‘Trust me’: Jamie Dimon to defend JP Morgan’s $2bn-a-week bill February 23, 2026 Jamie Dimon is set to defend JP Morgan’s $2bn-a-week cost bill today as analysts and shareholders gather for the banking giant’s annual investor day. The bank chief – generally considered to be the world’s most influential banker – unveiled higher-than-expected plans for 2026 spend at the beginning of the year. JP Morgan told markets spending [...]
Bank to business lending growth to halve amid global tensions February 23, 2026 UK bank to businesses lending growth is forecast to halve this year as firms feel the pinch of challenging conditions amid global tensions. Net growth in the value of lending from the banking sector to businesses is tipped to slow to 3.5 per cent this year, standing at nearly half of the 6.9 per cent [...]
Bank of Ireland’s UK arm hit with £3.8m fine for fraud failures February 19, 2026 The Bank of Ireland’s UK arm has been slapped with a hefty fine after failing to hit the deadline by over a year to implement an anti-fraud service. The lender was hit with a £3.7m fine from the Payments Systems Regulator (PSR) for missing the deadline by 14 months for a “vital” service that would [...]
Carmakers to skirt a crash in £11bn motor finance redress February 18, 2026 UK carmakers are set to curb a hefty hit in the City regulator’s forthcoming redress scheme for the motor finance scandal. Captive lenders, in-house lenders of manufacturers, are to be granted some reprieve by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) after relentless lobbying that the scheme could hamper investment in the UK. The FCA was forced [...]
Lloyds offloads Scottish Widows Europe in £100m deal February 17, 2026 Lloyds Banking Group has offloaded its European life insurance business to FTSE 250 firm Chesnara in the latter’s second major deal with a UK bank. The FTSE 100 banking giant – which posted a hefty profit jump last month for the 2025 financial year – has inked a €110m (£96m) deal with Chesnara for Luxembourg-based [...]
Natwest and Lloyds shares lead FTSE 100 rally after bruising week February 16, 2026 Natwest led a rally across Britain’s banking giants on Monday morning as lenders patched their wounds after a bruising week on the stock market. The bank topped the FTSE 100’s risers at the starting bell, gaining over four per cent in early trading to 603.60p. Barclays was shortly behind, advancing over 2.5 per cent to [...]
Pay for Natwest’s top boss balloons to £6.6m as bonuses soar February 13, 2026 The boss of Natwest has defended a bumper rise to his pay packet in the last financial year as the bank dished out the cash on employee bonuses. The group’s chief Paul Thwaite pocketed a £6.6m package, an increase of 33 per cent from £4.9m in 2024. “I recognize that senior roles in financial services [...]
Natwest hikes dividend after profit hits post-financial crisis high February 13, 2026 Natwest laid out plans to splash the cash to shareholders in its full-year earnings report on Friday as the bank’s profit reached its highest since the 2008 financial crisis. The FTSE 100 banking giant – which returned to private ownership in the last year – recorded pre-tax profit of £7.7bn in 2025 financial year, up [...]
UK fintech Zempler Bank snapped up for less than half previous valuation February 12, 2026 London-based fintech Zempler Bank has been snapped up by Nigeria’s biggest bank in a deal that has slashed the firm’s valuation, City AM can reveal. The small business lender – formerly known as Cashplus – has been acquired by The Access Bank UK with a price tag of around £3.45p per share. The sale represents [...]
Lloyds to close 95 more bank branches across UK February 11, 2026 Lloyds Banking Group is set to make a further full to its branch network with 95 sites face the shutter. The FTSE 100 banking giant announced the fresh closures on Wednesday, which will affect Lloyds, Halifax and Bank of Scotland sites. The closures will take place between May 2026 and March 2027. Lloyds will take [...]