Citigroup forces UK junior bankers to take two weeks off by October August 25, 2021 Citigroup has asked its junior bankers across Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) to take two weeks off work by the end of September. The measures, introduced in July and first reported by Bloomberg, form part of the Wall Street giant’s bid to improve working conditions for its youngest employees. The bank is fighting [...]
Bank North bags fresh licence in its bid to localise the future of banking August 25, 2021 Bank North has secured a banking licence from the Bank of England as it looks to target northern cities with regionally focused lenders. The upcoming lender will open in October to small businesses in and around Greater Manchester, with plans to start taking retail deposits next year. The bank’s boss Jonathan Thompson explained that Bank [...]
Ailing subprime lender Amigo registers near sevenfold rise in losses August 24, 2021 Losses at subprime lender Amigo ballooned more than sevenfold over the last year as it contends with the swelling cost of repaying customers it misssold loans to. The guarantor lender’s losses before tax increased 648 per cent compared to the same period in 2020, rising to £283.6m from £37.9m. The widening losses were primarily driven [...]
Santander US to snap up remaining stake in consumer unit for $2.5bn August 24, 2021 Santander’s US division is set to buy the minority stake in its American consumer unit for $2.5bn. Snapping up the remaining 20 per cent of the business, the deal values the entire Santander Consumer US unit at $12.7bn, the bank said in a statement. Santander offered some $41.5 per share – a 6.4 per [...]
Mervyn King: Central banks cannot solve most of society’s problems August 24, 2021 A former governor of the Bank of England has warned that central banks cannot be relied on to solve most of society’s problems. Writing for Bloomberg, Mervyn King said there are “serious challenges to our societies. But the gravity of an issue is not the sole, nor even the most important, criterion for central-bank involvement. [...]
Lloyds hires Barclays exec to lead debt capital markets division August 23, 2021 Barclays exec Miray Muminoglu has been appointed as the new head of Lloyds Bank’s financial institutions debt capital markets and securitised products group. Muminoglu, who currently works as managing director, head of term funding within Barclays’ group treasury unit, will join Lloyds Bank in London this November, reported Financial News. Muminoglu has over 30 years [...]
Global anti-money laundering fines surge as regulators dole out tougher penalties August 23, 2021 Global anti-money laundering (AML) fines at banks and financial services firms soared to $2.2bn (£1.6bn) last year, fives times higher than in 2019, as regulators have stuck to tougher lines on the industry, according to reports. In its latest review Kroll, a governance and risk consultancy, found that watchdogs levied almost $1bn of AML fines in [...]
Flying high: Former RBS and RSA boss Stephen Hester to be next Easyjet chairman August 23, 2021 City heavyweight Stephen Hester, who led RBS and insurer RSA, has been named the next chairman of budget airline Easyjet. Easyjet this morning named Hester as its director and chair designate. Hester will join the Board as a non-executive director on 1 September and then he will succeed John Barton as the airline’s chair on [...]
JP Morgan boss Jamie Dimon plans first UK visit since Covid hit August 23, 2021 JP Morgan chief executive Jamie Dimon will visit London next month for the first time since the coronavirus outbreak. The trip could result in fresh momentum for workers to return to the City as the banker has advocated for office-working. The Wall Street banking boss will meet clients and staff after an initial scheduled trip [...]
Worst performing investment funds worth £30bn are revealed in report August 20, 2021 An online investment service, Bestinvest, has published it’s latest “Spot the Dog” report naming and shaming 77 investment funds which have consistently underperformed the markets they invest in. Although 77 investment funds across a range of equity markets worldwide were identified in the latest report, which is published twice a year, it marks a sharp [...]