Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial newsThe City watchdog has extended its freeze on complaints handling over the car finance scandal by another four months, as it tries to finalise the terms of its compensation scheme. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) had paused complaints handling until 4 December, but will now give lenders until 31 May 2026 to respond to consumers. That is expected to give companies time to digest the final rules for the FCA’s compensation scheme on the motor finance scandal, which are due to be published in February or March. However, firms are expected to continue progressing complaints so that they can quickly respond to customers once the pause lifts in the spring, the FCA said.The FCA said:If we go ahead with a scheme, we will consider how the rules interact with the end of the complaint handling pause, to avoid firms having to send final responses that would otherwise be dealt with in the scheme.November data revealed an abrupt end to the steady improvement in order books seen since the summer.Unfavourable demand conditions were signalled in both domestic and export markets. Lower workloads led to a renewed slowdown in business activity growth across the UK service economy, with the latest expansion much softer than the post-pandemic trend. Continue reading...

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