Former watchdog Tracey McDermott will join Standard Chartered to build relationships with regulators January 29, 2017 Tracey McDermott will join Standard Chartered as group head of corporate, public and regulatory affairs effective 20 March to build the bank's relationships with regulators and policy makers. The former acting chief executive of the UK's financial watchdog, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), will report to group chief executive Bill Winters and will join Standard Chartered's global [...]
Amanda Staveley’s legal row with Barclays to reach crunch point this week January 29, 2017 It's a critical week for Amanda Staveley's legal battle with Barclays, with a judge due to decide whether the City financier can have access to documents key to her case. PCP Capital Partners, the investment vehicle Staveley founded, is suing the banking giant for almost £1bn over the way it handled a 2008 emergency fundraising. PCP [...]
Deposit protection limit for savings to be bumped back up to £85,000 tomorrow January 29, 2017 Savers will have an extra £10,000 safeguarded as of tomorrow, as the deposit protection limit is increased back up to £85,000. The deposit protection limit under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), which is designed to protect consumers' cash should lenders run into hot water, was cut to £75,000 last year in an effort to put [...]
Deutsche Bank forecast to be in the red for 2016, with a net loss of almost €1bn predicted January 29, 2017 Deutsche Bank is predicted to announce it is almost €1bn (£850m) in the red when it releases its full year results for 2016 on Thursday morning. A consensus of analysts has forecast the German banking giant will report a net loss of €910m for the full year and €1.6bn for its fourth quarter. However, some analysts are predicting a full year loss [...]
Criminals made €8.6m of fake “Bin Laden” banknotes at the end of last year January 27, 2017 The European Central Bank (ECB) said it withdrew €8.6m worth of so-called "Bin Laden" banknotes in the final six months of last year. The notes, worth €500, are in the process of being phased out because of their association with money-laundering and terror – but they nevertheless made up just under five per cent of all [...]
Behind the deal: These are the bankers and advisers working on the £3.7bn Tesco-Booker tie-up January 27, 2017 Tesco’s £3.7bn deal for wholesaler Booker is an early boost for the UK’s 2017 M&A market, following a rather subdued 2016. Below are details of the bankers and advisers behind the deal. Tesco advisers It’s increasingly difficult to find a big UK deal without a boutique investment bank at its centre. And this £3.7bn merger proved [...]
Profits down, but UBS beats expectations and is optimistic for 2017 January 27, 2017 UBS has beaten expectations with its fourth-quarter results and said improved investor confidence should benefit its wealth management business. The figures The Swiss bank this morning reported a 47 per cent fall in full-year net profits to 3.3bnSFr (£2.6bn), down from 6.2bnSFr in 2015. In its fourth quarter, net profit came in at 738mSFr, while diluted [...]
EU Robin Hood financial transactions tax is “within reach” if politicians can agree says diplomat January 26, 2017 A financial transactions tax – also known as a Robin Hood tax – on trades is “within reach” according to the EU’s commissioner on tax, which could represent a barrier to the UK’s post-Brexit trade deal with the bloc. The original proposal was for a 0.1 per cent tax on trades in shares and bonds [...]
Royal Bank of Scotland no closer to privatisation: US verdict key to providing clarity, say sources January 26, 2017 Uncertainty over the level of fines to be levied on Royal Bank of Scotland is blocking the pathway towards privatisation, despite news the state-back lender has upped its provisions for penalties by £3.1bn. RBS today revealed it had set aside more money to cover fines relating to the issuing and underwriting of US residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS). [...]
Spiralling IT costs to hit TSB’s profit this year despite stellar 2016 January 26, 2017 High street bank TSB is expecting a challenging 2017 despite its annual pre-tax profits growing by 169 per cent to £182m last year. The bank, which was spun out of Lloyds in 2013, expects “significant reduction” in profits this year due to the cost of using its former parent's IT platform. "At the moment, we rent our [...]