London can strengthen its relations with Scotland March 4, 2019 On a brisk evening in January, I had the honour of hosting a Burns Supper at the Mansion House with the first minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon. The night was complete with bagpipes, haggis, and of course a “wee dram” of whisky. The event brought together leading business figures from both sides of the border, [...]
KFC taps London fintech startup Flux for paperless payments March 4, 2019 KFC has launched a partnership with London fintech startup Flux which will see the US fried chicken chain go paperless. From today, users of digital banks Monzo and Starling, as well as select Barclays customers in the near future, will be able to receive digital itemised receipts for transactions in their banking apps when they [...]
Claims against banks in Disney tax avoidance case could pass £1bn March 3, 2019 The total damages for banks being sued in relation to a tax scheme that purported to invest in Disney blockbusters could top £1bn, according to a lawyer acting for the claimants. HSBC and Bank of Ireland are being sued by a group of more than 700 investors in the Eclipse film financing scheme after the courts [...]
Treasury agrees to publish key agreement with RBS in wake of GRG allegations March 3, 2019 The Treasury has yielded to pressure from MPs to publish a key agreement it signed with RBS following allegations it had significant influence over the bank’s disgraced global restructuring unit GRG. Following parliamentary questions lodged by the MP Martin Whitfield, the Treasury has agreed to publish the accession agreement it signed with RBS when the [...]
Former RBS executive John Hourican to return to UK as NewDay CEO March 2, 2019 Former Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) executive, John Hourican is set to return to UK and join credit card company NewDay as chief executive. NewDay is a consumer finance firm that runs co-branded credit cards with retail giants like Debenhams, Amazon and Sir Philip Green's Arcadia Group. Read more: Revolut outage: Digital bank's customers unable to [...]
Customers unable to access Revolut app after digital bank suffers outage March 1, 2019 Revolut customers were unable to use the digital bank’s app this morning after the firm suffered a technical glitch. The Revolut app was unable to process card top ups and money transfers for at least four hours today while the challenger bank attempted to fix the problem. Read more: Revolut pushes ministers for fast-track tech [...]
The magic of finance can help make the world a better place March 1, 2019 When Hollywood created a sequel to the original Mary Poppins film, the producers introduced a new character: a villainous banker who could give everybody a good scare. But why exactly is the banker the villain? After all, a healthy economy requires a healthy financial sector that is at the service of people as they pursue [...]
City watchdog under fire for delaying report into RBS’s GRG unit February 28, 2019 The City watchdog has been accused of delaying a report into its controversial decision not to enforce action against individuals within RBS's disgraced global restructuring unit GRG. One MP has said he expects the report to be a "whitewash" when it is published. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) caused widespread dismay last year when it [...]
Customers locked out of Barclays app as banking giant suffers IT outage February 28, 2019 Barclays customers were locked out of the bank's mobile banking app this morning after it suffered an IT outage. Read more: Barclays suffers online banking outage The latest glitch follows an outage earlier this month which left customers unable to access the mobile banking app or online services for hours. In a statement posted on Twitter this morning the [...]
Co-operative Bank returns to operating profit for first time in five years but heavy IT costs leads to overall loss February 28, 2019 The Co-operative Bank returned to operating profit last year for the first time since 2013 but heavy IT costs and PPI payments led to the bank to widen overall losses. The bank said the return to profit was a “key milestone” as it continues to recovery from a restructuring in 2017 but warned of challenges [...]