Fearless girl statue who faced down Wall Street bull comes to London Stock Exchange March 6, 2019 The “fearless girl” statue, which was was installed on Wall Street in 2017 facing down the statue of a charging bull, has come to London to mark international women’s day. The bronze statue was installed today in Paternoster Square against the backdrop of St Paul’s Cathedral and adjacent to the London Stock Exchange. Read more: High-earning [...]
Financial Conduct Authority issues warning to high cost lending firms March 6, 2019 The City watchdog has warned that high-cost lending firms must take action to protect customers from risk. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said companies that offer credit to consumers that may be rejected by mainstream banks must be aware of customers that display patterns of relending, which could be a symptom of unsustainable borrowing patterns. [...]
Provident Financial resolves regulation issues with City watchdog March 6, 2019 Doorstep lender Provident Financial has said it has "substantially resolved" recent regulatory issues as it revealed that it has hired a new boss to lead its Vanquis Bank business. The company, which has rejected a £1.3bn takeover bid from rival Non-Standard Finance (NSF), revealed that the Vanquis refund programme was more than 99 per cent [...]
Financial institutions beware – big tech is moving into banking March 6, 2019 Despite Brexit uncertainties and stock market collapses, British banks concluded their 2018 earnings season with improved performance. Profitability increased thanks to cost drives, while balance sheets strengthened through derisking assets. Banks’ ability to grow revenue, however, remains a perennial challenge. The quest to growth may be harder in the digital age. In a recent report [...]
Let it all hang out: Goldman Sachs scraps office dress code March 5, 2019 Goldman Sachs said today that it is relaxing its employee dress code to reflect the “more casual environment” of the modern workplace. In a memo from new chief executive David Solomon, who also DJs under the name D-Sol, the bank announced its new “firm wide flexible dress code” turning its back on the traditional banker [...]
UK financial system ready for no-deal Brexit but EU faces risks due to ‘lack of action’, Bank of England warns March 5, 2019 The UK’s financial system is prepared for a no-deal Brexit but EU businesses and households could be at risk due to a “lack of action” from Brussels, according to the Bank of England. The Bank said the UK’s banking system was strong enough to deal with the economic shock of leaving the EU without a [...]
Revolut boss concedes to claims of ‘toxic culture’ at the startup March 5, 2019 The chief executive of London fintech startup Revolut said his firm “hasn’t always gotten things right” in an open letter late last night, after fresh allegations of a toxic culture at the company emerged last week. Former Revolut employees at both senior and junior levels described an environment of unpaid work, unachievable targets and high-staff [...]
Government delays Financial Services Bill vote in tax havens dispute March 4, 2019 A government bill designed to protect the City in the event of a no-deal Brexit was pulled tonight in the face of almost certain defeat after MPs added an amendment that would have forced greater tax transparency on the Isle of Man, Guernsey and Jersey. The decision sparked an outcry among MPs and campaigners who [...]
Ex-Which magazine director joins Financial Conduct Authority board March 4, 2019 The former executive director of Which magazine, Richard Lloyd, will become a non-executive director of the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) from 1 April, it was announced today. His term at the FCA, which is the independent conduct regulator for 58,000 financial services firms and financial markets in the UK, will last three years. Read [...]
Ranked: The high street banks with the most IT outages March 4, 2019 UK banks are suffering IT outages or security failures at a rate of more than one a day, new figures from the financial watchdog have revealed. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) now requires banks to publish information on IT failures. Read more: Barclays down: Banking app outage hits customers Analysis conducted by Which found there [...]