Exclusive: London’s fintech bubble is ‘close to popping,’ warns Reed Smith partner April 13, 2021 A coalition of London fintech firms recently called on the Financial Conduct Authority to end the dominance of banks over the use of consumer data this year. They argue it would increase competition in the savings, credit, mortgages and pensions markets. Howard Womersley Smith, an expert fintech and data lawyer at Reed Smith in the [...]
Goldman Sachs to open Birmingham office later this year April 13, 2021 Goldman Sachs plans to open an office in Birmingham, with the investment bank hoping to have the new office up and running by the third quarter of 2021. The Birmingham office will initially be a shared space in the city centre, ahead of plans to move to a new and yet to be determined Birmingham [...]
Banks start process to claw back billions from Covid loans April 12, 2021 Some of Britain’s biggest lenders have begun sending letters to customers, warning them that repayments for crisis loans will soon be expected. HSBC, Barclays, NatWest and Lloyds have each begun sending letters to customers, the Mail on Sunday first revealed, with the first set repayments due to start in just two weeks. Banks handed out [...]
The Week Ahead: Tesco, Coinbase IPO, JD Sports, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs April 12, 2021 Some of the biggest banks are set to report earnings this week, with JPMorgan, Wells Fargo and Goldman Sachs all due on Wednesday. On a macro level, Tuesday’s UK GDP figures and inflation data from the US are undoubtedly going to be important. Meanwhile, the largest US cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase, goes public. City A.M. looks at [...]
BlackRock and Mustier’s blank cheque firm eye Credit Suisse fund management arm April 9, 2021 BlackRock and Jean-Pierre Mustier’s blank-check firm are among investors expressing interest in Credit Suisse’s asset management arm, three sources told Reuters, as the Swiss lender explores options for the unit after a run of costly scandals. U.S. investment firm State Street Corp is also eyeing a rival bid for all or part of the Swiss [...]
More money into stocks in the past five months than the last 12 years, BofA says April 9, 2021 Investors have injected more money into equity funds in the last five months than over the last 12 years, according to Bank of America data. An eyewatering $576bn has been invested since December, over the peak of the GameStop surge, and topped the $452bn that had been raised over 12 years. The Bank of America’s [...]
Bank of America to hike salaries for junior bankers amid lifestyle scrutiny April 8, 2021 Bank of America today said it will raise the salaries of its junior investment bankers amid growing scrutiny over working conditions at major banks. The lender said the pay boost, which will come into effect next month, reflects the heightened workload caused by a flurry of dealmaking during the pandemic. “Given our ongoing remote work [...]
OneSavings Bank sets aside £20m to cover fraud costs April 8, 2021 OneSavings Bank (OSB) has set aside £20m to cover the costs of fraudulent activity carried out by one of its corporate customers. The cost to the lender is lower than it initially anticipated, saying in a market update last month it estimated the fraud cost to be around £28.6m. As a result of the incident, [...]
In-person conferences to return to the capital with fintech event April 8, 2021 In-person conferences are set to return in July with Fintech Week London, as lockdown restrictions ease after a socially starved year. “Virtual conferences have served us well during the pandemic, but there’s nothing like being around fellow professionals and immersing yourself in face-to-face conversations,” CEO of Fintech Week London, Raf De Kimpe, said. “The Covid-19 [...]
Some 1,200 HSBC staff to permanently work from home April 7, 2021 HSBC is moving more than 1,200 staff in the UK to permanent working from home contracts, marking yet another company making major changes to its working patterns post-pandemic. Around 70 per cent of the bank’s 1,800 call centre staff based across England, Wales and Scotland have volunteered to never return to the office, employment union [...]