City hits back at European Banking Authority over Brexit warning June 25, 2018 Senior figures from the City of London today hit back at the European Banking Authority (EBA) after the regulator warned that lenders are not prepared for Brexit. The EBA today said that financial firms in the UK who provide services to clients in the rest of the EU were not adequately prepared for withdrawal, and [...]
German asset managers call for ‘unhindered access’ to City post-Brexit June 24, 2018 The association that represents German asset managers has called for “unhindered access” to investment services provided by the City after the UK leaves the EU. In a policy paper the German Investment Funds Association (BVI), which represents the German asset management sector, said “proper and unobstructed” access to London investment services was crucial to the [...]
Draft Project Lord Turnbull Report: MPs call on Serious Fraud Office and National Crime Agency to investigate Lloyd’s-Hbos fraud further June 22, 2018 MPs are calling for an investigation into potential criminality regarding the handling by Lloyds Banking Group of a fraud at its Hbos Reading unit more than a decade ago and into the role of auditor KPMG. The All Party Parliamentary Group on Fair Business Banking, which is chaired by Kevin Hollinrake MP, has urged the [...]
IBM report suggests that TSB testing was not rigorous enough before computer meltdown June 21, 2018 Experts brought in to fix computer systems meltdown at TSB did not find evidence of strong enough testing of a planned migration, according to an internal report published today. Consultants from IBM told the embattled bank’s board that it had not seen evidence of the kind of testing it would expect of the risky migration [...]
Tom Hayes’ lawyer slams lack of disclosure around $100m Citi settlement over Libor rigging in US June 20, 2018 The lawyer for Tom Hayes, a former Citi banker jailed for rigging the London Interbank Offered Rate (Libor), has slammed the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) for failing to disclose the bank's recent settlement with a group of US states over allegations it manipulated the interest rate benchmark. The banking giant reached a $100m (£76m) settlement [...]
Explosive report published into Lloyds’s handling of HBos Reading fraud case June 19, 2018 Lloyds bank and consultancy giant KPMG came under renewed pressure today following the publication of a damning report into an historic fraud case at HBos’s Reading branch. The internal report by a Lloyds Banking Group employee, who has since departed the firm, details allegations of criminal misconduct by senior bank staff and auditors around the [...]
CYBG and Virgin Money agree £1.7bn takeover with Virgin Money boss Jayne-Anne Gadhia stepping down from chief exec role June 18, 2018 The owner of Clydesdale and Yorkshire banks, CYBG, confirmed this morning it had agreed a £1.7bn tie-up with Virgin Money, which it said will create "the UK's first true national banking competitor to the status quo". The terms of a recommended all-share offer have been agreed, and based on the closing price of 306p per [...]
MPs to Lloyds Banking Group: ‘We will publish report on HBOS Reading fraud’ June 15, 2018 A cross-party group of MPs today said it will publish a report on an alleged cover-up by Lloyds executives of fraud at acquisition target HBOS at the height of the financial crisis. The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Fair Business Banking will put the report in the public domain within seven days of a letter sent [...]
Ranked: The banks that have closed the most branches since 2015 – and which regions have been hardest hit June 15, 2018 New analysis has revealed which of banks have shut the most branches since 2015, with NatWest, HSBC and Lloyds Bank reporting the highest number of closures. Some 2,868 UK retail branches will have shut up shop by the end of this year, with 879 bank closures during last year, according to Which? Money research. That [...]
UBS London HQ is sold for £1bn as Asian investment in London’s “trophy buildings” rises June 14, 2018 The London headquarters for multinational investment bank UBS has been bought for £1bn by a Hong Kong property tycoon, as Asian demand for "trophy buildings" in the capital grows. CK Asset Holdings, run by Victor Li after he took over the company from his father Li Ka-shing earlier this year, has purchased the prime office [...]