Victorious private equity consortium wins shareholder approval to take over Shawbrook bank April 10, 2017 The private equity consortium which launched a drawn-out takeover attempt of Shawbrook bank has finally emerged victorious, passing the shareholder acceptance threshold for its offer. BC Partners and Pollen Street Capital have walked away with a total of 75.6 per cent of Shawbrook's shares – well over the 50 per cent they needed to win [...]
Classic cars, booze and planes: FCA gives investors in HNW Lending tax-free status March 20, 2017 A peer-to-peer lender offering a high-net-worth pawnbroking service has been given the green light by regulators to market a specialist type of Isa to investors. HNW Lending connects borrowers with valuable assets to investors seeking a greater rate of return. Borrowers must hand over their assets, which in the past have included classic cars, planes or [...]
Banks don’t want a red tape Brexit bonfire, but lower taxes would sweeten the deal March 20, 2017 Banks are calling on the government to slash taxes for the sector to sweeten the deal for Brexit and ensure the country remains competitive. Research carried out for the British Bankers' Association (BBA), which was published in November, revealed banks' collective tax bill had shot up to £34.2bn for the year to March 2016, up 3.6 per cent compared [...]
Lloyds Banking Group hires Professor Russel Griggs to oversee its HBOS Reading scandal review March 20, 2017 Lloyds Banking Group has appointed Professor Russel Griggs to oversee the independent review into the HBOS Reading scandal. Two ex-HBOS bankers were among six people jailed back in February for their roles in a ruse to drive small businesses into the ground for personal gain, running up nearly £250m in losses for the bank which had to [...]
UBS Group to stand trial in France facing accusations of assisting clients in avoiding tax March 20, 2017 UBS Group will stand trial in France facing accusations of assisting clients in avoiding tax. According to judicial sources, UBS may face a fine as high as $5.3bn (£4.3bn) amid allegations that it assisted clients throughout Europe in tax avoidance. In 2014, UBS settled a similar case in Germany for an estimated €300m (£260m). Shares in the [...]
Shareholder uprising: Santander, UFJ, Sumitomo and a number of other banks are at risk March 20, 2017 A number of banks have been marked as likely targets of a shareholder uprising, including UFJ, Sumitomo and Santander. More than half, or 58 per cent, of banks are located in countries facing potential governance shifts, according to new research by MSCI. Of those, 17 per cent, or nearly one in five, are at risk of [...]
House of Fraser owner Sanpower pulls investment in digital challenger bank Tandem March 20, 2017 Sanpower, the Chinese conglomerate which owns House of Fraser, has been forced to pull back on a multimillion pound investment in digital challenger bank Tandem, City A.M. can reveal. A £29m tranche of cash due to bolster the startup's capital requirements for launching as a full bank has been halted over concerns that Chinese authorities are [...]
Deutsche Bank announces it has slashed bonus pool by 77 per cent after reporting losses of €1.4bn for 2016 March 20, 2017 Deutsche Bank announced this morning it has sliced 77 per cent from its bonus pool. The Frankfurt-headquartered bank released its annual report for 2016, which revealed the firm had cut its variable pay pot to €500m (£433.1m) for the year, down from €2.4bn. The bank, which had already announced it made a €1.4bn net loss for 2016, also [...]
London’s Islamic finance boom shows that flexibility and innovation are in the City’s DNA March 20, 2017 In recent years, the UK has stepped up its game in Islamic finance. In 2014, for example, it became the first country outside the Islamic world to issue a sovereign sukuk, the Islamic equivalent of a bond. With such significant developments taking place here in the UK, I was very much looking forward to a trip [...]
Secure Trust Bank launches into UK mortgage market, focusing on those working in the gig economy March 20, 2017 Secure Trust Bank is today launching a UK mortgage offering focusing on those individuals who might struggle to bag a loan from a high street lender. The Solihull-headquartered challenger is honing in on the self-employed and the gig economy. Those people working in these fashions might struggle to prove their income to a bank and therefore [...]