CMA launches investigation into suspected financial services cartel November 16, 2018 The UK’s competition watchdog has launched an investigation into a possible financial services cartel, it announced today. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said its probe into the alleged anti-competitive activity was launched under Chapter One of the Competition Act 1998, which addresses price fixing and attempts to control markets. The statement gave little detail [...]
RBS and Nordea dropped from the list of the world’s most important banks November 16, 2018 The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Nordic bank Nordea have been removed from a list of the world's most important banks by the Financial Stability Board (FSB). The FSB's list is a compilation of all banks required to hold extra capital equivalent to at least one per cent of its risk-weight assets, due to their size and impact [...]
Kleinman: Beat Barxit? Jes he can – for now November 16, 2018 Come again? The fawning of business leaders who dialled into a conference call with the chancellor and business secretary after Theresa May’s Brexit deal announcement on Tuesday was stunning in its obsequiousness. Particularly odd was Sir Gerry Grimstone who – sitting alongside fellow Barclays board members John McFarlane and Sir Ian Cheshire – took it [...]
Morgan Stanley banker drops out of RBS finance chief race November 15, 2018 Morgan Stanley investment banker William Chalmers has pulled out of the race to take the chief financial officer job at the Royal Bank of Scotland. Chalmers had been in the running to replace Ewen Stevenson as the bank’s CFO, but has now withdrawn from the race, it is understood. Sky News reported Chalmers had come [...]
Investec profits rise as banking giant prepares to list asset management arm in London November 15, 2018 Banking giant Investec reported a 14 per cent profit rise in the first half of the year as it prepared for the demerger of its asset management division. The Anglo-South African banking giant reported operating profit increased 14.2 per cent to £359m led by strong profits in its banking division. Investec said specialist banking profits [...]
Banks and housebuilders fall sharply as Raab resigns over Brexit deal November 15, 2018 The UK's major banks and housebuilders have suffered this morning in the wake of a number of resignations following Theresa May's draft Brexit deal. Shares in Barratt Developments and Persimmon, both down more than seven per cent, were the biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 in the aftermath of the cabinet's approval of the draft [...]
Former UBS trader Kweku Adoboli deported from the UK as Home Office officials force him onto flight at Heathrow November 14, 2018 Former UBS rogue trader Kweku Adoboli has been deported from the UK after Home Office officials forced him onto a flight at Heathrow Airport. The 38-year-old, who left Ghana at the age of four and has lived in the UK for 26 years, boarded a Kenya Airways flight to Nairobi, his legal team said. Adoboli was convicted [...]
Deutsche Bank to revise cost-cutting target, says finance chief James von Moltke November 14, 2018 Deutsche Bank has sped up its cost-cutting plan, chief financial officer James von Moltke revealed today. Previously, the bank said it is aiming to lower expenses to €21bn (£18.31bn) by 2021, however von Moltke said today that costs may need to be “substantially lower.” “We need to do better than that," von Moltke said at a conference [...]
Lloyds pays out to whistleblower who alleged HBOS cover-up November 14, 2018 Lloyds Banking Group has apologised and paid an undisclosed amount in compensation to a whistleblower who produced an internal report that criticised the lender’s handling of a large-scale fraud. The bank previously settled with Sally Masterton, a former senior risk officer at HBOS, over claims she had been unfairly dismissed. Masterton “acted with integrity and [...]
RBS names new deputy chief executive in charge of ring-fenced bank November 14, 2018 The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) today appointed a new deputy chief executive to take over ring-fenced bank Natwest Holdings. Alison Rose, who serves as the chief executive of commercial and private banking, will take on the new role from the beginning of December. She will continue in her current job while also deputising for [...]