Bank bosses to discuss account closures with Treasury – reports July 23, 2023 Bosses of the UK’s major banks and financial firms have been called in for a meeting with City minister Andrew Griffith over the closing of bank accounts. According to a report from the BBC, the Treasury has drafted a letter to banks saying the issue of “client de-banking” had raised “significant concern” in parliament. Griffith [...]
European banks forced to hand over more liquidity data to the ECB after SVB collapse July 23, 2023 European banks will have to provide regulators more frequent information on liquidity levels starting from September, a top supervisor said over the weekend. In an interview published on the European Centra Bank’s (ECB) website, Andrea Enria, chair of the ECB supervisory board, warned that European banks were still in a “delicate phase” due to the [...]
Banks in line for another round of bumper profit amid savings rate row July 23, 2023 The UK’s largest banks are set to report another round of bumper profits this week amid the furore over savings rates and growing concern about the health of the UK economy. Lloyds, Natwest and Barclays are expected to report another strong set of figures for the second quarter thanks to the impact of rising interest [...]
BBC: Nigel Farage Coutts bank account story has been ‘clarified and amended’ July 21, 2023 The BBC has amended a story about Nigel Farage’s Coutts bank account after coming under fire from the politician for suggesting he lacked the funds needed to hold an account. The former Ukip leader said he was lodging a formal complaint over the reporting. The BBC’s business editor, Simon Jack, wrote in a Tweet that [...]
Natwest boss apologises to Nigel Farage over Coutts account closures July 20, 2023 Dame Alison Rose, chief executive of Natwest, has apologised to former UKIP leader Nigel Farage for “deeply inappropriate comments” made about him in official papers and has ordered a review of Coutts processes after the bank closed his accounts. “I believe very strongly that freedom of expression and access to banking are fundamental to our [...]
Virgin Money to shut 39 bank branches with 255 staff facing redundancy July 20, 2023 Virgin Money is to shut almost a third of its bank branches, with 255 workers facing potential redundancy. The high street banking business said it will shut 39 local banks due to changing customer demand, which has seen fewer people go into banks in favour of online services. The sites affected have seen the number [...]
Number of fraud cases falls from pandemic highs but remains sky high at 3.5m July 20, 2023 Fraud levels have returned to pre-pandemic levels but remain sky high, according to estimates from the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW). The CSEW estimated that there were 3.5m cases of fraud in the year to March. This was roughly equivalent to pre-pandemic levels, with the CSEW arguing the pandemic fraud spike was not [...]
Explainer: What’s going on with Farage’s bank account July 20, 2023 Coutts, a prestigious private bank owned by Natwest, is under pressure after it emerged that Nigel Farage’s bank account had been closed, ostensibly for his political opinions alone. The story has caused a furore and, with politicians wading in, it could even spark a set of new rules which would prevent banks ‘debanking’ customers with [...]
I’ve loved every minute of it July 20, 2023 Without aviation insurance, people can’t fly,” says Mark Skilton, Aon’s chairman of Global Speciality within the firm’s Reinsurance Solutions business. Therein lies the rub of the entire insurance industry – a sector that, often in the background, keeps the world moving. And in doing so, it often has to move at speed: Skilton explains to [...]
Farage: Government right to consider Natwest licence over Coutts brouhaha July 20, 2023 Nigel Farage has praised the Government following reports ministers are considering making new laws to stop banks closing customers’ accounts because they disagree with their political views. The former Ukip leader said MPs are “beginning to realise that this system is coming for them as well” after his bank accounts were closed by Coutts because his views [...]