British Business Investments invests in record number of firms November 11, 2020 The commercial arm of the government-backed British Business Bank has invested in a record number of firms but its rate of return has more than halved due to the pandemic. The British Business Investments (BBI) annual report shows an additional 15 commitments totalling £547m in the year to 31 March 2020. It brings the total [...]
‘Positive evidence’ on negative interest rates, says BoE policymaker Tenreyro November 11, 2020 Bank of England policymaker Silvana Tenreyro said there was “positive evidence” that negative interest rates could help banks and the wider economy amid the downturn caused by Covid-19. “The positive evidence related to negative interest rate policy comes from Europe, where it has worked fairly well,” Tenreyro said in an interview with the Yorkshire Post. [...]
China’s banking regulator urges anti-monopoly scrutiny in financial sector November 11, 2020 China should borrow the play-book of foreign countries and step up anti-monopoly scrutiny in the financial sector to protect the interests of consumers, a senior official at the country’s top banking watchdog said earlier today. The remarks by Liang Tao, vice chairman of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC), came a day after China published draft rules aimed [...]
Dutch bank ABN Amro beats profit expectations after smaller rise in bad loans November 11, 2020 ABN Amro reported expectation-beating results, despite posting a 46 per cent drop in third quarter profit as losses on bad loans due to the Covid-19 pandemic rose less than expected. The Dutch lender posted a net profit of €301m (£268m) for the three months to September, beating bank-compiled analyst forecasts of €111m, but almost half [...]
Barclays fossil fuel financing increases despite ‘net zero’ pledge November 11, 2020 Barclays has increased its financing of fossil fuel firms despite setting a ‘net zero’ goal for itself earlier this year following investor pressure, according to a new report. The bank, which is Europe’s largest fossil fuel financer, provided $24.58bn (£18.55bn) in underwriting and lending to major fossil fuel companies between January and September this year. [...]
Rishi Sunak announces post-Brexit outline for City of London November 9, 2020 Rishi Sunak has outlined the City of London’s future after Brexit, which will aim to provide stability for EU financial services firms operating in the UK while also trying to open up the sector to more international markets. Sunak said the Treasury today was unliterally publishing “a set of equivalence decisions for EU and EEA [...]
Weekly outlook, 9-13 November: Investors shift their focus back to the UK economy November 9, 2020 Investors were kept busy with the drama across the Atlantic last week, but they’ll soon want to focus back on the UK in what will be a busy week of results and economic updates. After a nail-biting election, markets will likely be considering the implication of a Biden presidency. But with GDP and unemployment figures [...]
Co-op Bank narrows losses but remains deep in the red November 6, 2020 The Co-operative Bank narrowed its losses in the third quarter, putting the lender on course for a better year than in 2019, despite the coronavirus pandemic. The bank’s statutory loss before tax in the third quarter was £23.5m, it said in a trading update today. That was down sharply from a loss of £80.1m in [...]
With America divided, the spotlight once again falls on the Fed November 6, 2020 Amid the continued uncertainty of the US presidential election, one thing is clear: Joe Biden’s White House, should he secure victory in the coming days, will struggle to deliver its desired fiscal stimulus package through a Republican Senate. The US economy’s path through the Covid recession will therefore be shaped by the actions of a [...]
Bank of England to ‘look into’ suspected leak of stimulus decision November 5, 2020 The Bank of England will “look into” a suspected leak of its monetary policy decision to The Sun newspaper, which correctly reported its decision to pump £150bn into the economy before the BoE officially announced the position. There is no suggestion that The Sun acted improperly in its reporting of the story, which also said [...]