Over half of financial services professionals claim ‘greenwashing’ is rife in the industry, study says May 25, 2021 More than half of financial services professionals believe ‘greenwashing’ is rife within the industry, according to a study released today, as employees fear competitors intentionally inflate their sustainable practices. The study by data agency iResearch Services, which polled 550 decision-makers at financial institutions, also found that 38 per cent believe every business is operating ‘unethically’ [...]
Exclusive: UK banks jump on the tech bandwagon to give their operations a green boost May 24, 2021 Almost three quarters of all UK banks are embracing digital technology to make their business operations greener. In fact, two in five banks are using intelligent automation and digitising all paper processes in a bid to be more sustainable, according to new research by Censuswide, and shared with City A.M. today. This was followed by [...]
HSBC rules out move into crypto market over volatility concerns May 24, 2021 HSBC will not enter the cryptocurrency market, its chief executive has said, amid concerns over volatility and a lack of transparency. “Given the volatility we are not into Bitcoin as an asset class, if our clients want to be there then of course they are, but we are not promoting it as an asset class [...]
HSBC and Barclays call for open banking reform over higher costs May 24, 2021 UK banks are reportedly unhappy with the high costs associated with open banking reforms which force them to share data with rivals in a bid to increase competition. Open banking is the UK’s implementation of the EU’s revised directive on payment services, which was introduced in 2015. UK regulated banks are required to let customers [...]
Exclusive: City commuters lives in Walton-on-Thames at risk as fourth Grenfell anniversary nears May 21, 2021 City commuters lives may be at risk nearly four years on from the Grenfell disaster after an official dossier uncovered a major housing association failing to carry out key remedial works. Official documents seen by City A.M. reveal that PA Housing Association in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, a commuter hotbed for brokers, bankers and consultants, has so [...]
BoE eyes a climate-conscious corporate bond purchase scheme May 21, 2021 The Bank of England (BoE) has tabled plans to make its £20bn of corporate bonds better aligned with government net zero targets today. Set to begin later this year, the bank will not immediately sell off bonds issued by businesses that have high carbon emissions, such as energy and oil firms. “Divestment is a powerful [...]
Nationwide customers saved a further £10.6bn over the pandemic May 21, 2021 Customer deposited increased by £10.6bn throughout the pandemic, Nationwide said today, while remote working has made its workforce ‘more productive’ in the year to 4 April. With lockdown restrictions closing high streets and putting a pin in travel, Nationwide found deposits increased by double what they increased by in 2019, as customers stashed cash into [...]
Westminster must stop City of London ‘neglect’, says ex-Johnson adviser May 21, 2021 The government must stop its “policy of benign neglect” toward the City of London and urgently bring in financial services regulation reforms, according to Boris Johnson’s former economic adviser. In a report released by centre-right think tank Policy Exchange, Dr Gerard Lyons called for a strong stance on parting from the EU’s financial services regulations [...]
Has lockdown triggered a City brain-drain? May 20, 2021 The explosion in home-working due to lockdown is shifting the focus away from a London-centric view of careers, with regional firms benefiting from a growing desire to shun the commute. Lockdown is prompting a shift away from City jobs to opportunities at smaller, regional practices with talent-hungry boutique firms stretching to match Square Mile-level salary [...]
EU slaps £319m fine on UBS, Nomura and UniCredit for bond cartels May 20, 2021 European Union antitrust regulators charged UBS, UniCredit and Nomura with a fine of £319m for their connections with a European government bond trading cartel. The sizable fines are the most recent punishment of the financial industry for its alleged involvement in foreign exchange cartels, Euribor and Libor benchmark cartels, and bonds cartels. The European Commission [...]