London growth continues to outpace every other region amid interest rate pain August 14, 2023 London’s economy has continued to outpace the rest of the country even as rising interest rates and recessionary fears drag on confidence across the UK, a closely watched survey has revealed.
Co-operative Bank picks up £479m Sainsbury mortgage portfolio amid speculation over banking M&A August 11, 2023 The Co-operative Bank has bought the mortgage portfolio of Sainsbury’s Bank for £464m as speculation over the future of the UK’s mid-sized lenders continues. The portfolio contains around 3,500 customers and is worth nearly £480m. The deal’s completion comes after months of negotiations, with reports earlier in the year suggesting talks between the two had [...]
UBS cancels £8bn backstop agreed to help soothe merger with Credit Suisse August 11, 2023 UBS has voluntarily ended the CHF9bn (£8bn) loss protection deal agreed with the Swiss government following its emergency acquisition of Credit Suisse. The decision followed “a comprehensive assessment of the designated portfolio of Credit Suisse non-core assets, including severe stress loss scenarios,” the bank said. UBS has also terminated the CHF100bn liquidity backstop from the [...]
Profit not process: How our banks grew too bureaucratic for their own good August 11, 2023 Judgement is being impaired by bureaucratic process, write two of the City's foremost lawyers
How Data Changed the Game for Aon’s Brokers August 10, 2023 | Sponsored Despite playing a very important role at the heart of London’s reinsurance market, James Milne, AON’s UK and Ireland head, tells City A.M. that he doesn’t often hear about insurance around the dinner party table. But when he does, it’s usually the cost of car insurance, which has gone up significantly over recent months as [...]
Arrears continue to rise as higher rates pour pain onto borrowers August 10, 2023 Arrears continued rising in the second quarter as customers struggled with soaring repayment costs, new data shows. According to figures from industry body UK Finance, there were 81,900 homeowner mortgages in arrears of more than 2.5 per cent in the second quarter, seven per cent more than the previous quarter. Within this, 30,940 mortgages were [...]
OneSavings Bank profits slump as customers race to refinance mortgages August 10, 2023 Profit at OneSavings Bank (OSB) Group slumped in the first half of the year as the lender dealt with a £180m hit from changing customer behaviour. Pretax profit at the FTSE-250 listed specialist bank fell 71 per cent to £76.7m from £268.1m in the same period last year. The bank announced a dividend of 10.2p, [...]
Brokers predict ‘mortgage price war’ as lenders including HSBC and Nationwide cut rates again August 9, 2023 Brokers have suggested there could be a “mortgage price war” as lenders continue to reduce rates amid hopes inflation is finally on the way down. Nationwide reduced prices on some of its fixed products by up to 0.55 percentage points while HSBC reduced rates by up to 0.2 percentage points. TSB also lowered rates by [...]
Secure Trust Bank: New loans surge as lender eyes expansion August 9, 2023 Secure Trust Bank recorded a significant increase in lending in the first half of the year as it sets its sights on continued expansion over the next few years. The specialist bank reported lending growth of 8.2 per cent in the first half of the year, bringing its lending balances to £3.2bn. Three of the [...]
European bank shares fall after shock 40 per cent Italian windfall tax on excess profits August 8, 2023 Shares in European banks fell after the Italian government announced a surprise windfall tax on banks who have seen bumper profits thanks to higher interest rates. Late last night Giorgia Meloni’s populist government agreed to impose a one-off 40 per cent tax on extra-profits, defining extra-profits as when net interest income has grown beyond three [...]