Wonga’s brand perception is struggling amidst negative headlines August 29, 2018 Over the last week rumours have swirled around one of Britain’s biggest payday lenders, Wonga, with suggestions that the brand may be close to collapse. This apparent crisis facing the short-term loan provider relates to an apparent surge in customer compensation claims. Wonga’s financial issues have resulted in a £10m emergency cash injection from shareholders [...]
Bank of Cyprus sells €2.8bn of bad loans to Apollo August 28, 2018 Bank of Cyprus Group has agreed the sale of €2.8bn (£2.5bn) in bad loans to US private equity giant Apollo in a deal that the bank – laid low by the Eurozone crisis – said will be “transformative”. Apollo, which manages assets worth $270bn (£209bn), will pay €1.4bn for the non-performing loan (NPL) portfolio – [...]
Lloyds stock lift as it completes £1bn share buyback programme August 28, 2018 Lloyds Banking Group completed its buyback of £1bn of shares today. The London branch of investment bank UBS managed the buyback, which started on 8 March, paying for 1.6bn shares over the four-month process before selling them back to Lloyds. Read more: Paddy Power buys back £200m in shares The bank kicked off the buyback [...]
Payday lender Wonga pushed to the brink as claims management companies look for ‘next PPI’ August 27, 2018 Payday lender Wonga is considering insolvency among the options as it tries to deal with a deluge of complaints from claims management companies looking for “the next PPI”. Wonga said it is assessing “all options” for the group, which is struggling under the burden of a large number of compensation claims. The controversial firm raised [...]
TSB forced to delay switch from Visa to Mastercard after bank’s computer collapse August 27, 2018 High street lender TSB has been forced to delay a switch to Mastercard for its card payments as it focuses on getting its computer systems back to health following the IT collapse it suffered earlier this year. TSB had planned to leave Visa Europe for its card operations by the end of this year, but [...]
Disaster-struck TSB set to lose three of its executives August 24, 2018 Three top TSB executives are set to retire from the bank, which is still recovering from an IT meltdown that has cost it more than £176m to date. Treasurer Ian Firth and chief marketing officer Nigel Gilbert are both retiring at the end of next month, TSB confirmed today. Current marketing director Pete Markey will [...]
Activists at odds over RBS claims: The strange tale of two groups taking on the big bank August 24, 2018 Investors in RBS have become alarmed by payments made between two separate action groups claiming to represent shareholders and customers wronged by the bailed-out banking giant. The RBoS Shareholders Action Group company (AGC) was set up during the financial crisis to bring together RBS shareholders who claimed the bank hid the true state of its [...]
Ctrl Alt Delete: Technology could replace more than half of banking jobs, warns ex-Barclays boss August 23, 2018 Technology could replace more than 50 per cent of banking jobs, according to former Barclays chief executive Antony Jenkins. The boss of 10x Banking said that computers could replace customer service, middle and back office roles, and that the workforce will have to become more entrepreneurial. Read more: Aberdeen Standard Investments launches AI fund "We've [...]
Credit Suisse fires two London bankers after sexual harassment investigation August 23, 2018 Credit Suisse has fired two City bankers after an investigation into allegations of historic sexual harassment. The bank has fired the senior banker at the centre of the 2010 incident and a second manager who hindered the original investigation. Read more: Uber settles sexual harassment claims for $1.9m The alleged assault took place in 2010 [...]
Goldman Sachs launches UK consumer bank August 23, 2018 Goldman Sachs has soft launched its retail bank in the UK ahead of a full roll out in the next few weeks. Staff were offered access to the Marcus consumer bank and invited to give feedback before it becomes available to the general public. The 149-year-old bank will offer an online savings account to UK customers, [...]