Virgin Money cancels dividend after £385m PPI hit but shares jump on solid growth November 28, 2019 Virgin Money swung to a £194m loss and suspended its dividend in its latest full-year results, blaming payment protection insurance (PPI) charges and the costs of its £1.7bn merger with Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank Group (CYBG). The figures The bank fell to a £194m loss before tax after paying out £385m to settle its part [...]
Ranked: Top 10 retail banks for customer experience November 28, 2019 First Direct has won the crown for delivering the best retail banking customer experience, according to a comprehensive new study released this morning. The telephone and internet-based retail bank has seen off competition from the likes of Barclays, the Co-operative Bank and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) to claim the top spot. Read more: Lloyds [...]
RBS launches digital bank Bo in bid to rival fintechs November 27, 2019 Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has officially launched its digital bank as it looks to rival a group of fast-growing fintechs and hoover up more online customers. The state-backed lender has created Bó, its new digital, cloud-based bank featuring a bright yellow Visa card and a mobile app. Read more: LSE hires fintech to widen [...]
Ex-Barclays banker says disputed Qatar agreement was ‘tremendous boost’ November 27, 2019 Former top Barclays banker Roger Jenkins told a fraud trial in London today that an agreement between the bank and Qatar characterised as a sham by prosecutors was actually a “tremendous boost”. Jenkins, 64, was in the witness box at the Old Bailey as he stood trial for fraud alongside former top Barclays executives Thomas [...]
After TSB’s outage, let’s force banks to ring fence an IT budget November 27, 2019 Banking outages cause unacceptable pain for customers and are occurring with increased regularity. Digital banking is essential to our economy and ongoing failures are both unacceptable and preventable. Last week an independent report concluded that the board of TSB “lacked common sense” when it moved 1.9m customers onto a new system in 2018 that had [...]
Lloyds Banking Group boss to take pay cut after pension backlash November 27, 2019 Lloyds Banking Group is planning on cutting the pay of its boss by more than £220,000 following criticism of his pension package. Antonio Horta-Osorio was blasted by MPs in June for “greed” in relation to his £6.3m pay packet which included a pension contribution worth 46 per cent of his base salary – reduced to [...]
Goldman Sachs takes bullish stance on the future of domestic UK stocks November 26, 2019 Global banking giant Goldman Sachs is advising its clients to snap up a stake in British firms, taking a bullish stance on the future of UK stocks. Buoyed by expectations of less Brexit uncertainty and blockbuster spending promises from both the major political parties, the US investment bank has recommended a long position on UK [...]
Bank of England slaps Citigroup with record £44m fine November 26, 2019 Citigroup has been hit with a £44m fine from the Bank of England after falling short of financial information standards. The Bank has slapped on the record penalty after Citigroup made “significant errors” in reporting its capital and liquidity positions between 2014 and 2018. Read more: Wework lays off 2,400 employees in efficiency drive The [...]
FCA to ban marketing of mini-bonds amid concerns over investor losses November 26, 2019 The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) today set out to ban the mass marketing of speculative mini-bonds to ordinary investors. The watchdog said the unregulated bonds could cause harm to amateurs, following a spate of investor losses. Read more: What are mini-bonds? Everything you need to know about the products hit by the FCA’s marketing ban [...]
TSB to slash up to 400 jobs as it shutters stores in cost-cutting plan November 25, 2019 TSB has announced plans to close 82 branches next year and slash up to 400 jobs as part of a strategy overhaul aimed at saving £100m by 2022. Unveiling a new three-year strategic plan, chief executive Debbie Crosbie today said the savings would help deliver a 15 percentage point improvement to the bank’s cost to [...]