Paragon buys Titlestone developer and loan book in £274m deal with Oaktree Capital Management July 3, 2018 Challenger bank Paragon today announced the purchase of £48m residential developer Titlestone and a £226m loan book from Oaktree Capital Management. Paragon, which offers mortgage and business lending, said the moves are part of a strategy to diversify into specialist lending markets. Titlestone advanced £274m in loans to small and medium-sized developers during the year [...]
City firms increase hiring and technology investment plans in spite of Brexit uncertainty July 2, 2018 Financial services firms increased hiring and investment in the second quarter in spite of continued nerves over the Brexit process, new figures show. Employment across financial services rose at the fastest pace in a year, with a balance of 24 per cent saying they had increased hiring in the second quarter, according to the survey [...]
Barclays adds three new hires in digital markets push as it tries to face down activist investor June 28, 2018 Barclays has appointed three new senior bankers as it tries to push forwards better use of digital technology in its corporate and investment bank. The move comes as the bank tries to demonstrate moves to strengthen its investment bank, after activist investor Edward Bramson built up a stake in the lender. Bramson is reportedly pushing [...]
TSB staff faced ‘sickness epidemic’ under strain of computer crisis, union claimed June 28, 2018 Staff at embattled bank TSB faced a “sickness epidemic” because of the stress of dealing with disgruntled customers after a massive computer systems meltdown, according to a union which represents some of its staff. The boss of the TBU union, Mark Brown, claimed that absences increased by 25 per cent in some business areas, in [...]
Banks to be subjected to ‘cyber stress tests’ to see if they could withstand a major hacking attack June 27, 2018 Financial services companies will be subject to “cyber stress tests” to establish if they could recover in the event of a major breach, the Bank of England said today. The bank is establishing new standards for how long a bank’s ability to deliver key services such as providing payments and insuring against and dispersing risk [...]
These are the top 10 best-paying companies in the UK June 26, 2018 Facebook has come top of a new list of the best-paying companies in the UK. New data from job site Glassdoor identified Facebook as the best-paying company in the UK on a list dominated by tech firms and banks. According to Glassdoor the median total compensation at Facebook is £90,000 with median base pay at [...]
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 [...]