Metro Bank boss: Branchless banking reduces customer choice January 25, 2017 Like Deliveroo and Uber, banks should mix the physical and digital according to Metro Bank chief executive Craig Donaldson. The challenger bank boss said not giving customers the opportunity for face to face interaction is taking away choice. Metro Bank has 48 branches at present, but Donaldson said its target is 250 or maybe 300 [...]
IG Markets bins binary products for new investors January 24, 2017 IG Markets has withdrawn a popular spreadbetting product that allows punters to speculate on a wide range of market movements, as regulators consider proposals to crack down on the sector. Sprints binary products will no longer be available to new investors, the FTSE 250 firm said today, although they can still be used by current clients. Read [...]
Saudi Aramco eyes bankers for what could be the world’s biggest float January 24, 2017 Global banking giants are set to compete for an advisory role on oil goliath Saudi Aramco’s multi-billion-dollar float, which is expected to be the world’s biggest initial public offering. The Saudi state-owned firm, thought to be the world’s largest oil producer, has requested proposals from banks including Morgan Stanley and HSBC, sources told Reuters late last night. [...]
Revealed: The full list of branches HSBC is set to close this year January 24, 2017 HSBC has announced 62 fresh branch closures today as part of its restructuring programme. This takes the total number of branches closing this year to 117. Here's a full list of the 62 branches HSBC just announced its closing: Alfreton Alnwick Ammanford Balsall Common Bedworth Blackpool, Birley Street Bletchley Brigg Bristol College Green Brompton Road Cardiff, Churchill [...]
Banks need to make Brexit job decions in the first half of 2017, says Citi’s European chief January 24, 2017 Citigroup’s European boss has said his bank, and others, will make decisions on Brexit-motivated job moves in the first half of this year. James Cowles, Citi's chief executive for Europe, Middle East and Africa, said his firm’s issue is with its broker-dealer business, which is currently headquartered in the UK. “We come into this actually from [...]
HSBC to close another 62 branches this year January 24, 2017 HSBC is set to close another 62 branches across the UK this year, the banking giant announced today. This takes the total number of branches closing this year to 117. The move marks the end of "HSBC's branch restructuring programme", Antonio Simoes, chief executive of the banking giant, said. “We now feel we have the right branch network that [...]
The Green Investment Bank’s stalled sale risks red faces January 24, 2017 The sale of the Green Investment Bank (GIB) has stalled amid speculation that the government fears ending up with egg on its face from a botched privatisation. The GIB, set up by former business secretary Vince Cable to mobilise private sector capital into the renewables sector, is seeking a new owner to boost investment into [...]
Luxembourg doesn’t want to steal London’s finance crown January 24, 2017 If a week is a long time in politics, then seven months is practically a lifetime. That is how much time has elapsed, of course, since Britain voted to leave the European Union, and we are now finally learning what Theresa May and her government want from the complex negotiations that are set to follow the [...]
EU follows UK lead and considers plans to test bank defences against a cyber attack January 23, 2017 The EU is contemplating plans to test banks' ability to repel cyber attacks in an initiative that would mirror measures already put in place by the Bank of England. Cyber and technological-enabled attacks have been on the Bank of England's radar since 2013 with 30 out of 35 "core firms" having completed the UK's cyber stress testing [...]
Financial adviser DeVere Group launches new private bank January 23, 2017 Those looking for a place to stash their cash have a new option, with financial consultants DeVere Group today launching a private bank. DeVere Group Bank St Lucia, which the group understands to be the first private bank to be independently owned by a financial advisory firm, was created out of the firms acquisition of Arton Bank. DeVere snatched up [...]