Barclays kicks off £15bn shareholder bonanza after profit rises February 10, 2026 Barclays kickstarted plans to dish out heaps of cash to shareholders on Tuesday after the bank’s profit breezed ahead of expectations for the 2025 financial year. The FTSE 100 giant launched a fresh £1bn share buyback after pre-tax profit soared 13 per cent in the last 12 months to £9.1bn. This came ahead of internal [...]
Why Natwest splashed the cash for a slice of the wealth management pie February 10, 2026 Natwest has opened its wallet for its biggest deal since the financial crisis, as the bank revives its appetite for acquisitions after the remaining government-owned shares in the business were finally sold. But after the FTSE 100 firm watched its share price sink into the red on Monday, will there be a sense of buyer’s [...]
Natwest shares sink after bank unveils £2.7bn wealth deal February 9, 2026 Natwest has beat its banking rivals to snap up wealth manager Evelyn Partners and laid out plans to kick off a new round of shareholder returns. The FTSE 100 banking giant, which returned to privatisation last year, said it had sealed a £2.7bn deal to purchase the firm from its private equity owners Permira and [...]
NatWest nears £2.5bn Evelyn Partners takeover February 7, 2026 NatWest Group is closing in on a £2.5bn takeover of Evelyn Partners, in what would be its biggest corporate acquisition since the bank’s taxpayer bailout in 2008. NatWest Group is in advanced talks to buy the wealth manager from its private equity owners, Sky News reported on Saturday, after seeing off competition from Barclays in recent days. An announcement [...]
Starling founder Anne Boden cuts stake in £4bn fintech February 6, 2026 The founder of UK fintech Starling has slashed her stake in the digital bank during a secondary share sale, City AM can reveal. Anne Boden, who launched Starling in 2014 after stints at Allied Irish Banks and Lloyds, cut her holdings in the digital bank to near 2.7 per cent from a previous 4.3 per [...]
Douglas Flint received package from Epstein while at HSBC, files show February 6, 2026 The incoming chair of Prudential received a mystery package from Jeffrey Epstein while he was finance director of HSBC, the recent release of Epstein files shows. Douglas Flint, who had a decades-long career at Europe’s largest bank, culminating as its chairman from 2010-2018, received the parcel in the early 2000s according to records released by [...]
TSB’s profit soars ahead of Santander takeover February 6, 2026 Profit at high street lender TSB soared in the latest financial year as the bank slashed costs ahead of its landmark takeover by Santander. TSB’s pre-tax profit hit £350.4m in 2025, a 20.7 per cent jump from the year prior. The growth was fuelled by rising income streams and falling costs, even as the bank [...]
Banks ombudsman complaints slump after Treasury overhaul February 5, 2026 Complaints to the banks ombudsman fell to the lowest level in two years in the last quarter of 2025 as changes from regulators and Treasury ease the caseload. Between October and December the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) received 47,300 complaints – a major drop from the 68,400 lodged the year prior. It also maintains a [...]
Secure Trust Bank sells motor finance arm after £21m hit February 5, 2026 Specialist lender Secure Trust Bank has offloaded its motor finance arm, becoming the latest UK bank to retreat from the sector, which has been wrapped up in scandal. The bank sold its remaining vehicle finance loan book to European Alternative Investment Fund Manager LCM Partners in a move expected to increase the bank’s CET1 ratio – a [...]
Barclays and Natwest set for bidding war in race to beef up wealth arms February 4, 2026 Barclays and Natwest are set for a bidding war as the banks prepare to make their play to snap up Evelyn Partners amid the race to beef up wealth management arms. The blue-chip lenders are both gearing up to table offers of over £2bn for the London-based wealth manager. A successful takeover would help enhance [...]