Banks aren’t keeping up with the rise of the intangible economy August 30, 2019 Innovation is the key to growing the economy and creating prosperity. It creates new industries, transforms old ones, and often generates well-paid jobs. Today, innovation usually relies on the investment in and the growth of intangible assets, such as software, data, networks, and design. But the financial system has failed to keep pace with innovation. [...]
PPI mishap shows tech vulnerabilities of the banks August 29, 2019 The deputy chief executive of a global bank recently summed up what he saw as the sector’s biggest challenge: “Our chief concern is no longer how to attract the best bankers. It is how to attract the best IT staff.” This evening’s shambolic payment protection insurance (PPI) deadline once again put a spotlight on that [...]
Banks buckle under strain of PPI claims August 29, 2019 Some of Britain’s biggest banks came under fire today after suffering a series of IT failures in the run-up to a long-awaited payment protection insurance (PPI) deadline. A number of major high-street lenders were rushing to fix website glitches and jammed phone lines this evening following an 11th-hour stampede of consumers making complaints for mis-sold [...]
DEBATE: Is Bill Dudley right to argue that central bankers should fight back against politicians like Trump? August 29, 2019 Is Bill Dudley right to argue that central bankers should fight back against politicians like Trump? Vicky Pryce, former joint head of the Government Economic Service, a board-member of CEB,R and co-author of It’s the Economy, Stupid, says YES. At first reading, former Federal Reserve policymaker Bill Dudley seems to be making a political statement. [...]
Facebook libra: Could regulators crush Mark Zuckerberg’s dream cryptocurrency? August 27, 2019 Mark Zuckerberg’s decision this summer to launch a digital currency – Facebook libra – sparked the interest and concern of regulators around the world. Watchdogs have warned that without tight regulations libra could be used for money laundering and financing terrorism. They have also raised concerns over the potential risks it poses to data protection [...]
Deutsche Boerse offices raided in German tax probe August 27, 2019 Deutsche Boerse, the operator for Frankfurt’s stock exchange, has been searched as part of an investigation into a German tax fraud scandal. Public prosecutors have combed through the premises of Deutsche Boerse’s subsidiary Clearstream over a share-trading fraud case in which the German government was allegedly tricked into paying billions of euros in tax rebates. [...]
Natwest and RBS websites crash: Customers struggle to access online banking after outage August 27, 2019 Natwest and RBS banks have still not recovered from major technical issues that have knocked over their websites today. The websites crashed at around 9am and have still not recovered, prompting a deluge of customer complaints on Twitter as people struggled to access their bank accounts. Read more: Natwest apologises after another banking outage The [...]
Deutsche Bank fined $16m over US corruption charges August 23, 2019 Deutsche Bank settled for more than $16m with US authorities yesterday amid charges it had hired the relatives of foreign officials to win business. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said that it had fined the bank for hiring poorly qualified people just to get close to their decision-making relatives. Under the settlement’s terms Deutsche [...]
RBS and Santander rapped over PPI reminders August 23, 2019 Santander and the Ryal Bank of Scotland apologised to customers today as the UK’s competition watchdog scolded them for not properly reminding PPI customers they were able to cancel their plan. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it will force the two banks to appoint independent auditors to scour through their payment protection insurance [...]
HSBC urges peace amid Hong Kong clashes August 22, 2019 HSBC and Standard Chartered have weighed into the turmoil in Hong Kong today after calling for a peaceful resolution following several months of mass demonstrations. Both banking giants have taken out newspaper adverts in Hong Kong to urge an end to the violent clashes between police and protesters, which were sparked earlier this summer by [...]