Virgin Money boosts consumer loan book in ‘difficult market’ January 28, 2020 The UK’s sixth-largest lender Virgin Money oversaw a solid expansion of its personal and business loan book in the three months to December despite a “difficult market”, it announced today in a trading update. Virgin Money – which was bought by CYBG for £1.7bn in 2018 – also confirmed the worst is over in terms [...]
City watchdog demands banks explain similar overdraft pricing January 28, 2020 The City watchdog has demanded that high street lenders explain why they have aligned their new overdraft rates at around 40 per cent following a rule change. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) will from April ban banks from charging more for unarranged overdrafts, in response to complaints that such fees were regularly 10 times as [...]
Philip Hammond joins fintech startup Oaknorth as adviser January 27, 2020 Former chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond has joined small business lender Oaknorth as an adviser. Hammond will work with clients of the fintech startup and “senior policymakers around the world” on the issue of small and medium-sized firms’ access to loans. The ex-Treasury boss said: “I am delighted to be joining Oaknorth’s advisory board [...]
Lender Amigo kickstarts formal sales process January 27, 2020 Lender Amigo today launched a strategic review and opened itself to offers as its founder signalled he wants to sell on his majority stake in the struggling company. All or part of Amigo’s business could be sold after founder James Benamor’s Richmond Group said it was open to divesting its stake of 60.66 per cent. [...]
Going green: The City is leading the charge towards a sustainable financial future January 27, 2020 This year, for the first time ever, the climate crisis dominated the World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report. The five top threats to the global economy identified all concerned the environment. Unprecedented climate events are happening with alarming regularity. The message is clear: we must urgently work together to achieve the transition to a green [...]
Goldman Sachs introduces gender quota for floats January 26, 2020 Goldman Sachs will not take a company public unless there is at least one “diverse” candidate on the board. Speaking at Davos last Thursday, the bank’s chief executive David Solomon said: “From a governance perspective, diversity on boards is a very, very important issue.” The push for diversity will be focused primarily on women. Solomon [...]
RBS boss Alison Rose mulling thousands of Natwest job cuts January 26, 2020 Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is reportedly considering axing thousands of jobs at Natwest as part of a series of cost-cutting measures. Under Alison Rose, who in November became the first woman to run RBS, executives are working on the so-called Project Tusk to slash costs at the state-owned lender. One of the measures being [...]
FCA facing calls to probe ‘concerning’ pension transfer advice January 25, 2020 The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has been urged to contact more than 160,000 people who cashed in their final salary pensions since 2015 and may have received bad pension transfer advice. The FCA revealed earlier this week it was worried nearly 80 per cent of firms had provided bad advice in the market, which is [...]
Barclays investment bankers face ‘double-digit’ cut to bonus pool January 24, 2020 Barclays investment bankers are reportedly facing a double-digit fall in their bonus pool for 2019, as chief executive Jes Stanley pushes for the lender to meet profitability targets amid growing pressure from an activist investor. Barclays Investment Bank reported a strong third-quarter performance with a 41 per cent jump in net profit. But the division’s [...]
Banks ‘use fraud warnings to avoid reimbursing victims’ January 24, 2020 Banks are not reimbursing customers who have been scammed because they have been “careless”, despite some signing a voluntary code intended to protect fraud victims, it is alleged. The voluntary industry code introduced in May 2019 was designed to help customers recover life-changing sums lost to fraudsters. However, some of Britain’s biggest banks are refusing to [...]