Lloyds profit remains flat on last year despite boost from rising rates but guidance lifted for the year July 26, 2023 Lloyds’ profit remained flat on last year despite the benefit of rising interest rates as the bank set aside more than anticipated to cope with bad loans. In the second quarter the high street bank recorded a pre-tax profit of £1.6bn, flat with last year but slightly lower than company compiled consensus. However, the profit [...]
Natwest should have stuck to its guns and kept politics out of the City July 26, 2023 Even the most trigger-happy of football chairmen usually leave a few days or weeks in between expressing full confidence in a manager and giving them the heave. Natwest board supremo Lord Howard Davies gave Alison Rose a matter of hours. What happened between the announcement just before 6pm that the Natwest CEO would be staying, [...]
Alison Rose: How the first woman to lead a major British bank ran Natwest July 26, 2023 Dame Alison – or just Ms Rose as she was at the time – made history in 2019 when she became the first woman to take the top job at one of the UK’s big four banks. She took over a bank from New Zealander Ross McEwan, which had stabilised after the financial crisis nearly [...]
Alison Rose resigns as Natwest chief over Farage leak after midnight board drama July 26, 2023 Dame Alison Rose, the Natwest chief executive at the centre of a leaking scandal, resigned overnight after an extraordinary late-night board meeting – just hours after the bank’s Chairman issued a statement offering her their full confidence. Rose outed herself as the source of a BBC story into the finances of Nigel Farage, who had [...]
Three quarters of UK small businesses want to spread their deposits after SVB collapse, research shows July 26, 2023 Three quarters of small businesses in the UK are considering spreading their deposits among a range of different banks following March’s banking crisis. According to new research from payments provider Neo, 75 per cent of UK SMEs are considering diversifying their bank pool while six per cent already have. Neo surveyed 100 CFOs and treasurers [...]
London court gives green light to £2.7bn foreign exchange claim against six major banks July 25, 2023 The Court of Appeal ruled today that a £2.7bn class action claim relating to foreign exchange manipulation can proceed on an opt-out basis. The claim, brought by FX Claim UK, represents tens of thousands of participants in the foreign exchange market who suffered damages from the anticompetitive behaviour of six of the largest banks in [...]
HSBC set to reduce fixed-rate deals as hopes rise that mortgage rates will start to fall July 25, 2023 HSBC became the first high street bank to announce they will be reducing rates on a swathe of their fixed-rate products, sparking hope that mortgage rates might begin to fall. Mortgage rates have spiralled in recent months as inflation has remained stubbornly above the Bank of England’s target. Traders are now betting that the Bank [...]
HSBC, Nationwide and TSB failed to send transaction histories to some customers July 25, 2023 HSBC, Nationwide Building Society and TSB collectively let down a total of nearly 170,000 customers by failing to provide payment transaction histories, according to the competition watchdog. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which has written to the two banks and building society, said the failures are “not acceptable”. The providers breached part five of [...]
Paragon Bank attracts billions of pounds in new deposits as savers seek better rates July 25, 2023 FTSE 250 challenger Paragon Bank has attracted billions in new deposits over the past year, as customers seek better rates on their savings. Paragon said its retail savings balance stood at over £12.3bn by the end of June, up 21.6 per cent on the same period last year. It noted these deposits were “predominantly fixed [...]
Italian banking giant Mediobanca backs London with £10.4m investment in startups July 25, 2023 One of Italy’s largest investment banks Mediobanca has committed €12m (£10.4m) to a joint venture with early stage investor Founders Factory to help scale fintech startups. The joint venture will build and invest in 35 fintech businesses over the next five years. Mediobanca’s investment will help underpin a new fintech venture studio accelerator, enabling innovation [...]