London: Our city of eternal resilience is not endangered by Brexit February 24, 2017 We have been here before. Seismic political or economic events strike like a tsunami; panic breaks out that London’s position as a leading world city is endangered. It happened in the aftermath of 2008’s financial crisis and it’s happening as Brexit looms. In 2009 the Economist observed magisterially, “Before the credit crunch, talk that London [...]
Bonus pools across UK banks dry up, but Wall St lenders still shelling out for their junior staff February 24, 2017 City workers at US investment banks are enjoying rising bonuses despite a squeeze in payouts from UK and other European lenders. New figures reveal a widening transatlantic gap – bigger bonuses at US banks contrast with belt-tightening measures by their rivals headquartered on this side of the pond. Bonuses for relatively junior banking staff at the likes [...]
Ministers set to face spending watchdog scrutiny over Green Investment Bank sale February 23, 2017 Government ministers are in the glare of Whitehall spending watchdog the National Audit Office (NAO) as the Green Investment Bank privatisation drags on, City A.M. has learned. With Australian investment bank Macquarie hopeful of clinching a deal soon, the government sale has come under intense scrutiny from politicians in recent weeks. MPs, led by the Green Party’s [...]
Barclays boss Jes Staley spills the beans on Dodd-Frank, Brexit and robots February 23, 2017 Barclays boss Jes Staley was in a chatty mood today – perhaps unsurprising given his bank just announced it had nearly tripled its yearly profits. However, it wasn't just bottom lines and capital ratios the banking chief executive spoke about, as he shared his words of wisdom on a slew of other issues weighing on the [...]
Banks and building societies create more than one-in-10 jobs in five locations across the UK February 23, 2017 The importance of the banking sector in the UK's jobs market has been laid bare by new figures from the British Bankers' Association (BBA). A jobs report from the BBA shows that banks and building societies represent more than 10 per cent of local jobs in five parliamentary constituencies, four of which are outside London. Two [...]
Tandem chief executive to retire with the bank due to launch within months February 23, 2017 Peter Herbert is to step down as chief executive of digital bank Tandem with the challenger due to finally launch inside the next few months. Herbert will retire in the next few weeks, with deputy chief executive and co-founder Ricky Knox stepping up to replace him. Banking veteran Herbert only joined the start-up 15 months [...]
Incentive awards at Barclays inched down in 2016 despite bumper profits February 23, 2017 Barclays revealed today that its incentive pay pool shrank in 2016, despite revealing its pre-tax profits had almost trebled. The banking giant shelled out £1.5bn in incentive payments for the year, down one per cent on 2015. However, the lender's headcount also plummeted during the year, as part of its large-scale restructuring scheme. While the [...]
This is how City analysts reacted to Barclays’ results February 23, 2017 Another day, another big bank reports its numbers – this time, it's Barclays' turn. Shares in the the lender went up by more than three per cent after it reported pre-tax profits almost tripled last year, growing by a massive 182 per cent to hit £3.2bn – but the bank still missed expectations. Here's how [...]
These are the UK banks with the happiest and saddest customers February 23, 2017 TSB has the happiest customers of the UK's high street banks, according to new research based on tweets. Emotion analytics company Adoreboard looked at more than 67,000 tweets by bank customers over a six-month period, and used mathematical algorithms to detect emotions such as joy, trust, rage and anger expressed by social media users. Unsurprisingly, the researchers [...]
Government stake in Lloyds Banking Group drops below four per cent, down from 43 per cent at its peak February 23, 2017 The government revealed this morning that it had shed more of its stake in Lloyds Banking Group, with its remaining shareholding now standing at less than four per cent. The government said to date it had recovered over £19bn of the £20.3bn of taxpayer cash that was used to bolster the bank in the aftermath of [...]