UK banks launch new low-deposit mortgage scheme April 19, 2021 High street banks will today begin offering mortgages with a deposit of just five per cent under a new government-backed scheme. The scheme, first announced in the Budget, is designed to make home ownership more affordable for first-time buyers. Borrowers will be able to secure a mortgage with just a five per cent deposit on [...]
Starling Bank secures £50m investment from Goldman Sachs April 19, 2021 Digital lender Starling Bank has extended its latest funding round with a £50m investment from Goldman Sachs. Last month it announced a £272m Series D funding round led by Fidelity Management & Research which valued it in excess of £1.1bn pre-money. Starling Bank today said Goldman Sachs investment marked an extension of the oversubscribed round, [...]
Amanda Staveley launches appeal over Barclays court defeat April 18, 2021 Financier Amanda Staveley has launched an appeal after losing her lawsuit against Barclays over the behaviour of the bank’s bosses negotiating investment deals. In a high-profile trial Staveley sued the lender over claims it gave her private equity firm PCP Capital Partners less favourable treatment than other parties in the emergency £7.3bn fundraising that saved [...]
Morgan Stanley takes $911m hit from Archegos as quarterly profit jumps April 16, 2021 Morgan Stanley’s profits have soared despite disclosing a near $1bn loss from the collapse of Archegos last month. The collapse of the family office run by former Tiger Asia manager Bill Hwang came after it defaulted on margin calls, sparking billions of dollars in losses for Credit Suisse and Nomura. Morgan Stanley was another leading [...]
Online safety bill risks being ‘as shallow as a puddle’, warns campaigner April 15, 2021 In the recently published Integrated Review, a detailed policy document setting out the UK’s national security and international policies, the government identifies online harms as one of the most serious threats to our way of life. The report highlights the government’s commitment to ‘promote a free, open, peaceful and secure cyberspace’. However, it does not reflect the [...]
Citigroup to exit 13 consumer markets despite tripling quarterly profit April 15, 2021 Citigroup has started the year with a bang, tripling its profit in the first quarter after releasing $3.85bn in reserves but announced plans to exit a handful of its consumer markets. The investment bank reported quarterly net income of $7.9bn, up from income of £2.5bn in the first quarter of 2020. Revenues slipped seven per [...]
Bank of America profit doubles as Covid loan losses less than predicted April 15, 2021 Bank of America profit doubles as Covid loan losses less than predicted
Exclusive: Bank of Ireland UK launches four working hubs in pivot to flexible working April 15, 2021 The Bank of Ireland is the latest company to pivot to a flexible working model with plans to launch four working hubs across the UK. Some 91 per cent of employees surveyed by the bank have indicated they would like to work flexibly in a sign of just how much working patterns have changed amid [...]
UniCredit shareholders approve Andrea Orcel’s bumper pay packet April 15, 2021 UniCredit shareholders have approved the appointment of Andrea Orcel and a proposed bumper pay packet making him Italy’s highest-paid banker. Orcel is set to take over from French banker Jean Pierre Mustier who left in February after falling out with the board over its strategy. Today shareholders, accounting for around 60 per cent of the [...]
Women of the City: Ayesa Latif at Citi April 15, 2021 In this series, City A.M. zooms in on a range of successful women in the Square Mile, some being movers and shakers in their respective fields – rule makers, not rule takers – while others are rising stars worth keeping an eye on. Today: Ayesa Latif, managing director, head of EMEA electronic FX Sales at [...]