Banks set to ramp up lending as UK economy dodges recession May 15, 2023 Banks are expected to ramp up their lending this year as the UK economy dodges the gloomiest recession predictions and the housing markets shows signs of some revival, according to a panel of top economists. Total UK bank loans are now expected to rise 1.2 per cent this year, a net increase of £29bn, upgraded [...]
Disney woes and health of banks edged Wall Street lower May 12, 2023 Wall Street edged lower on Thursday, weighed down by a sharp drop for the Walt Disney Company and flaring fears about the health of some US banks. The S&P 500 lost 7.02 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 4,130.62, with two out of every three stocks in the index falling. The Dow Jones Industrial Average [...]
Fintech calls for anti-fraud tax to tackle scamming epidemic May 11, 2023 Tide has argued the government should introduce an anti-fraud tax to fund the battle against fraud as the fintech firm criticised the lack of ambition in the recently released fraud strategy. Although Tide – which provides mobile banking services for SME businesses – welcomed the creation of a National Fraud Squad, it argued it was [...]
HSBC fined £12m by US watchdog due to ‘widespread and longstanding failures’ in bank’s Whatsapp use May 11, 2023 HSBC has been fined $15m (£12m) by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as banks continue to pay the price for the use of private messaging services such as Whatsapp. The penalty was issued in response to “widespread and longstanding failures” by the bank and its employees to “maintain and preserve electronic communications.” According [...]
Top shareholder advisory firm U-turns to back JP Morgan pay plan after misinterpreting data May 11, 2023 Influential shareholder advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) has U-turned on its initial recommendation to reject the pay packages for senior executives at JP Morgan. Just last week ISS had urged shareholders to vote against executive’s pay packages. However, JP Morgan wrote a letter to the firm on Monday, arguing it had wrongly interpreted data [...]
Pacwest shares slump as US lender moves to boost borrowing capacity May 11, 2023 Shares of Pacwest Bancorp slumped 25 per cent premarket on Thursday as the bank pledged additional assets as collateral to increase its borrowing capacity under the US Federal Reserve’s discount window and said it had $15bn (£11.9bn) of immediately available liquidity. The lender pledged an additional $5.1bn of its loans to the central bank on [...]
Interest rate boon for UK banks coming to an end despite BoE’s 25 basis point hike May 11, 2023 Banks have been revelling in the BoE’s sharp rate hikes, but today’s 25 basis point hike – which brings interest rates to 4.5 per cent – is unlikely to improve banks’ bottom line significantly, analysts said. Increasing competition and regulatory pressure means banks will likely have to pass on more of the rate hike – [...]
Fraudsters stole £1.2bn in 2022 as UK labelled ‘fraud capital of the world’ May 11, 2023 The UK has much further to go in its campaign against fraud as the latest figures show that over £1.2bn was stolen in 2022. According to new figures from UK Finance, £2,300 was lost every minute to authorised push payment (APP) fraud and unauthorised fraud. Commenting on the report, chief executive of UK Finance David [...]
Despite bank collapses, US lenders report record $80bn in quarterly profits May 10, 2023 Profits at US banks in the first quarter reached record levels, rising by a third to a total of $80bn, even as the sector dealt with the fallout of the Silicon Valley Bank’s (SVB) collapse. The banking turmoil was in fact a significant contributor to the profit boost. Half of the increase came from First [...]
Nationwide, Santander, TSB and Virgin Money probed over ‘measly’ savings rates May 10, 2023 An influential parliamentary body has expanded its inquiry into the low savings rates paid by the UK’s retail banks, describing the current rates on offer as “measly”. Having investigated the UK’s four largest retail banks, MPs at the Treasury Committee have now sent letters to Nationwide, Santander, TSB and Virgin Money. These lenders account for [...]