Goldman Sachs poised to slash headcount next month December 29, 2022 The chief of Goldman Sachs has warned staff he will slash the bank’s headcount by around eight per cent next month in a bid to bolster profits in the face of recession next year.
Mining and retail stocks push FTSE 100 into the green after Christmas shopping boost December 29, 2022 The FTSE 100 has been given a boost by its top retail stocks as investors cashed in on the post-Christmas sales shopping, and as China is set to ease its Covid restrictions for inbound travellers from January 8. Among the top performers on London’s leading index on Wednesday were JD Sports Fashion, Next, Kingfisher and [...]
EXCL – Why Private Equity’s appetite for aggressive takeovers will only increase in 2023 December 29, 2022 It’s no surprise that economic turmoil often drives consolidation. Companies may be struggling to survive and looking to M&A as a way to drive value. Not to mention the current weak pound that makes UK-based businesses, especially those with a global footprint, more attractive to overseas buyers. City experts don’t expect that to change in [...]
Sign of the times: Bank branches shut doors in their thousands December 24, 2022 More than 5,000 bank and building society branches have closed over the past seven years, according to analysis from Which? The consumer group counted 5,162 bank and building society branches which have closed since January 2015. A further 206 branches are set to close by the end of 2023, according to the Which? findings, as [...]
Square Foot Mile: Corporate office space deals surged by 25 per cent in 2022 December 23, 2022 Big corporate deals for London HQs has caused office leasing volumes to surge by almost 25 per cent. The post-pandemic return to the office is in full swing, with central London take-up rising by 24 per cent this year. Of the increase, demand for high-quality space in the capital has skyrocketed with 60 per cent [...]
FinTech sector asks UK government for more clarity in 2023 December 22, 2022 A group of UK based FinTech companies have written an open letter to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) calling for greater clarity on how open banking will be regulated from 2023 onwards. The letter criticizes the Joint Regulatory Oversight Committee (JROC), a regulatory body established in March by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). The [...]
Crypto in 2022: It wasn’t all bad December 22, 2022 This year was turbulent, even by crypto standards. If the past twelve months have taught us anything it’s that crypto is still far from a mature asset class and time may be running out for the industry to prove itself as a functional and beneficial cog in our financial system. There are a number of [...]
Government borrows record amount in November as debt bill swells December 21, 2022 Growing public sector expenditure in November prompted a £22.0 billion borrowing frenzy.
Relief for mortgage prisoners: Six banks to begin lending on flats with unsafe cladding December 20, 2022 A handful of the country’s biggest banks will consider mortgage applications for some flats with dangerous cladding from January, in a sigh of relief for people trapped in unsellable properties. Lenders withdrew mortgage provisions for unsafe flats following the Grenfell Tower disaster, when 72 people were killed in a fire at a high-rise block in [...]
TSB hit with £48.7m by watchdogs over 2018 IT fiasco December 20, 2022 High street lender TSB has been slapped with a £48.65m by City watchdogs today for “widespread” failings during a 2018 IT update programme, which left millions of customers without access to banking services.