Exclusive: Banks cleaning up their act as City sees steep drop in bullying and sexual harassment September 20, 2022 Banks, insurers and other financial services firms have come under pressure from the City watchdog, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), in recent years to crack down on personal misconduct by individuals in regulated firms, and it seems these efforts are starting to pay off. City A.M. can reveal this morning that London’s financial services space [...]
TSB not for sale, chief of Spanish owner insists September 19, 2022 The chief of Spanish bank Banco Sabadell has dismissed speculation the firm is mulling ditching UK lender TSB. Cesar Gonzalez-Bueno, chief executive of Banco Sabadell, told reporters at an event today “there is no intention to sell” TSB. The push back comes after Edi Truell, a veteran City investor, is reportedly considering setting up an [...]
Rising fintech star explains why banks are rushing to jump on the lucrative BNPL bandwagon September 19, 2022 Virgin Money recently confirmed plans to enter Britain’s buy now, pay later (BNPL) market. The banking player is the latest player to start offering BNPL products, which generally can help people to spread the cost of purchases without adding to their overall cost. Earlier this year, another bank, NatWest, said that it planned to enter [...]
City exclusive: Brits leave Europeans trailing in digital banking September 18, 2022 Brits are significantly ahead of other Europeans in their embrace of digital forms of banking. New research, shared exclusively with City A.M. this morning, shows that people in the UK are nearly twice as likely as other Europeans to prefer applying for financial products and services online via website or app, including through online chat [...]
British savers handed September boost as rates climb to highest level in a decade September 17, 2022 A new market analysis shared with City A.M. this weekend shows that the average rates being offered on some savings accounts have reached their highest level in nearly a decade. At 0.84 per cent, the average easy access rate is at its highest since a rate of 0.87 per cent was recorded in December 2012. [...]
Weekend exclusive: Challenger banks stifled by excessive regulation, warns OakNorth chief September 17, 2022 UK challenger banks are being bogged down by a need to jump through the same regulatory hoops as their larger high street rivals, the chief of digital lender OakNorth said today.
London hedge fund trader hiding in Dubai told to pay staggering £1.1bn to Danish taxman September 16, 2022 A British hedge fund manager and financier was slapped with a tax bill of more than £1bn. The man, accused by Denmark of masterminding a massive tax fraud, has been ordered by a Dubai court to pay Copenhagen’s tax authority £1.1bn, court filings show. The order by the Dubai Court of Appeal against Sanjay Shah [...]
Barclays faces £40m lawsuit over breast implant scandal September 16, 2022 Barclays is facing a £40m High Court lawsuit over claims it dishonestly transferred assets, owned by one of Britain’s largest cosmetic surgery providers, to prevent women who were given dangerous breast implants from receiving compensation. The High Court lawsuit, which is scheduled to be heard this October, claims Barclays’ Business Support Unit helped restructure Hospital [...]
Wise investors ‘should be concerned’ by probe, top advisors warn September 15, 2022 Investors in troubled money-transfer firm Wise “should be concerned” by the regulatory investigation into its chief Kristo Kaarmann as it threatens to “dampen shareholder value”, a top advisory group has warned. The Financial Conduct Authority revealed in June it had opened an investigation into the Estonian founder after tax authorities ruled in 2021 that he [...]
Pressure builds to scrap bankers’ bonus cap as BoE says it never backed policy September 15, 2022 Pressure is building on Kwasi Kwarteng tonight to scrap the cap on bankers’ bonuses, as the Bank of England said it never wanted the EU pay restriction. One minister also told City A.M. that scrapping the cap “makes it more attractive to be in London”, with the measure likely to get support among large sections [...]