Provident Financial boss rebuffs Brexit doom-mongering January 17, 2017 The boss of sub prime lender Provident Financial said post-Brexit economic doom-mongering has been proven to be wrong and is quietly confident about what 2017 will bring. Peter Crook, the chief exec of the FTSE 100 firm, revealed there was plenty of room for the firm to grow, “serving customers in an underserved market”. Read [...]
2016 not so bad for Morgan Stanley: Bank’s fourth quarter results sail past expectations January 17, 2017 Morgan Stanley has given Wall Street something to smile about, reporting better than expected results, with profits and revenues booming in its fourth quarter thanks to a boost in bond trading. The figures The US banking giant announced net revenue of $9bn (£7.4bn) for the fourth quarter of 2016, up 17 per cent from $7.7bn [...]
Standard Chartered: Analysts say the bank is a wise place to invest in light of Brexit and Trump January 17, 2017 Shares in Standard Chartered leapt over six per cent this morning after market upgrades and traders saw the stock as a good hedge against the tumbling pound. Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BoAML) raised its expectations of StanChart's profit before tax by 18 per cent and raised its target price for the stock to 900p from 735p. [...]
Why attacking billionaires doesn’t help the poor January 17, 2017 Oxfam was founded nearly 75 years ago with the noble aim of preventing war-time governments from blocking the provision of urgently needed supplies to Europe’s suffering civilians. On top of the horrors of war, the world was a far more harsh and impoverished place back then. Globally, nearly 24 per cent of infants failed to reach [...]
Metro Bank gets down to business, planning to increase its number of in-store managers by around a third January 17, 2017 Business banking is booming for Metro Bank, so much so that the challenger plans to increase the number of business bankers in its branches by around a third, or 30 per cent, in 2017. The bank, which opened its first branch in 2010, recently announced it was putting £1bn to one side to support business customers [...]
Italian banking crisis: Monte dei Paschi boss to produce new business plan by February January 16, 2017 The boss of Monte dei Paschi di Siena is drawing up a new business plan for the troubled lender, with the aim to get it polished off by February. Shortly before Christmas last year, the bank's private sector rescue deal, designed to pump €5bn (£4.4bn) of capital into the lender's coffers, collapsed after it failed to get [...]
Insurance sector slapped with a 70 per cent top-up levy from regulators January 16, 2017 UK regulators have hiked levies on the insurers and pension firms despite plans to reduce total levies on the Britain's financial sector next year. The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), a statutory initiative to compensate customers of financial services that are unable to pay claims against them, announced its overall budget for 2017/18. The overall industry levy will fall [...]
Brexit and beginners: Why the City must step up and support the next generation January 16, 2017 The City of London Corporation hosted its annual London Government Dinner last week. Central to the event was the topic of Brexit, in which the London mayor Sadiq Khan was vocal on how devolution would play a critical role in supporting Britain’s capital after Brexit. The lord mayor’s speech covered a different but equally important issue; [...]
City eyes best possible access to Europe’s Single Market January 16, 2017 The City is shifting to a new focus on best possible access to Europe's Single Market, rather than pinning hopes on continued membership of the trading bloc, as it prepares for the Prime Minister to announce a so-called clean Brexit tomorrow. In a much anticipated speech, Theresa May is expected to make clear the UK’s [...]
US banking giants, including Goldman Sachs, forecast to announce revenue slide next week January 15, 2017 US earnings season might be about to prove that not all that glitters is Goldman, as the investment banking titan is predicted to announce a double digit slide in full-year revenues on Wednesday. Analysts have also forecast a slump in revenues for Morgan Stanley, which reports on Tuesday, and Citigroup, which reports on Wednesday. According to [...]