Brexit research group calls for bespoke equivalence deal to give financial sector access to Single Market January 12, 2017 A Brexit research group is calling for the government to consider striking a bespoke equivalence agreement as part of the EU departure deal to maintain access to the Single Market for the financial sector. In a report published today, which was compiled by law firm Norton Rose Fulbright on behalf of the Financial Services Negotiation [...]
FTSE’s 12-day winning run sets record January 11, 2017 London's top share index hit a fresh all-time high yesterday, setting a record for the longest winning streak in FTSE 100 history. The blue-chip benchmark soared above 7,326 during intra-day trading, before settling at 7,290.49 by the close. The FTSE got a boost from the falling pound early in the day, when official figures revealed [...]
Accused ex-Barclays trader was given no legal guidance by employer, lawyer says January 11, 2017 The lawyer for an ex-Barclays trader facing forex-fixing claims in the US has hit back at the trader's former employer for not giving him enough guidance on the law. Chris Ashton was late last night charged by the US Department of Justice (DoJ) with conspiring to fix prices and rig bids in the foreign exchange [...]
Ditched auditor brought back to investigate Tesco Bank hack January 11, 2017 Tesco has turned to its former auditor, which it axed after more than 30 years in the wake of a profit blackhole, to investigate a cyber attack on its bank. PwC was brought in by Tesco Bank to investigate an attack in November which forced it to repay £2.5m to customers who had been targeted by [...]
Bank of England governor Mark Carney reaffirms Brexit no longer the biggest risk to UK’s financial stability January 11, 2017 The governor of the Bank of England confirmed today that Brexit is not the biggest risk to the UK's financial stability. Speaking in front of the Treasury Select Committee, Mark Carney said that it was the opinion of the Bank that the biggest risks to the UK's financial system were global ones. "[Brexit] has some [...]
Lloyds, TSB and Halifax’s online banking systems are back after an outage January 11, 2017 Twitter was a-ring with annoyed Lloyds, Halifax and TSB customers this afternoon, after the online banking systems of all three went down. Customers said they were unable to access their accounts either online or in their app. Although TSB is no longer owned by Lloyds Banking Group, its systems were also affected. @AskLloydsBank being down [...]
Clint Eastwood’s lesson on economic forecasters’ Michael Fish moment January 11, 2017 Economic forecasters are in the dock. Last week, none other than the chief economist of the Bank of England, Andy Haldane, was confessing the crimes of the profession. The failure to predict the financial crisis was, Haldane said, economic forecasting’s “Michael Fish” moment. Thirty years ago, the BBC weatherman predicted that the UK would avoid the [...]
Sir John Vickers slams quality of Bank of England stress tests January 10, 2017 The man who headed the UK's critical inquiry into safeguarding the banking sector following 2008's financial crisis has slammed the Bank of England's stress tests for falling short. Sir John Vickers, who led the Independent Commission on Banking, called the progress made to bolster the banks so far "really disappointing". "I think we need to be more rigorous, [...]
US to bring charges against three UK ex-traders in forex probe over roles in ‘The Cartel’ chatroom January 10, 2017 The US Department of Justice plans to charge three UK-based ex-traders later today as part of its forex investigation over their involvement in the so-called 'The Cartel' chat group. The trio of former traders concerned are Richard Usher, formerly from JP Morgan, Rohan Ramchandani, formerly from Citigroup, and Chris Ashton, formerly from Barclays. Meanwhile, Matt Gardiner, formerly from UBS, has been [...]
Douglas Flint warns more clarity on Brexit is needed to safeguard City jobs as HSBC mulls moving as many as 1,000 to Paris January 10, 2017 The group chairman of HSBC has today warned more clarity is needed on Brexit to prevent firms, including his own, collectively moving thousands of jobs out of London preemptively. In an almost three-hour grilling with the Treasury Select Committee, Douglas Flint cautioned the lack of coherent guidance on where the government intended to go with Brexit [...]