Leaked ASA report: Regulator to order HSBC to end greenwashing and stop misleading UK customers April 29, 2022 City A.M. understands that a preliminary, unpublished decision by the advertising regulator rules that a number of HSBC’s climate-focused ads are misleading, and that the watchdog demands that future marketing must not omit significant information about its contribution to rising emissions. The ASA’s draft recommendations, seen by this paper, focus on two of HSBC’s ads, [...]
ECB gets more nervous by the day as Eurozone inflation hits highest level ever: Sixth record in a row April 29, 2022 Inflation hit a new record for the 19 countries that use the euro as skyrocketing fuel prices boosted by the war in Ukraine add new burdens to household finances and weigh on a slowing economic recovery from the latest outbreaks of Covid-19. Annual inflation hit 7.5 per cent for April, the highest since statistics started [...]
Natwest’s profits soar as high interest rates boost bank’s mortgage business April 29, 2022 Natwest today said its profits had almost doubled since the previous quarter, despite inflation, the cost-of-living crisis, and the war in Ukraine. The bank said it had generated £841m in profits in the first quarter of 2022, up 93.8 per cent compared to the £434m in profits Natwest posted in Q4 2021. The first quarter [...]
Glass Lewis drums up rebellion against NatWest chief’s £5m payout April 28, 2022 One of the world’s biggest shareholder representation groups is urging investors in NatWest to rebel against an over £5m payout to the bank’s boss. Alison Rose, the bank’s chief, is set to net the first significant executive pay upgrade since NatWest fell back into private hands last month for the first time since it was [...]
Barclays kicks shareholder goodies into long grass again after $15bn trading blunder April 28, 2022 British banking giant Barclays has kicked its share buyback programme into the long grass for the second time after it booked huge costs to draw a line under an unprecedented trading blunder, it announced today. The lender last month said it had sold more than $15bn (£12bn) of financial products than it was allowed to, [...]
Standard Chartered wrestles with inflation as it eyes metaverse profits April 28, 2022 Standard Chartered has continued to wrestle with rising inflation, which is expected to hit double digits by the end of this year. The British bank’s income inched some nine per cent higher $4.3bn in the first quarter of this year, while return on tangible equity of jumped a little over 11 per cent. Chief executive Bill [...]
Billionaire financier Leon Black paid mistress millions for UK Golden Visa April 27, 2022 Billionaire financier Leon Black paid his Russian mistress £2m to make her eligible for a UK “Golden Visa”, in the hopes she would start a new life, far away from his home in New York. The co-founder of private equity giant Apollo Global Management transferred millions to his former mistress Guzel Ganieva after she began [...]
Credit Suisse posts another loss on swelling legal costs April 27, 2022 Millions in pounds in legal costs to deal with a string of scandals has plunged embattled lender Credit Suisse to another quarterly loss, it announced today. The Swiss bank, which has been engulfed by sudden board departures and huge losses from its involvement in the Greensill Capital debacle, spent CHF 703m (£578m) on hiring lawyers [...]
Lloyds warns of looming defaults on cost of living shock April 27, 2022 The cost of living shock that is rippling throughout household finances is increasing the chances of borrowers defaulting on their debts, Britain’s biggest mortgage lender warned today. Worsening economic conditions triggered by inflation scaling to 30-year highs is likely to lead to greater financial distress among Brits, Lloyds Bank said today. The bleak assessment touches [...]
Global reach of crypto leaves individual regulators powerless, FCA boss warns April 26, 2022 The global reach of cryptocurrencies has left individual regulators unable to shield consumers from mis-sold investments and dodgy products, the chief of the UK’s financial watchdog has warned.