Let’s give our SMEs all the help they need to expand overseas — by tackling unfair payment charges August 7, 2020 Coronavirus has changed our lives, there’s no denying that. But it’s also changed the way a huge number of businesses operate on a daily basis. We’re not just seeing SMEs cope with new track and trace systems and social distancing rules. They’re revolutionising the way they make money, moving operations online, and even going cashless [...]
Edward Bramson resumes activist campaign against Barclays August 6, 2020 Edward Bramson has renewed his activist campaign against Barclays’ investment bank, even after the division reported a surge in revenue this year. Bramson reportedly told shareholders in his investment Sherborne Investors that the pandemic had “significantly distorted the first half results of all the banks”. In April Bramson called a temporary truce in his battle [...]
Bank of England: Downturn better than feared but UK faces longer recovery August 6, 2020 The Bank of England has significantly improved its prediction for the path of the UK economy this year, but said the recovery will take longer than initially expected. The Bank’s projection, released today, said the UK economy was likely to shrink by 9.5 per cent this year and then grow by nine per cent in [...]
BoE puts negative interest rates in its ‘toolbox’ for the first time August 6, 2020 The Bank of England has put negative interest rates in its “toolbox” of possible monetary policy measures for the first time, governor Andrew Bailey said today. However, Bailey cautioned that the Bank does not currently “have a plan to use them”. Read more: Bank of England says UK economy’s recovery will take longer than expected [...]
Goldman Sachs sets new diversity goals for employing vice presidents August 5, 2020 Goldman Sachs has set new diversity goals for employing Black, Latino and female vice presidents, reflecting a growing acknowledgment that most top roles are held by white men. The bank said that by 2025 it wants seven per cent of its employees with the title to be Black and nine per cent to be Latino. [...]
Metro Bank shares tumble as crisis pushes challenger to £240m loss August 5, 2020 Metro Bank shares plunged more than 13.5 per cent this morning, after the challenger bank declared a £240.6m loss for the first six months of 2020. Its profit for the same period last year was £3.4m, representing a crash of more than 7,000 per cent. Today’s share price fall worsens an existing collapse of more [...]
Commerzbank warns of a loss in 2020 as Wirecard hits loan book August 5, 2020 German lender Commerzbank posted a 21 per cent drop in profit in the second quarter as loan loss provisions increased and warned it is set to fall to a loss in 2020. Provisions for credit losses rose to €469m as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Around €175m of the provision was related to scandal-hit [...]
Non-Standard Finance shares plunge 26 per cent as FCA raises concerns August 3, 2020 Shares in sub-prime lender Non-Standard Finance (NSF) have plunged 26 per cent after the UK’s financial watchdog raised concerns about its guarantor loans division, causing the firm to put a share issue on hold. Non-Standard Finance said in a statement today that the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) had “raised a number of concerns regarding certain [...]
Metro Bank agrees £12m deal for Ratesetter in lending push August 3, 2020 Metro Bank will snap up peer-to-peer lender Ratesetter after agreeing a £12m sale it hopes will push it into more profitable banking avenues. The challenger bank will pay an initial £2.5m, it said today, and another £9.5m over the three years following the completion of the deal, based on performance criteria. Daniel Frumkin, Metro Bank’s [...]
HSBC profit plummets due to coronavirus pandemic August 3, 2020 HSBC warned warned its bad debt charges could soar to $13bn this year as the bank reported a sharp drop in profit in the first half of 2020 due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The figures The lender’s share price fell 4.63 per cent to 326.25p this morning as it announced that profit [...]