UK and EU publish draft MOU to improve post-Brexit financial regulatory cooperation May 19, 2023 The UK and the EU’s top body have published the draft of a memorandum of understand, intended to improve post-Brexit regulatory cooperation on financial services. The draft agreement commits the two to “jointly endeavour to pursue a robust and ambitious bilateral regulatory cooperation in the area of financial services”. The MOU was heralded as a [...]
Klarna UK boss quits but predicts BNPL firm will “trailblaze” in payments and banking May 19, 2023 Klarna’s UK boss Alex Marsh announced today that he was stepping down having been at the firm for four and half years. Marsh, who joined Swedish buy-now pay-later (BNPL) firm Klarna in 2018, described his time at Klarna as “nothing short of phenomenal”. However, he said that a recent family tragedy has “brought home that [...]
Stocks on Wall Street rise despite hint Fed’s rate hikes may NOT be over May 19, 2023 Stocks rose again on Thursday after more companies reported better profits than expected, while yields climbed after a Federal Reserve official cautioned the end to its interest-rate hikes may not arrive as soon as Wall Street hoped. The S&P 500 gained 0.9 per cent , adding to its rally from the day before as hopes [...]
Nationwide hands out £340m to customers as it reports 40 per cent profit boost from higher interest rates May 19, 2023 Nationwide’s profit jumped in 2023 as the building society became the latest firm to benefit from higher interest rates. The building society’s pretax profit climbed nearly 40 per cent to £2.2bn from £1.6bn last year despite a slight increase in costs. Nationwide’s net interest margin, the difference between what it pays out and receives in [...]
Lloyds AGM hit by flexible working protests after telling staff to come back to the office May 18, 2023 Lloyds’ annual general meeting (AGM) was hit by protests about its flexible working policies and its fossil fuel financing, but all motions ended up passing with massive majorities. Speaking at the bank’s AGM in Edinburgh on Thursday, representatives from Unite argued that trialled changes to its hybrid working policies disadvantaged women, carers and working parents. [...]
Crisis over? Pacwest and Western Alliance rise again as investors bet worst is over May 18, 2023 Investors are increasingly hopeful that the crisis which has engulfed US regional banks over the past couple of months is coming to an end. Some of the banks which have been worst affected by fears of a broader banking crisis in the wake of the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and First Republic have [...]
Rising interest rates sees mortgage arrears tick up as repossessions jump May 18, 2023 The number of households falling into arrears continued increasing in the first quarter as rising interest rates continued to hit borrowers. According to figures from industry body UK Finance, arrears picked up in the first quarter with mortgages in arrears of more than 2.5 per cent reaching 76,630. This was a two per cent increase [...]
Credit Suisse AT1 bondholders force Swiss regulator to publish wipeout decree May 18, 2023 Bondholders burnt by the wipeout of Credit Suisse’s AT1 bonds have secured a small victory after forcing Switzerland’s financial watchdog to reveal the justification for its decision. When UBS acquired Credit Suisse, holders of Credit Suisse’s AT1 bonds were controversially wiped out on the orders of Finma, the Swiss financial markets regulator. An AT1 bond [...]
Deutsche Bank to pay $75m to settle lawsuit by Jeffrey Epstein accusers May 18, 2023 Deutsche Bank has agreed to pay $75m to settle a lawsuit by women who say they were abused by the late financier Jeffrey Epstein, and accused the German bank of facilitating his sex trafficking. The accord resolves claims in a proposed class action in Manhattan federal court by Epstein’s accusers, and was confirmed by their [...]
Bumper UK growth pushes Investec upwards despite volatile global markets May 18, 2023 Investec’s profit climbed in 2023 thanks to rising interest rates but the bank also saw its funds under management slip amid a volatile environment. Investec’s adjusted operating profit rose 21.6 per cent to £835.9m reflecting growth in both of Investec’s main markets. In the UK, profit rose by over 30 per cent while in South [...]