Barclays in legal battle with MFS administrators over part of £160m holding August 4, 2026 The administrators of collapsed mortgage lender MFS are taking legal action against Barclays after the bank allegedly refused to hand back millions of pounds sat in its accounts. Alix Partners, which was appointed as joint administrators for Market Financial Solutions in February, filed a High Court claim against Barclays, represented by Latham and Watkins, on [...]
Metro Bank profit jumps as it bucks branch closure trend August 4, 2026 Metro Bank secured its highest half-year profit on record in the first six months of 2026 as it bucked an industry-wide trend of branch closures and grew its small business offering. The FTSE 250 bank recorded a £60.7m pre-tax profit, up 41 per cent from the same period last year. This was driven by a [...]
HSBC kicks off $1bn share buyback after profit smashes forecast August 4, 2026 HSBC has resumed its share buyback programme after profit soared past expectations in the second quarter of 2026. The FTSE 100 bank – whose market cap of £274bn makes it the London Stock Exchange’s most valuable company – posted $10.1bn (£7.5bn) in pre-tax profit for the last three months, surging past an internal forecast of [...]
As it happened: Oil prices tumble as Bessent says US-Iran deal imminent; miner stocks rally August 4, 2026 Welcome back to the City AM FTSE 100 liveblog. The price of oil tumbled on Tuesday afternoon after a senior Trump ally said that a deal over control of the Strait of Hormuz could be agreed with Iran in the coming days. The price of Brent crude – the international benchmark for oil – tumbled [...]
Chrysalis marks down Starling stake again and reduces Klarna holding August 3, 2026 Chrysalis Investments has slashed the price tag of its Starling stake for the second straight quarter. The British investment trust marked down the value of its holding in the digital bank by five per cent to £356m in the second quarter. This helped contribute to an overall drop of 2.35p per share in Chrysalis’ net [...]
As it happened: UK stocks cool after Astrazeneca drags; Trump and Iran clash over peace talks August 3, 2026 Welcome back to the City AM liveblog. The London stock market is starting the new week relatively mixed after Donald Trump hinted a deal between US and Iran on the Strait of Hormuz is near, but was contradicted by communication from Tehran. The US President has said that Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar and Iran [...]
Revolut will become $1 trillion company by 2035, says early VC backer July 31, 2026 Revolut will secure a price tag of $1 trillion within a decade, an early backer of the fintech has claimed. The digital banking juggernaut is in the midst of a secondary share sale at an expected valuation of $115bn and was last valued at $75bn in November 2025, when it landed investment from chip giant [...]
Goldman Sachs criticises £1.45m paternity payout July 31, 2026 Goldman Sachs has criticised a ruling to hand one of its former senior executives a £1.45m payout over his dismissal while on paternity leave. Jonathan Reeves, who served as the deputy global head of the Wall Street bank’s compliance ‘control room’ in London, was dismissed from his job in 2022 when he was due to [...]
Natwest hikes targets again after jump in profit July 31, 2026 Natwest has upgraded its income targets for a second quarter running as the bank posted better than expected profit and dished out a bumper dividend to investors. The blue-chip lender reported a 20 per cent jump in pre-tax profit in the first six months of 2026 to £4.3bn, up from £3.6bn the year prior and [...]
As it happened: Stocks reach new record as investors shrug off Iran war fears July 31, 2026 Welcome back to the City AM liveblog. It’s Friday morning and the FTSE 100 has opened into the green, following two consecutive days of record gains for the blue-chip index. London’s blue-chip index was up as high as 0.7 per cent in early trading to 10,971.88p, “The FTSE 100 tested new record highs on Friday morning as [...]