Britcoin needs to prove it can secure adoption and not spy on our consumers, experts warn February 13, 2023 The digital pound faces a range of challenges before it could be adopted in the UK, experts told City AM, as industry figures continue to grapple with the announcement that a central bank digital currency (CBDC) is “likely to be needed” in the future. The risks a so-called Britcoin poses to financial stability and the [...]
Natwest: Pensions fintech bought by bank in £144m deal which will ‘shake up savings’ February 13, 2023 Natwest is to buy pensions fintech Cushon for £144m in a move the bank says will bolster its offerings of “financial wellbeing” products. The FTSE 100 lender said it would take an 85 per cent stake in the London-based fintech while the company’s existing management would retain the remaining 15 per cent. The chief of [...]
Citi eyes £6.6bn sale of Mexican bank Banamex as it retreats from international markets February 13, 2023 Citigroup is nearing the sale of its Mexican retail bank Banamex in a deal that would be worth $8bn (£6.6bn), the Financial Times reported, despite government interference scaring off potential bidders. According to three people familiar with the matter, the owner of Mexico’s largest mining company, Germán Larrea, is in exclusive talks to purchase Banamex. [...]
Goldman Sachs boss admits job cull should have been made sooner when ‘slowdown’ was apparent February 13, 2023 David Solomon told a gathering of Goldman Sachs executives that he should have cut jobs and slowed the investment bank’s hiring of new staff earlier in 2022 . Solomon was reported by the Financial Times as telling colleagues he had been too slow to reduce Goldman’s headcount. “As the environment was growing more complicated in [...]
UK banks set to report record profits of £37bn beating pre-financial crisis highs February 13, 2023 The UK’s top banks are set to unveil record profits in the next two weeks after sharp interest rate hikes boosted the lenders’ coffers last year. The big five FTSE 100 banks – Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, NatWest and Standard Chartered – could post cumulative pre-tax profits of £37.4bn as they reveal their earnings for 2022, [...]
Tech Nation lines up potential buyers for assets as closure looms February 12, 2023 Start-up group Tech Nation has reportedly lined up a host of potential bidders for its assets as it prepares to permanently close its doors at the end of March.
Shares in Standard Chartered fall five per cent after First Abu Dhabi quashes hopes of £28bn take-over deal February 10, 2023 First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), the United Arab Emirates’ biggest lender, said it was not currently evaluating an offer for Britain’s Standard Chartered, the second time it has quashed reports of an imminent bid. News of the potential offer first came on 5 January, when FAB said it had considered a bid for London-listed Standard Chartered but was no longer doing [...]
Credit Suisse claims it has turned a corner but investors are unconvinced February 9, 2023 Credit Suisse said today that it has turned a corner after a “horrific” 2022, but investors were less convinced as its share price dropped by nearly 13 per cent in afternoon trading. The sick man of European banking posted a CHF1.4bn (£1.3bn) quarterly loss today, bringing its total loss for the full year to CHF7.3bn. [...]
Standard Chartered shares jump as investors swoop on renewed reports of possible £28.8bn First Abu Dhabi deal February 9, 2023 Shares in Standard Chartered jumped around 10 per cent following reports from Bloomberg that First Abu Dhabi Bank was still interested in making an offer for the London-headquartered lender. According to Bloomberg, figures at First Abu Dhabi Bank were working on a possible takeover “under the code name Silver-Foxtrot” once the cooling-off period required by [...]
How crisis has become the norm for the UK’s small businesses, Tide chief February 9, 2023 Economic crises have rocked the UK’s smaller firms over the past three years – now they’re becoming par for the course, boss of small business banking firm Tide tells City.A.M.’s Charlie Conchie Small business banking has played a strangely starring role in the national drama of the past three years. When Covid first began to [...]