UBS chief’s pay rose 11 per cent to £10.9m but wider bonus pool dropped to £2.75bn March 6, 2023 UBS boss Ralph Hamers received a boost to his annual pay to the tune of a cool £10.9m, reflecting the bank’s strong performance in 2022, but its overall bonus pool fell. Hamers pocketed CHF12.2m (£10.9m) in 2022, eleven per cent more than last year, with the figure including his base salary and the cash performance [...]
The financial crisis lurking in the shadows: Why regulators must now turn their attention to shadow banking March 6, 2023 Some would argue that predicting the next financial crisis is a near impossible task. But Nobel-prize winning economist Douglas Diamond said in October last year: “The last [financial crisis] started in the banks, it stayed in the banks. This one’s going to start in the shadow banks and the companies.” Shadow banking encompasses a variety [...]
Banks must pass on rate hikes to savers – or risk a windfall tax, warn experts March 5, 2023 Banks should pass on higher interest rates to savers in order to stave off pressure for a windfall tax, a host of experts have warned. Calls for a windfall tax on the banking sector have grown after most of the UK’s largest lenders recorded strong profits in their latest results. After a decade of ultra-low [...]
MPs demand action on fraud reimbursement as they criticise ‘half-baked’ plans March 4, 2023 MPs have slammed proposals to reimburse fraud victims, describing the plans as “half-baked” without further action from the regulator. Under the plans being considered by the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR), banks and building societies will have to fully reimburse victims of authorised push payment fraud where the loss is over £100. Last month MPs questioned [...]
From the digital pound, to homeworking via heat pumps: City A.M.’s five most-read stories of the week March 3, 2023 The most read story of the last seven days was the revelation that the digital pound would coming this decade. Details of the unpublished Treasury and BoE report were reported here and read by hundreds of thousands of readers Second most read was our energy editor’s piece on heat pumps, following British Gas owner’s decision [...]
Crypto: Nationwide bans credit card exchange payments and HSBC limits digital currency spending as consumer risk fears grow March 3, 2023 Several UK banks have restricted their customers from buying crypto assets as concern grows about the risks posed by digital currency to customers. In an email to customers earlier this week, Nationwide said it would not allow payments to crypto exchanges using its credit cards and would impose a £5,000 daily limit on current account [...]
‘Fading recession fears’ boost optimism as services sector bounced back to growth in February March 3, 2023 The UK’s service sector bounced back to growth in February as business optimism improved and activity expanded at the fastest pace since June. The S&P Global/CIPS UK services PMI survey showed a reading of 53.5 in February, up from 48.7 in January and slightly ahead of market expectations. Any score above 50 is considered growth [...]
Jack Dorsey’s Block puts £2m into Birmingham community lender breaking ‘new ground’ for industry March 2, 2023 A not-for-profit community lender in Birmingham has received £4m in funding, including £2m from ex-Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey’s company, in a sign the local finance sector is set to enter a new phase. Block Inc, a mobile payments firm set up by Dorsey in 2009, is providing £2m to ART Business Loans, representing its first [...]
Metro Bank loss narrows to £70.7m as bank vows to put compliance issues behind it March 2, 2023 Higher interest rates helped Metro Bank narrow its loss for the year as the bank attempts to put a series of compliance missteps behind it. Metro Bank’s pretax loss narrowed to £70.7m in 2022, as the bank saw revenue jump 31 per cent on the back of higher interest rates. The bank noted it was [...]
Savings accounts: Banks under fire as MPs demand to know why interest rate rises have not been passed on to savers March 1, 2023 MPs have asked further questions of banks’ savings rate as pressure increases on the UK’s major high street lenders to pass on higher interest rates to consumers. In a letter to the heads of four of the UK’s largest banks, chair of the Treasury Committee Harriet Baldwin asked banks why their savings rates remain lower [...]