International Investing – the whys and wherefores February 11, 2019 | City Talk In 1926, engineer, inventor and philosopher Nicolas Tesla, said “”When wireless is perfectly applied the whole earth will be converted into a huge brain. We shall be able to communicate with one another instantly, irrespective of distance… and the instruments through which we shall be able to do his will be amazingly simple compared with [...]
Monzo to roll out business bank accounts in revenue shake-up February 10, 2019 Digital bank Monzo will launch its first business accounts today, as the loss-making challenger attempts to find a more efficient way to generate revenue. The bank will open a waitlist, initially accepting only the first 100 applicants into beta testing. Monzo said it hopes to fully launch accounts for small businesses by the end of [...]
High Court to examine allegations of Treasury involvement in scandal-hit RBS GRG unit February 10, 2019 The Treasury’s role in determining the strategy and actions of RBS’s disgraced restructuring unit GRG is to be examined in court for the first time after a High Court judge ruled the issue was relevant to a £100m claim being pursued by a Manchester-based property developer. The court ruling on Friday allows Oliver Morley, who [...]
Going for gold: How the Bank of England became a battleground of the Venezuela crisis February 10, 2019 While tens of thousands of Venezuelans continued their revolt against the regime of discredited strongman Nicolas Maduro last week, a rather different form of protest popped up in the Square Mile. A group of far-left protesters, who counted Ken Livingstone and Labour MP Chris Williamson among their ranks, accused the Bank of England of “theft” [...]
RBS set to report rise in profits for second consecutive year February 10, 2019 The Royal Bank of Scotland is set to report a rise in profits for the second year running in its full-year results this week. Net income is forecast to increase from £752m to £1.46bn and revenue is expected to increase from £12.8bn to £13.25bn when the bank reveals its financial results on Friday, according to [...]
RBS cuts bonus pool to £335m after posting successive annual profits February 9, 2019 Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) will hand out a £335m bonus to its staff next week with it set to announce its second successive annual profit since becoming state-owned. The RBS board and UK Government Investments (UKGI) have agreed on the bonus amount. UKGI manages the public’s 62.4 per cent stake in the bank. Payouts [...]
Visa ups bid for payment network Earthport to £247m in race with Mastercard February 8, 2019 Visa has increased its bid for UK payment company Earthport to around £247m as the race with Mastercard intensifies. Last month, Mastercard offered around £233m for the assets but Visa has now trumped that with its latest offer of 37p per share, 23 per cent more than its original bid. Earthport's shares have grown by [...]
Nationwide profits fall as it warns IT investment will continue to weigh down earnings February 8, 2019 Profits fell in Nationwide’s third quarter as the building society was hit by a £167m write-off charge as well as an ongoing technology investment, it revealed today, warning profit pressure will remain in the fourth quarter. The figures Pre-tax profits dropped a staggering 20 per cent year on year to £703m for the last three [...]
Corbyn allies join protest at Bank of England demanding transfer of gold to Maduro regime February 7, 2019 Two of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn's most prominent allies joined a protest outside the Bank of England today, demanding that it release over £1bn worth of gold to the regime of Venezuela’s socialist strongman Nicolas Maduro. Members of Maduro's regime have laid claim to the country's gold reserves held at the Bank. Former Mayor of [...]
Societe Generale to cut €500m from investment bank despite profits boost as market volatility dents performance February 7, 2019 Societe Generale will aim to cut €500m (£437m) from its investment banking division after lowering its 2020 targets in the wake of tough market conditions. The French bank revised down its return on tangible equity targets for 2020 to 9-10 per cent from a previous 11.5 per cent. Read more: BNP Paribas cuts targets for [...]