Brexit shift: UK short exposure in Europe declines by a third this year to lowest in five years while France and Italy take over December 22, 2021 The UK’s relative short exposure compared to the rest of Europe has steadily declined by a third to the end of November, its lowest level in over five years. Meanwhile, France and Italy are gaining ground, according to new data shared with City A.M. this morning. The change marks a dramatic shift in the short [...]
Created adult content giant OnlyFans from his brother’s kitchen: Tim Stokely steps down as CEO to find ‘my next challenge’ December 22, 2021 The man behind the successful adult content platform OnlyFans has said he is leaving the hugely popular website as he is seeking a new challenge. Created in 2016 by Tim Stokely, the subscription content platform allows users to earn money from subscribers on a monthly basis and is popular with sex workers. The service experienced [...]
City fine: Bank of England tells Metro Bank to pay millions for reporting and governance failures that went on for years December 22, 2021 Metro Bank was told this morning by the Bank of England to pay close to £5.4m for failures with regards to the quality of its reporting and governance. The central bank’s Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) watchdog confirmed it imposed the penalty on the challenger bank over failings between May 2016 and January 2019. On January [...]
ING quits French retail banking market in strategic overhaul December 21, 2021 Dutch financial services company ING today announced it is ditching its French retail banking business, in a move that could jeopardise the jobs of its 460 employees, who were also informed of the move today. “A social plan concerning our 460 employees affected has been agreed on with local unions,” the group said in a [...]
City of London Group’s SME bank receives over £1bn in lending proposals December 21, 2021 The City of London Group’s SME bank has already received more than £1bn worth of lending proposals, as the capital calls for more pandemic support. It comes a year after Recognise Bank launched operations, the Group said today in its unaudited interim results for the six months to September 30. The bank, which because fully [...]
UK hits highest borrowing to GDP ratio since the 60s December 21, 2021 The UK borrowed a further £17.4bn in November, bringing the overall borrowing to GDP ratio to levels not seen since the 1960s. Net debt now sits at 2,317bn, around 96.1 per cent of GDP. While it is around £5bn less than November last year, the figure is also the second-highest November borrowing on record, the [...]
UBS appeals against French court’s money laundering ruling December 20, 2021 UBS has filed an appeal against the decision by France’s Supreme Court last week to uphold the Swiss bank’s conviction for money laundering. It comes just a week after a Paris appeals court slashed the bank’s fine for allegedly helping wealthy customers in France evade taxes to £1.5bn – down from an original penalty of [...]
Credit Suisse executive with links to Greensill steps down after 30 years December 20, 2021 Eric Varvel, the Credit Suisse executive who previously ran the bank’s $500bn asset management unit with ties to Greensill, is stepping down after three decades at the Swiss group. Varvel, who was most recently chair of Credit Suisse’s investment bank and head of its US holding company, had contemplated leaving the bank partly due to [...]
Market share battle: BNP Paribas to ditch US unit for more than $16bn December 20, 2021 BNP Paribas is set to sell off its US unit for $16.3bn, after battling for a share of the region’s retail banking market. Shares inched 0.9 per cent higher to 56.6p per share near market close. The deal with BMO Financial Group for BNP Paribas’ Bank of the West is expected to bolster BMO’s position [...]
Standard Chartered hit with £46m fine for misreporting liquidity position December 20, 2021 The Bank of England has slapped Standard Chartered bank with a £46m fine for reporting errors and a lack of cooperation with regulators. The Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) said today that it would fine the bank for “failing to be open and cooperative” with the authority and “failings in its regulatory reporting governance and controls” [...]