurana, a fixed-income portfolio manager at Wellington Management. On one hand, 30-year SOFR has been driven below the 30-year Treasury yield because of persistent, strong demand from insurance companies and pension funds needing access to longer-duration assets to match their liabilities. Hedge funds and others looking for opportunities on the other side of the trade began recently buying Treasurys and shorting SOFR. For a while, the trade was starting to work for hedge funds, Khurana said. But then came the tariff tumult and a selloff in longer Treasurys, stoked by fears of a potential strike by foreign buyers in U.S. debt. Traders said liquidity in Treasurys had briefly slowed to a trickle on Wednesday morning as swaps basis trades were being unwound, and as fears mounted about a potential crisis that could require some level of intervention from the Fed. 'You can image imagine all of those traders getting a tap on the shoulder,' said Daniel Siluk, head of global short duration and liquidity at Janus Henderson Investors, talking of when a trader exceeds their exposure limits. 'They are essentially told to decrease their leverage.' Since basis trades hinge on borrowed money, a lender can ask for more collateral when risks in markets increase. Traders can then be forced to sell what they can in an illiquid market to raise cash, causing prices to fall and creating a potentially dangerous feedback loop, until the unwind clears. That dynamic played out in August with the sudden unwind of the Japanese yen carry trade roiled financial markets. The 'classic' hedge-fund basis trade aims to amplify small differences between cash bonds and Treasury futures contracts with leverage, which has gotten it a lot of attention in recent years as a potential source of instability. But traders say it has grown more mainstream in the past few years, and includes a broader swath of participants. In theory, that should help limit the magnitude of swings in markets if highly leveraged basis trades were forced to unwind. The Fed pegged this cash-futures basis trade as exceeding $1 trillion on a notional basis in recent years, while noting it warranted close monitoring. But the other basis trade, which is newer and tied to the SOFR swaps spread, has largely flown under the radar — until the past few days. There have been several reasons why it has gained a following. Trump's second term has focused first on tariffs, but there also has been a goal of lowering Treasury yields, keeping a lid on issuance of longer Treasurys and making potential changes at major banks around the so-called Supplementary Leverage Ratio, a rule designed to limit systemic risks. Powell in February said the Treasury market could benefit from a proposal for changes to the rule. If Treasurys received more favorable treatment in how capital buffers were calculated at banks, it could increase the buyer baser for U.S. government debt, potentially lowering bond yields. When the new administration took over, it was assumed there would be regulatory relief for banks, said Amar Reganti, fixed-income strategist at Hartford Funds. Trump instead focused immediately on new tariffs, which came good on April 2 and were surprisingly more widespread and larger than anticipated. Then, they were abruptly paused on Wednesday — except for those against China — as markets convulsed. Tariff shocks continued to rattle financial markets ahead of the weekend, given Trump's lingering threat to punish foreign owners of U.S. debt and America's trading partners in 90 days. The S&P 500 index SPX and Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA remained volatile through the end of a wild week. The Nasdaq Composite index COMP and Russell 2000 RUT have already slumped into a bear market, defined as a drop of at least 20% from their recent high, adding to fears that the rest of the stock market could soon follow. Even typical safe-haven assets, including 10-year BX:TMUBMUSD10Y and 30-year Treasurys, have sold off sharply, causing yields to spike. The 30-year yield BX:TMUBMUSD30Y on Friday rose to 4.873%, gaining 48.2 basis points in a week, cementing it's biggest weekly jump since 1987, according to Dow Jones Market Data. While some battered swaps-related basis trades appear to have washed through markets without triggering a broader liquidity crisis, traders said volatility and the threat of more tumult still hasn't vanished. Check out: Treasury yields are surging despite market chaos. This isn't normal — and it worries Wall Street. Here are this week's 20 best-performing stocks as the S&P 500 rallied 'In their last days, our parents changed their will': They left me $250,000, but gave my sister $1 million. What should I do? My stepmother inherited 100% of my father's estate. She's leaving everything to her two kids. Is that fair? My husband and I have been married for 18 years. We share a son — and my husband has a daughter. Why should they get an equal inheritance? Will my second wife be able to access my money if I transfer it to my retirement account? Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
12-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Edinboro University to add women's wrestling and golf as NCAA-sanctioned sports
Edinboro University to add women's wrestling and golf as NCAA-sanctioned sports Edinboro University is responsible for the latest alteration to college athletics' local landscape. School officials announced Friday that women's wrestling and golf will join its list of NCAA-sanctioned sports come this fall. Each will compete at the Division II level as members of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference. Edinboro University Fighting Scots logo "The introduction of women's wrestling and golf represents an ongoing commitment to providing athletic opportunities for our students," Edinboro president Jon Anderson said in a news release. "We're excited to embrace the newest NCAA championship sport in women's wrestling, and add the Fighting Scots to the rich tradition of women's golf." Advertisement The process of hiring coaches for each program, plus the recruitment of students, has already begun according to the release. When completed, Edinboro will become the 94th school with an NCAA women's wrestling program. The Scots will join in time to potentially advance their wrestlers into next spring's inaugural Division II tournament at a location to be determined. Culbertson Hills Golf Club, located less than a mile west of the campus, will be Edinboro's designated home course. More: Matthew Scott resumes lifelong passion as Edinboro University's new football coach Contact Mike Copper at mcopper@ Follow him on X @ETNcopper. This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Edinboro University adds women's wrestling and golf as NCAA sports
