RBS to wind down £1bn worth of local council lobos loans by end of 2019 March 23, 2019 The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) will attempt to wind down £1bn of controversial bank loans given to local councils across the UK. The move comes after criticism from campaigners and shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, who claimed that high payments had led to a diversion of cash from council services. Read more: CYBG raises business banking [...]
Bitcoin critic warns central banks ‘risk financial stability’ by issuing digital currencies March 22, 2019 A prominent bitcoin critic has warned central banks against issuing their own digital currencies. Read more: JP Morgan launches its own cryptocurrency Augustin Carstens claimed central banks issuing digital tokens would need to take on customer-facing tasks that would result in “huge operational consequences for central banks in implementing monetary policy and implications for the stability [...]
Minister blasts Swedbank money laundering report March 22, 2019 Sweden’s financial market minister has blasted Swedbank after the under-fire bank released a short and highly redacted report into a money laundering scandal. Per Bolund said Swedbank has been “too confident” in its denials that money laundering was a serious problem at the bank. Read more: Sweden and Estonia probe Swedbank over money-laundering report His [...]
Deutsche Bank management board members to receive bonuses for first time since 2014 March 22, 2019 Deutsche Bank’s management board members were awarded bonuses this year for the first time since 2014 as the bank returned to profit, it disclosed today. The board received €55.7m (£48.2m) for 2018, compared to €29.8m the previous year. Read more: Deutsche Bank drops down investment bank table while Barclays gains ground Chief executive Christian Sewing [...]
Credit Suisse boss receives 30 per cent pay rise despite falling share price March 22, 2019 The chief executive of Credit Suisse Tidjane Thiam has received a pay boost of 30 per cent to 12.65m Swiss francs (£9.7m), the group’s annual report showed today. The Swiss bank said the pay rise was “designed to acknowledge the strong performance of Mr Thiam over the course of his tenure to date and the successful [...]
The financial services sector needs a shot of confidence to mitigate Brexit March 22, 2019 To mitigate the hammer blow that the Brexit omnishambles have inflicted on the UK’s financial services sector, confidence needs to be rebuilt – and fast. Indeed, even if there were now no divorce between the UK and EU, the damage to the financial services industry has been done. As a result of several years of uncertainty, [...]
Monetary policy is no job for the politicians March 22, 2019 At a time of such sweeping uncertainty, anything predictable is reassuring. This week, that reassurance came from the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee, which yesterday voted unanimously to keep interest rates on hold. This had been widely expected, but that doesn’t mean that central bank decisions should be taken for granted. Across the Atlantic, the [...]
Deutsche Bank drops down investment bank table while Barclays gains ground March 21, 2019 Deutsche Bank has fallen below its US rivals in a ranking of investment banks in Europe, adding to the under-fire German lender’s woes. Citigroup and Goldman Sachs both jumped above Deutsche Bank in a ranking of the world’s investment banks at the end of last year. JP Morgan maintained the top spot in both the [...]
Data breaches drive losses from fraud up to £1.2bn March 21, 2019 The theft of personal information following data breaches drove an increase in money stolen through fraud to £1.2bn last year. A number of well known companies suffered high profile data breaches in 2018, including Facebook, Google, and British Airways. Read more: Fraud office launches investigation into London Capital & Finance Unauthorised fraud, where the account [...]
Challenger banks Oaknorth and Monzo team up to launch savings accounts March 21, 2019 Fintech banks Oaknorth and Monzo have launched a partnership that will allow Monzo users access to a high-interest savings account for the first time. The challenger bank tie-up will allow customers to open a range of savings accounts, with rates of up to 1.55 per cent, within minutes in the Monzo app. An easy-access cash [...]