House of Fraser owner Sanpower pulls investment in digital challenger bank Tandem March 20, 2017 Sanpower, the Chinese conglomerate which owns House of Fraser, has been forced to pull back on a multimillion pound investment in digital challenger bank Tandem, City A.M. can reveal. A £29m tranche of cash due to bolster the startup's capital requirements for launching as a full bank has been halted over concerns that Chinese authorities are [...]
Deutsche Bank announces it has slashed bonus pool by 77 per cent after reporting losses of €1.4bn for 2016 March 20, 2017 Deutsche Bank announced this morning it has sliced 77 per cent from its bonus pool. The Frankfurt-headquartered bank released its annual report for 2016, which revealed the firm had cut its variable pay pot to €500m (£433.1m) for the year, down from €2.4bn. The bank, which had already announced it made a €1.4bn net loss for 2016, also [...]
London’s Islamic finance boom shows that flexibility and innovation are in the City’s DNA March 20, 2017 In recent years, the UK has stepped up its game in Islamic finance. In 2014, for example, it became the first country outside the Islamic world to issue a sovereign sukuk, the Islamic equivalent of a bond. With such significant developments taking place here in the UK, I was very much looking forward to a trip [...]
Secure Trust Bank launches into UK mortgage market, focusing on those working in the gig economy March 20, 2017 Secure Trust Bank is today launching a UK mortgage offering focusing on those individuals who might struggle to bag a loan from a high street lender. The Solihull-headquartered challenger is honing in on the self-employed and the gig economy. Those people working in these fashions might struggle to prove their income to a bank and therefore [...]
Revealed: Hampshire Trust Bank more than doubles new lending in 2016, after it launches commercial mortgages business March 19, 2017 Hampshire Trust Bank more than doubled the value of the new loans it wrote in 2016, City A.M. can reveal. The challenger bank racked up loan originations of £393m in its 2016 financial year, up 132 per cent compared with £169m at the end of 2015. The boost is partly thanks to the lender launching a commercial mortgages [...]
Bank of England steps up to push along Co-op Bank rescue plans, amid worries buyers might be shying away from the struggling lender March 19, 2017 The Bank of England's regulatory team has begun making plans of its own for Co-op Bank, as they become increasingly impatient with the troubled lender's sale. The Co-op Bank, which is currently 20 per cent owned by the wider Co-operative Group, revealed last month it was looking for a buyer for the whole of the business. [...]
Deutsche Bank kicks off its €8bn rights issue on Tuesday as German lender attempts to bolster its capital March 19, 2017 Deutsche Bank announced today it is due to press go on its €8bn (£6.9bn) rights issue on Tuesday, as the German banking giant tries to shore up its capital. The Frankfurt-headquartered lender announced a slew of plans to improve its capital position earlier this month, including, in addition to the rights issue, holding onto its Postbank division, streamlining [...]
Goldman Sachs chief executive Lloyd Blankfein’s pay fell to $22m in 2016 March 17, 2017 Lloyd Blankfein's pay was cut by $1m (£808,000) last year, leaving the Goldman Sachs chief executive with a still sizeable $22m salary. The $22m total includes $2m in cash, a $4m cash bonus and $16m in performance-related stock units. Goldman said its compensation committee had decided to reduce pay for its named executive officers by four to six [...]
Moving clearing from London to Europe is no piece of cake March 17, 2017 "Britain cannot have its cake and eat it over Brexit negotiations.” Comments such as this from the Prime Minister of Luxembourg at the height of political tensions following the EU referendum have, perhaps unsurprisingly, become synonymous with the Brexit debate since 23 June. But with the triggering of Article 50 just around the corner, it [...]
HSBC’s chief exec Stuart Gulliver fails to close probe into his taxes, as taxman requests a string of information March 16, 2017 The boss of HSBC may have hand to over more information to the taxman, after a bid by the businessman to close a probe into his affairs failed. HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) opened an investigation into Stuart Gulliver's personal tax return for 2013-14 in December 2015. The tribunal decision notice stressed the enquiry was limited to factual [...]