The UK’s biggest banks are bracing themselves for another £2bn on their PPI bill October 18, 2016 Britain's largest banks are set to add billions to their collective bill for payment protection insurance (PPI) mis-selling in the next two weeks. According to Sky News, executives at Lloyds Banking Group, Royal Bank of Scotland, HSBC and Barclays are in the process of finalising top-up provisions, amounting to around £2bn in total – due to be [...]
Goldman Sachs glitters as it beats analyst expectations October 18, 2016 Goldman Sachs shares have risen in pre-market open trading, after its latest quarterly earnings left analyst expectations in the dust. The figures The US banking giant reported net earnings of $2.1bn (£1.7bn) for its third quarter of 2016, an increase of 47 per cent based on $1.4bn the year before and an increase of 15 per [...]
Banks blame Draghi for their dwindling profits October 18, 2016 There is no end in sight for Europe's squeezed banking sector as the continent's top lenders prepare to feel the pain of negative interest rates for at least the next six months. Nearly every bank in the Eurozone said their profits had been hit as a result of the European Central Bank (ECB)'s historically low [...]
Profit at the world’s largest asset manager rose in the last quarter October 18, 2016 BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, has posted a rise in quarterly profit, beating analyst expectations. The New York-based firm's performance will be seen as a strong sign of resilience in a weak market for many traditional asset managers. The numbers Third quarter earnings came in at $5.14 a share on $2.84bn in revenue, beating Thomson Reuters consensus expectations of about $5 [...]
Attempt to revamp retail banking was “feeble”, Treasury committee hears October 18, 2016 Recent efforts to improve banking for customers have been weak, the man at the helm of a leading consumer interest body has said today. Speaking in front of the Treasury Select Committee today, Peter Vicary-Smith, chief executive of Which?, slammed the Competition and Markets Authority's (CMA) recent report into the retail banking sector as "feeble", remarking it [...]
Three things to look for when Goldman Sachs announces its third quarter results today October 18, 2016 Goldman Sachs is the next US banking giant due to reveal how it's performed during the third quarter of 2016, announcing results before the bell today. Here are three things to keep an eye out for: Legal costs It doesn't take more than a passing glance at a newspaper to know banks aren't exactly strangers to [...]
Total lockdown: NatWest freezes Russian TV station’s accounts October 18, 2016 The UK is facing a new round of tit-for-tat reprisals from Russia following a shock move by NatWest to freeze the bank accounts of Kremlin-funded news channel RT. British journalists could be among those targeted by the Kremlin in the aftermath of the decision to close UK accounts being used by the broadcaster, previously called Russia Today. RT revealed [...]
Frankfurt has opened its doors to Britain’s businesses following Brexit, and some firms look ready to take up the offer October 17, 2016 Germany's financial sector today revealed it has opened its doors to British bankers displaced by Brexit, and some businesses looked ready to take up the offer. The comments come as a number of key government figures are suggesting they might opt for a so-called hard Brexit, which could see London's financial centre left without access to [...]
UBS spending over £830m on IT system overhaul October 17, 2016 Swiss private bank UBS is spending around 1bn Swiss francs (£831m) on an overhaul of its IT system. The group wants to standardise the IT platform across its flagship wealth management business and said the investment will ultimately save money. "This is about integrating our historically fragmented infrastructure that we have globally into one platform," [...]
Great expectations? Bank of America comfortably beats estimates for third quarter October 17, 2016 Shares in Bank of America nudged up in early trading today, after the lender reported earnings which sailed past expectations. The figures The US bank reported net income of $5bn (£4.1bn), up seven per cent from the prior year's $4.6bn. Meanwhile, earnings per share grew to $0.41, an increase of eight per cent from $0.38 and beating out [...]