Citigroup names Jane Fraser as next chief executive September 10, 2020 Citigroup has become the first major Wall Street bank to be run by a woman, as it announced president Jane Fraser will take over as chief executive. Citi today revealed that chief executive Michael Corbat will step down next February, after 37 years with the bank, and will be replaced by Fraser. “Of course, there [...]
Exclusive: Bank of England spends £120,000 making HQ Covid-secure September 10, 2020 The Bank of England has been hugely busy during the coronavirus pandemic, pulling the levers of monetary policy in a desperate effort to support the economy. But it has also been working hard closer to home. It has spent at least £117,000 on making its historic Threadneedle Street headquarters as safe as possible during Covid [...]
City of London slams government plans to override EU deal September 8, 2020 The City of London Corporation has sharply criticised the government’s plans to override some parts of the EU withdrawal agreement, warning it could “seriously damage” the UK’s relationship with its biggest trading partner. Speaking at a webinar, the Corporation’s head of policy Catherine McGuinness also said the government appeared to have forgotten about the financial [...]
Watchdog blocks Lloyds’ unfair treatment of Covid-hit firms September 8, 2020 The competition watchdog has stopped Lloyds Bank from forcing small business customers to open business current accounts when taking out bounce back loans. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has accused Lloyds of “bundling” loans and business current accounts for small companies. Bundling is where a bank requires small business customers to open a current [...]
Deutsche Bank asks 20 per cent of staff to return to London office September 7, 2020 Deutsche Bank is the latest City firm to ask employees to return to the office, as it invites some of its London-based staff back to its headquarters. The German bank has asked around 20 per cent of its employees to come back to its Great Winchester Street headquarters this week, according to Financial News. This [...]
Amigo seeks to calm nerves as battle for future hots up September 7, 2020 Subprime loan firm Amigo has sought to pour cold water on rising interest in the potential return of founder James Benamor to the embattled business ahead of its upcoming general meeting. Over the weekend Benamor shared extracts of an irrevocable bid to buy 29 per cent of the company at 20p per share on social [...]
Malaysia drops charges against Goldman Sachs over 1MDB scandal September 4, 2020 Malaysian prosecutors today dropped criminal charges against three Goldman Sachs units accused of misleading investors over $6.5bn (£4.9bn) in bond sales they helped organise for scandal-hit state fund 1MDB. The move comes after Goldman Sachs agreed to pay $3.9bn to Malaysia to settle a probe into its alleged role in the scandal involving the fund, [...]
Bank of England: UK economy ‘likely’ to need further stimulus September 4, 2020 Bank of England interest rate-setter Michael Saunders said today that it was “quite likely” that more stimulus will be needed for Britain’s Covid-hit economy in a downbeat speech on the outlook. “I consider it quite likely that additional monetary easing will be appropriate in order to achieve a sustained return of inflation to the two [...]
Treasury set to reject City coronavirus loan refinance plan September 4, 2020 The Treasury is reportedly set to reject a City of London plan for a new state-owned organisation that would refinance the billions of pounds of emergency coronavirus loans lent to UK companies. Chancellor Rishi Sunak is set to rebuff plans put forward by a group led by trade body The City UK and audit firm [...]
HSBC’s looming pensions crisis: will the bank win the battle but lose the war? September 4, 2020 A business of any reasonable size should have members of its team scanning the horizon for potential problems, like Frederick Fleet in the crow’s nest of RMS Titanic. The most dangerous crises, though, are those which fall on a company from an apparently cloudless sky: those which hit unprepared, and leave a business scrabbling for [...]