Lloyds Bank poaches Morgan Stanley banker as new chief financial officer and will pay him £4.4m in forfeited share awards February 15, 2019 Lloyds Bank has appointed Morgan Stanley banker William Chalmers as its new chief financial officer. The bank said it would pay Chalmers £4.4m in unvested share awards forfeited as a result of leaving Morgan Stanley, where he is currently co-head of its global financial institutions group. Read more: Lloyds Banking Group set to create 8,000 [...]
Metro Bank tops customer service survey as challenger bank grows in popularity February 15, 2019 Metro Bank has topped an industry-wide customer service survey despite battling an accounting error, which has hit shares in recent weeks. The challenger bank knocked First Direct off the top spot in a Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) survey based on whether customers at the UK’s 16 largest current account providers would recommend their bank to friends [...]
RBS raises dividend on booming profits, but warns on cost of Brexit February 15, 2019 Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) boosted its dividend today on the back of doubling profits, but warned that Brexit could hit the bank’s recovery. The bank said it would return £1.6bn to shareholders, including almost £1bn to the government, which holds a 62 per cent stake in RBS following its financial crisis bailout. Chairman Howard [...]
Qataris pushed ‘quite aggressively’ for Barclays fee during investment scramble, court hears February 14, 2019 A Barclays boss warned his colleagues that Qatari investors were pushing “quite aggressively” to be paid for a controversial services contract at the height of the financial crisis, a court heard today. Richard Boath told fellow executive Rich Ricci that Doha was growing impatient with the bank, after it apparently missed the deadline to pay [...]
Deutsche Bank hits back over shareholder calls for cuts to investment banking division February 14, 2019 Deutsche Bank has hit back after investors called for more cuts at the German lender’s failing investment banking division. Germany’s biggest lender responded to reports that several major shareholders had demanded cuts, particularly in the US, by defending its plans to turnaround the unit. Read more: Deutsche Bank returns to annual profit for first time [...]
Chinese fintech giant Ant Financial buys up UK currency exchange Worldfirst February 14, 2019 Ant Financial has agreed a deal to acquire UK currency exchange Worldfirst, solidifying the firm's presence outside of China. The deal comes after an attempt by Ant Financial to buy US remittances firm Moneygram was blocked by US regulators last year, citing national security concerns. Worldfirst was said to be valued at around $700m (£547.9m) and [...]
Bitcoin sceptic Jamie Dimon launches JP Morgan’s own cryptocurrency February 14, 2019 JP Morgan is to launch its own cryptocurrency in an unprecedented step for a major US bank. The bank is to trial its JPM Coin in the coming months, which will handle a tiny fraction of the $6 trillion (£4.7 trillion) in payments it moves around globally every day. Read more: The year crypto went [...]
Barclays online banking outage leaves customers unable to access bank accounts February 14, 2019 Banking giant Barclays has apologised to customers after an online outage left many unable to access their accounts today. Customers said they were prevented from accessing the Barclays mobile banking app and other online services for much of the morning. Read more: TSB falls to £105m loss after IT disaster The bank received a flurry [...]
Starling banks £75m funding round from Merian Global Investors February 13, 2019 Starling Bank, one of fintech's Big Three digital banking stalwarts, has closed a £75m funding round led by Merian Global Investors. The challenger bank said £60m was provided by Merian, formerly known as Old Mutual, which included a £19m injection from Merian's equity investment firm Chrysalis. The round was closed out with £15m from Starling's sole existing investor [...]
Looking out for the next financial crisis? Keep an eye on spiralling debt February 13, 2019 Concerns are growing that another financial crisis is imminent. No less important a figure than Kenneth Rogoff wrote last week that “the next major financial crisis may come sooner than you think”. Rogoff, a former chief economist at the IMF, shot to fame with his 2008 book This Time Is Different, co-authored with his Harvard [...]