SFO loses bid to reinstate charges against Barclays over 2008 Qatar deal October 26, 2018 The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) lost its bid today to reinstate charges against Barclays over a Qatar loan it made at the height of the financial crisis. The High Court today ruled against the SFO's appeal of an earlier court ruling in favour of the bank. Barclays will now face no regulatory sanctions over the 2008 [...]
CEO quits Allied Irish Bank as concerns are raised about Ireland’s banker salary cap October 26, 2018 The chief executive of Irish state-owned bank Allied Irish Bank (AIB), Bernard Byrne, will step down as chief executive in 2019 amid industry concerns about a salary cap on bankers. News of Byrne's departure comes only weeks after chief financial officer Mark Bourke said that he would be leaving the company early next year. It is [...]
RBS share price drops as it disappoints investors on key profitability metric October 26, 2018 Profits are up 10 per cent year-on-year at Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), it said in its third quarter results today, though shares dipped as it missed a key target and set money aside to handle PPI claims. The figures The bank reported pre-tax profits of £961m for the quarter, up 10 per cent from [...]
Standard Chartered opposes animal testing as it tightens environmental policies October 25, 2018 Standard Chartered will no longer finance clients who test cosmetic products on animals, it said today as it announced a raft of tightened environmental and social policies. The emerging markets-focused bank will also avoid financing plantation or livestock ranches that degrade High Carbon Stock forests, peatlands or legally protected areas, or operations that grow, process [...]
European Central Bank leaves interest rates unchanged amid Italy standoff October 25, 2018 The European Central Bank has decided to leave interest rates unchanged at a monetary policy meeting in Frankfurt as expected. The ECB's Governing Council said it expected interest rates to remain the same “at least through to the summer of 2019”. It comes after the European Commission took the unprecedented step of rejecting Italy's draft [...]
Swiss bank UBS ahead of market expectations in third quarter results October 25, 2018 Swiss banking giant UBS unveiled net profit of 1.246bn Swiss francs (£970m) for the third quarter of 2018, beating analysts expectations. The results amounted to a 32 per cent jump in third quarter earnings, beating the consensus expectation of 993m Swiss francs. Read more: Former UBS trader Adoboli nears deportation as judge denies judicial review [...]
Lloyds Banking Group beats profit expectations in third quarter October 25, 2018 Lloyds Banking Group announced pre-tax profit of £1.8bn in the third quarter today, beating analyst expectations of £1.7bn. In the three months to 30 September revenue rose to £4.686bn from £4.62bn during the same quarter last year, while profit before tax dipped seven per cent to £1.8bn. Read more: Lloyds and Schroders sign £80bn joint [...]
Former UBS trader Adoboli nears deportation as judge denies judicial review October 24, 2018 Hopes that Kweku Adoboli will be spared deportation were fading this evening after the former UBS rogue trader lost a last-ditch legal attempt to stay in the country. The 38-year-old, who was convicted on two counts of fraud in 2012 after his unauthorised trading lost the Swiss banking giant £1.8bn, was denied permission to proceed [...]
Jes Staley seeks to brush off Bramson challenge but Barclays still faces the headwinds October 24, 2018 Barclays CEO Jes Staley struck a bullish tone yesterday, insisting his investment banking division was on the up. Third quarter profits jumped to £1.5bn, up from £1.1bn a year ago. If this puts a spring in Staley's step, there are plenty of items in his in-tray to pull him back down to earth – not [...]
TSB’s prolonged IT crisis cost it 16,600 customers October 24, 2018 TSB lost more than 16,600 customers to rivals between April and June, after an IT fiasco prevented up to 1.9m people from accessing their bank accounts. The crisis led to TSB announcing a pre-tax loss of £107.4m during its half-year results in July, down from £108.3m profit in the same period last year. Read more: Investigation [...]