Rachel Reeves to meet Lloyds and Natwest chiefs over Iran war April 20, 2026 Rachel Reeves has called in the bosses of Britain’s top banks for a summit this week to discuss the economic impact of the war in Iran. The Chancellor has invited executives from Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, Natwest, Santander UK as well as the UK’s biggest building society Nationwide for a meeting this Wednesday. The meeting – as [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Stocks slump on renewed Iran threats; UK to be ‘pushed to brink’ of recession April 20, 2026 Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog. Markets are returning from the weekend to a fresh round of volatility. The mood ended last week on a high following the re-opening of the Strait of Hormuz but that sentiment was quickly squashed over the weekend as tensions renewed. Shipping in the Strait of [...]
JP Morgan poaches Monzo’s banking officer to head up Chase UK April 17, 2026 JP Morgan has poached a top executive from Monzo to head up Chase UK. The Wall Street giant has hired Kunal Malani, who has served as chief banking officer at Monzo since 2020, to lead its UK-based digital banking service. Malani has had stints at Barclays and HSBC in his retail banking career before heading [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Stocks jittery as Starmer makes play to reopen Strait of Hormuz April 17, 2026 Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog. The UK and France are set to co-chair a meeting with allies later today in a bid to strum up ways to re-open the Strait of Hormuz. The vital waterway, which sits off Iran’s coast, sees around a fifth of the world’s oil supply flow [...]
Santander UK tipped for ‘large’ hike to motor finance provisions April 16, 2026 Santander UK is expected to top up its provisions for the motor finance scandal following the final outline of the financial watchdog’s redress scheme. The Spanish-headquartered banking giant has been one of the most vocal critics throughout the scandal, which relates to the use of discretionary commission arrangements (DCAS) in car financing. Banks were accused [...]
Barclays most ‘hurt’ bank to UK economy downgrades April 16, 2026 Barclays has been branded the bank most set to be “hurt” by the downgrades slapped on the UK economy following the turmoil caused by the war in the Middle East. The bank’s macroeconomic forecasts hold the most optimistic assumptions when compared to its FTSE 100 peers. This leaves the lender with a less of a [...]
Santander and TSB kick off mortgage rate cuts after Iran turmoil April 16, 2026 Santander and TSB have kicked off the mortgage rate cutting cycle after lenders pulled deals and hiked their rates amidst the turmoil in Iran. From Thursday, Santander said it would be lower the price on higher loan-to-value (LTV) mortgages products by near 0.3 per cent, which includes its two-year fixed, first-time buyer products. Meanwhile, TSB said it [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Entain leads modest stock jump; Surprise growth ‘pushed to rear view’ April 16, 2026 Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog. Markets are betting the latest round of peace talks will bring some resolution to the conflict in the Middle East. US markets managed to clinch a record high close on the latest news of peace talks but in London the FTSE 100 splintered and finished [...]
Wall Street banks’ $40bn haul overshadowed by economic threats April 15, 2026 Wall Street’s top banks are toasting a record revenue haul this week, but industry chiefs also struck a note of caution after bumper profits were driven by market volatility. JP Morgan led the pack with a net income of $16.5bn in the first-quarter of the year, up 13 per cent from the same period in [...]
Allica Bank goes ‘turbo’ on AI as profit and loan book swells April 15, 2026 Small business lender Allica Bank has revealed a major bump to its bottom line after the bank’s loan book ballooned over the last year. The neobank – which became one of the UK’s latest fintech unicorns this year – recorded a 23 per cent rise in pre-tax profit at £36.9m, compared to £29.9 million in [...]