Four things to watch as the Bank of England sets interest rates November 4, 2020 The Bank of England’s group of interest rate-setters will announce their latest monetary policy decision tomorrow, albeit virtually. Since the last meeting in September, the government has announced a new month-long lockdown for England amid soaring coronavirus cases. Most analysts expect the Bank to launch more stimulus to support the economy during the winter. Here [...]
Surge in trading revenues helps BNP Paribas beat expectations November 3, 2020 A surge in currency and commodity trading and lower than expected provisions for bad loans helped BNP Paribas beat earnings expectations for the third quarter. France’s biggest bank reported a 2.3 per cent drop in net income, which fell to €1.9bn (£1.7bn) for the three months to September – beating analysts expectations of €1.5bn. Overall [...]
Got an HSBC account? It’s time to show your support for the people of Hong Kong November 3, 2020 British consumers have faced a tough few months — but for those banking with HSBC, times may be about to get tougher still. Following a reported 35 per cent fall in its quarterly profits, HSBC has announced that it might have to start charging its customers for basic services such as current accounts British customers [...]
Trader convicted of rigging Libor to be released from prison in January November 2, 2020 Tom Hayes, a former UBS and Citigroup trader convicted of rigging the Libor benchmark, is to be released from prison in January after more than five years. Hayes, who was convicted of rigging the London interbank offered rate (or Libor) in 2015, will be released on 29 January, according to his lawyer. The 41-year-old has [...]
Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank return London staff to home working November 2, 2020 Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank are to return non-essential staff in their London offices to home working ahead of the introduction of a new coronavirus lockdown in England on Thursday. Several major banks had been encouraging staff to return to their London offices in recent months following the relaxation of initial lockdown measures, but news [...]
Travel may be banned once more, but the City of London continues to look outwards November 2, 2020 Overseas travel is set to be heavily curtailed once again over the coming weeks. But despite this restriction, international trade will remain a vital driver for the global economy as it emerges from the shadow of the pandemic. In particular, the green revolution and transition to digital offer huge investment opportunities worldwide as we look [...]
Sainsbury’s mulls sale of banking division October 31, 2020 The new Sainsbury’s boss is reportedly planning a sale of the supermarket’s banking arm as the impact of near-zero interest rates hit. The supermarket launched the bank in 1997 and now boasts more than 2m customers across a range of products including mortgages, home insurance and credit cards. But medium-sized banks are facing pressure as [...]
EU tells banks to comply with sustainability disclosures despite lack of guidance October 30, 2020 The EU has told banks and insurers they must comply with the bloc’s new laws on sustainability-related disclosures from March, even though detailed guidance on how the rules work in practice will not be ready in time. Last year the bloc approved a law designed to increase transparency on how financial institutions consider sustainability risks [...]
Natwest returns to profit as virus loan charges fall October 30, 2020 Natwest returned to profit during the third quarter, reporting forecast-beating earnings after setting aside a smaller-than-expected sum to deal with bad loans due to the coronavirus pandemic. Natwest posted an operating profit before tax of £355m for the three months to September on an income of £1.9bn. The figure beat the bank-compiled analyst estimates of [...]
Credit Suisse profit drops as wealth management fees tumble October 29, 2020 Credit Suisse Group said it would renew dividends and begin a share buyback programme despite posting a 38 per cent drop in net profit for the third quarter as a surge in investment banking failed to offset a slowdown in wealth management. The Swiss banking giant reported a profit of 546 million Swiss francs (£461m) [...]