British Business Bank appoints new head of £2.5bn government-owned capital fund October 1, 2018 The British Business Bank (BBB) has appointed Catherine Lewis La Torre as the new head of its commercial patient capital fund. Lewis La Torre will take charge of British Patient Capital Ltd, responsible for investing a £2.5bn government funding package for UK venture and capital growth announced in last year's Autumn budget. The former head [...]
Standard Chartered reportedly facing $1.5bn Iran sanctions fine October 1, 2018 Standard Chartered is reportedly facing a fine of as much as $1.5bn (£1.15bn) from the US Department of Justice (DoJ) for violating sanctions on Iran. The British bank could face the penalty by the end of the year, although final discussions have not yet begun, Bloomberg reported. The investigation into Standard Chartered’s activities is focused [...]
British banks ‘resilient’ even in no-deal Brexit, says Moody’s October 1, 2018 Britain’s banks have grown more “resilient” to shocks despite an increased likelihood of a no-deal Brexit, an influential credit ratings agency said today. Moody’s Investor Service said the UK banking sector has a “stable” outlook in spite of an expected decline in economic growth, in a report published today. Profitability for British lenders will improve [...]
Banco Santander issues warning on impact of Brexit uncertainty October 1, 2018 Spanish lender Banco Santander has warned that the uncertainty surrounding the UK's exit from the EU is likely to have an adverse impact on the bank's operations. In a filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the bank said that the lack of clarity on the Brexit deal for financial services and the status of [...]
Tesco Bank hit with £16.4m fine for ‘largely avoidable’ cyber attack October 1, 2018 The financial watchdog has slapped a hefty £16.4m fine on Tesco Bank for a "largely avoidable" cyber attack that hit customers in 2016. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said the bank had failed to exercise "due skill, care and diligence in protecting its personal current account holders" in the breach, in which attackers gained £2.26m. The FCA's executive [...]
Danske Bank appoints interim chief exec after boss is ousted following €200bn money laundering scandal October 1, 2018 Danske Bank has appointed an interim chief exec after former boss Thomas Borgen left the firm following news of a €200bn (£177.8bn) money laundering scandal. Borgen announced his resignation last month, after an internal inquiry found that €200bn of payments, many of which Danske said were suspicious, had passed through its Estonian branch over an eight-year period. Its head of [...]
Firms risk being left behind in Libor benchmark transition warn bankers October 1, 2018 A lack of awareness of the urgent need to transition away from scandal-hit Libor interest rates means some firms risk not being ready before the benchmarks become defunct, according to a top banker working on the issue. There remains a significant amount of work to educate firms about the far-reaching implications of the shift from [...]
UK banks’ share of global equity capital and loans markets slip to record lows September 30, 2018 UK banking’s global market share in equity capital market (ECM) trading and loan fees have hit their lowest and second-lowest values on record respectively, amid continued Brexit fallout and global uncertainty. The UK’s lenders fell to a 4.8 per cent share of ECM fees, and 8.7 per cent of loan fees – the latter nearly [...]
HSBC and TSB outages: Customers locked out of online banking September 28, 2018 Both HSBC and TSB’s digital banking services were down this morning for many customers. HSBC's mobile app outage started at around 7.45am, but the company has confirmed it had fixed the problem for all customers by around midday. "An earlier issue where some customers were unable to log on to the HSBC mobile banking [...]
RBS’ new digital bank to be called Bo September 27, 2018 Royal Bank of Scotland is understood to be exploring the launch of a digital-only standalone consumer bank, which will go live under the name Bo. Charging forward with RBS’ former operations chief Mark Bailie at the helm, roughly 100 staff are thought to have been briefed on the project’s name, sources told Sky News. [...]