The Wirecard scandal is a warning to the EU to think twice before cutting itself off from London’s financial expertise August 24, 2020 “The last place we expected something like this to happen was Germany,” said Peter Altmaier, the German economy minister in the wake of the Wirecard fiasco. But is it really? City A.M. readers will likely now be fully familiar with the Wirecard debacle. But for those who are not, here is a potted history. Since [...]
JP Morgan prepares to launch UK digital bank next year August 21, 2020 JP Morgan Chase is reportedly preparing to launch an online bank in the UK early next year. The investment bank is finalising plans to open its UK challenger bank in the first quarter of 2021, according to Sky News. It has signed up suppliers to provide cloud and digital banking infrastructure, including Amazon Web Services [...]
Top 25 law firm DAC Beachcroft seals £65m deal with HSBC and Lloyds to provide ‘firepower’ during covid downturn August 21, 2020 UK top 25 law firm DAC Beachcroft has sealed a £65m financing deal with Lloyds and HSBC to help give it the “firepower” to push through the covid-downturn. The London-headquartered law firm, which has 19 offices and more than 2,600 people around the world, said it boosted its finance facility to ensure its plans for [...]
London’s grip on clearing continues as Frankfurt’s progress slows August 20, 2020 Deutsche Boerse’s Eurex Clearing said its euro clearing division had grown less quickly than expected, demonstrating that London will remain the centre of the industry for some time after Brexit. Eurex said it accounted for €19 trillion (£17 trillion) of the enormous €100 trillion notional outstanding value in euro interest rate derivatives and forward contracts. [...]
We need more competition in business finance — and Open Banking can help August 20, 2020 SME banking has been a persistent problem. In 2016, the government set out to challenge the oligopoly of high street banks. A sizable alternative lending sector was created, accounting for up to 30 per cent of SME lending pre-coronavirus, and challengers have managed to capture over 20 per cent of business current accounts. Many have [...]
So what if Sajid Javid has a new job? Outside interests can make for better MPs August 19, 2020 A former Deutsche Bank board member has joined JP Morgan as part of the US bank’s EMEA advisory council. Hardly front-page news, you would imagine — notices in brief in a financial publication, at best. Except that the DB alumnus is Sajid Javid, former chancellor of the exchequer and currently MP for Bromsgrove. The reaction [...]
Lending through key UK coronavirus schemes tops £52bn August 18, 2020 Bank lending to struggling businesses through the government-backed coronavirus lending programmes has topped £52bn, figures today showed. The bounce back loan scheme (BBLS), under which the government backs 100 per cent of loans up to £50,000, has seen by far the most use. Treasury figures showed £35.5bn had been lent out through the programme by [...]
Brexit: City faces wait beyond 2020 for EU financial market access August 18, 2020 The City of London may not know whether it will gain post-Brexit access to EU markets until next year, according to Brussels’ financial services chief. European Commission executive vice president Valdis Dombrovskis warned yesterday that regulatory equivalence – which would give City firms access to the EU – could still take months to be granted. [...]
JPMorgan appoints former Chancellor Sajid Javid to advisory role August 17, 2020 JPMorgan has hired former Chancellor Sajid Javid as a senior adviser, the bank announced on Monday. Javid will take up a role on the Wall Street giant’s advisory council for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). It’s a move that sees him resume his career in investment banking. He quit his role at the [...]
Ranked: Monzo and Starling top list of best UK banks August 17, 2020 Digital fintechs Monzo and Starling are better than traditional banks at providing the best service to personal banking customers, according to a recent survey. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) conducted a survey of around 1,000 customers of each of the 19 largest personal current account providers in Britain to rank the best and worst [...]