Andrew Bailey says he is ‘proud’ of record as FCA chief March 4, 2020 The incoming Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey has defended his record as head of the City watchdog, saying he is “proud of what we’ve achieved” but “not proud of some things that happened”. Critics say Bailey did not deal adequately with a number of financial scandals that occurred on his watch as chief executive [...]
Andrew Bailey urged to keep climate focus at Bank of England March 3, 2020 Incoming Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey must maintain Threadneedle Street’s concern with climate change after he takes over this month, more than 101 economists, scientists and industry leaders have said in a letter. Signatories to the letter, organised by left-leaning research and campaign groups, include former UK chief scientific adviser Sir David King and [...]
The private sector can be the engine of the low-carbon revolution March 3, 2020 When Al Gore made An Inconvenient Truth in 2006, he pointed to the fact that the Chinese characters for “crisis” signify both “danger” and “opportunity”. In the years since, the conversations around tackling climate change have often been framed by what industries and governments stand to lose in the immediate future by acting. Advocates have [...]
StanChart chairman ‘sounds out’ banking executives to replace boss Bill Winters March 3, 2020 Standard Chartered chairman Jose Vinals has reportedly approached banking executives this year in a bif to gauge their interest in replacing current chief executive Bill Winters. Vinals has been sounding out possible candidates from companies in Britain, southeast Asia, and Europe, according to Bloomberg, in a search that is not currently part of any formal [...]
Bank of England expects to internal report on audio feed misuse in April March 3, 2020 The Bank of England expects an internal report into misuse of its audio feeds to go the bank’s directors in April, after it emerged that hedge funds were able to access a market-sensitive feed ahead of its official broadcast. Outgoing governor Mark Carney told the Treasury committee today that he expected the BoE’s court — [...]
Jupiter adds to pressure on Barclays over fossil fuel financing March 3, 2020 Jupiter Asset Management has backed a landmark shareholder resolution calling on Barclays to stop financing fossil fuel producers that are not aligned with the Paris Agreement climate goals. Jupiter, which is one of Barclays’ top-25 shareholders, has joined 11 other institutional investors and over 100 individual shareholders in backing the motion, which is thought to [...]
Goldman Sachs builds up 8.5 per cent voting rights in Metro Bank March 2, 2020 Goldman Sachs has built up 8.48 per cent voting rights in troubled British lender Metro Bank, according to regulatory filings. Metro Bank’s share price has collapsed almost 90 per cent since early 2019, when it disclosed an almost £1bn accounting error. The challenger bank plunged to a £131m loss last year following the scandal, which [...]
Goldman Sachs and Citigroup halt foreign business trips over coronavirus March 2, 2020 US banking giants Goldman Sachs and Citigroup have expanded their restrictions on business trips by staff in response to the coronavirus epidemic. Citigroup’s restrictions will now cover all international business trips “until further notice”, the bank said. Previously, it had only restricted travel to a select number of countries that had reported outbreaks of the [...]
Chancellor Rishi Sunak tells EU: Stick to June timeline for City equivalence decision March 2, 2020 UK chancellor Rishi Sunak has told the European Union to stick to a June deadline to work out which parts of Britain’s financial system will be deemed equivalent after Brexit. British banks, trading platforms and insurers are hoping to be granted access to EU markets under a so-called equivalence system, under which the bloc would [...]
Greenpeace targets Barclays branches over fossil fuel financing March 2, 2020 Greenpeace activists have targeted almost 100 Barclays bank branches this morning in protest over the bank’s financing of fossil fuel companies. Some 29 branches in London are affected, according to Greenpeace, with activists disabling many of the branches’ lock mechanisms so they are unable to open as usual. Campaigners are demanding the banking giant — [...]