Starter for three: Cambridge & Counties Bank announces record growth in deposits, lending and customer acquisition March 5, 2017 Cambridge & Counties Bank today revealed it had boosted its deposits, lending and customer acquisition by record levels in 2016. The figures The challenger bank, which launched in 2012 and is jointly owned by University of Cambridge college Trinity Hall and the Cambridgeshire Local Government Pension Fund, revealed profits before tax had leapt to £18.1m for the year ending [...]
Fresh batch of bankers to be brought within landmark accountability scheme on Tuesday March 5, 2017 Even more bankers are to be brought within the remit of the Senior Managers' and Certification Regime on Tuesday, one year after the first tranche of rules came into force. Under the Certification Regime, which is designed to increase levels of personal accountability in the financial sector, banks are required to identify any workers who could [...]
More than half a dozen fintech firms hit by outage March 5, 2017 More than half a dozen fintech startups were knocked offline on Sunday by issues with the card processing firm they use, leaving customers unable to make card payments. Digital challenger bank Monzo and Revolut, which offers real-time interbank rate exchange when travelling abroad as well as a full bank account, alerted customers early on Sunday [...]
Buyers could be put off snapping up Co-op Bank by multi-million pound pension bill headache March 5, 2017 Potential buyers for the Co-op Bank might be put off by the sizeable bill they will face for its pension scheme. The bank, which is currently 20 per cent owned by the wider Co-operative Group, announced last month that it was putting itself up for sale. Prior to this, the challenger had been embarking on an [...]
Deutsche Bank to raise €8bn through rights issue, as it announces a slew of restructuring plans March 5, 2017 Deutsche Bank revealed today it plans to bolster its capital by around €8bn (£6.9bn) through an issue of new shares. The German lender also revealed a slew of restructuring plans, including keeping its Postbank division, streamlining its business model to focus on three key units of private and commercial banking, asset management and corporate and investment banking, and listing [...]
This chart shows what’s changed since since the Bank of England began its quantitative easing programme in 2009 March 4, 2017 Tomorrow is the eighth anniversary of the Bank of England (BoE)'s quantitative easing (QE) programme and of interest rates being cut to the "emergency" level of 0.5 per cent. It also happens to be the deadline for written submission to the treasury select committee's enquiry into the effectiveness and impact of the post-2008 monetary policy. Laith Khalaf, senior [...]
Santander wants to reflect its diverse customer base by hiring 400 new apprentices March 3, 2017 Santander will offer 400 lucky youngsters the chance to undertake an apprenticeship with the lender so it can tap into a wider spectrum of future talent. The bank announced the places today, in advance of next week's National Apprenticeship Week. Read more: Now Santander lets you make payments using just your voice And Santander wasn't stopping there. It [...]
Judge mulling whether RBS Global Restructuring Group case should get the go ahead March 2, 2017 A judge is now considering whether a closely-watched case focusing on the Royal Bank of Scotland's Global Restructuring Group (GRG) should go ahead, after a hearing debating its merits drew to a close. Neil Mitchell is seeking legal action against the bank, as well as KPMG and Cerberus, over the way Torex Retail, the software company he [...]
Brexit schmexit: Aldermore reports profit boost despite EU vote uncertainty March 2, 2017 Challenger bank Aldermore has reported a 34 per cent jump in profits, thanks to higher mortgages and loan demand from homeowners and businesses. Phillip Monks, the bank's CEO, said Aldermore hasn't seen "any tail-off in demand post-Brexit". “To date it’s been business as usual: we have seen no direct impact on either the lending or deposit side [...]
It’s official: This is the deadline if you want to make a PPI complaint March 2, 2017 After years of nuisance phonecalls and bankers' misery, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has finally set a deadline for complains over payment protection insurance (PPI). The FCA said today all complaints must be lodged by 29 August 2019 – several months later than previously hoped. Although this isn't the end of PPI: the regulator said [...]