Goldman Sach’s London employees to return to the office by 21 June May 4, 2021 Goldman Sachs employees in the UK will return to the office by 21 June, in line with the government’s easing of lockdown that should see the UK largely restriction-free. In an internal memo circulated among staff, and seen by City A.M., chief executive David Solomon said: “We know from experience that our culture of collaboration, [...]
UK banks provided over $50bn in financing for coal-exposed firms from 2018 to 2020 May 4, 2021 The UK’s biggest banks provided $56bn worth of financing for firms involved in the coal industry between 2018 and 2020, new research today has found. Of the top five banks exposed to the sector, Barclays provided by far the most financing to firms on the Global Coal Exit list, with $27bn. HSBC and Standard Chartered [...]
Mortgage lending rose to record £11.8bn in March after stamp duty extension May 4, 2021 UK mortgage lending saw the biggest net increase on record in March driven by extension of the stamp duty rax relief. Mortgage borrowing rose by a net £11.8bn in March, the strongest since the series began in April 1993, Bank of England figures show. The stamp duty holiday was originally due to end in March, [...]
Klarna to buck pandemic trend and take on more UK office space May 3, 2021 Klarna plans to take on more office space as part of a push to double its British workforce and launch more banking products. The buy now pay later firm will take new headquarters in an 11,000 sq ft WeWork office in Holborn and expand its existing space in Manchester. The firm is also looking at [...]
India’s Covid crisis makes Barclays and other banks to shift call centre operations back to UK May 3, 2021 Barclays has announced it will shift some of its Indian call centre operations back to the UK as staff in the South-Asian country are struggling to cope with the ongoing Covid-19 crisis. A range of other UK and US banks and companies are mulling to do the same, according to multiple media reports in India [...]
New Credit Suisse chair Horta-Osório says bank’s crisis is worst he’s seen May 1, 2021 New Credit Suisse chair António Horta-Osório has told investors the recent crisis at the bank is the worst he has seen in his career. Speaking at an annual meeting yesterday the former Lloyds boss told investors the situation at Credit Suisse was severe. “I have personally worked at and led several banks in different countries [...]
Junior bankers at HSBC set for pay rise in bid to tackle burnout April 30, 2021 HSBC will raise hire more junior bankers to share the workload and hike current employees’ pay in a bid to tackle burnout after a gruelling year. The bank will also shorten a four year associate programme for certain groups in Hong Kong, London and the US, according to an internal memo seen by Bloomberg. Associates [...]
Barclays profit more than doubles to £2.4bn, as it shifts call centres to UK from India April 30, 2021 Barclays’ profit more than doubled in the first quarter despite not releasing cash set aside to cover bad loans from the pandemic like its British rivals. The bank posted a pre-tax profit of £2.4bn for the first three months of the year, up from £923m in the same period a year earlier and beating an [...]
Bank of Ireland sees strong first quarter as capital rises and costs drop April 30, 2021 The Bank of Ireland has reported a strong income for the first quarter of this year today, noting limited impacts on customer loans from longer lockdowns in the Irish market. Ireland’s largest bank by assets enjoyed a stable net interest income throughout its multiple lockdowns, exceeding initial forecasts, as its capital levels rose and its [...]
How strong might the UK’s post-Covid economic recovery be? April 30, 2021 | City Talk It has been a tough start to the year for the UK. As lockdown restrictions continue to slowly ease, we examine the progress made in tackling the Covid-19 pandemic, and whether hopes for a strong economic recovery are well founded. Vaccines offered hope, speedy inoculation will solidify the recovery A year on from the start [...]