Hedge funds bank on Sky takeover bid success February 12, 2017 Two US hedge funds have banked on the Murdoch family succeeding in taking over the UK-based communications giant, Sky plc. According to reports in the Sunday Telegraph, the two funds, HBK and Pentwater, each disclosed they have amassed positions worth £310m and £300m respectively. In December last year, 21st Century Fox announced that it would be [...]
RBS on track for ninth straight year of losses, as struggling bank pressed to close branches and cut jobs in digital push February 12, 2017 Royal Bank of Scotland looks set to announce a multi-billion pound loss for 2016, its ninth straight year wallowing in the red, while it is also being pushed to cut branches as customers flee to digital banking. The 73 per cent state owned bank, which will reveal its annual results on 24 February, racked up losses attributable [...]
London’s financial services can thrive says EU commissioner – but only if we work together February 10, 2017 London’s financial services can continue to thrive after Brexit but only if it works with the EU on regulation, according to a top EU diplomat. In a speech in the capital Valdis Dombrovskis, the EU’s commissioner for financial services, called for a more harmonised international regulatory system, in which the UK can play a central [...]
Nationwide blames low interest rates as profits drop – but building society’s results were still ahead of expectations February 10, 2017 Nationwide profits dropped during the nine months to 31 December, with the building society blaming continued low interest rates. The figures Underlying profit before tax dropped by 23 per cent to £866m from £1.13bn in the same period of last year. Statutory profit before tax was down 16 per cent to £946m from £1.12bn – [...]
The UK government’s crackdown on encryption threatens to undermine London’s fintech boom February 10, 2017 Talk of calamity befalling corporate Britain as we negotiate our EU exit is typically overblown. Nevertheless there is a potentially serious conflict in the making between the UK government’s stated desire to maintain access to certain online data for reasons of national security and the continental European determination to institute a modern system of information [...]
Treasury Committee chair tells City watchdog to spill the beans on RBS’ GRG February 10, 2017 The chair of the influential Treasury Committee is today calling on the City watchdog to reveal more details from its review into Royal Bank of Scotland's Global Restructuring Group (GRG). The bank was accused of purposely pushing small businesses into GRG, and effectively driving them into the ground for its own gain. Last November, the Financial [...]
Stress tests could be watered down in Dodd-Frank shake up February 9, 2017 The days of US stress tests for banks in their current guise could be numbered as Donald Trump and his team dismantle the Dodd-Frank rules. The President signed an executive order earlier this month to review the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial regulations. Now, a leaked memo from House Financial Services Committee chairman Jeb Hensarling, which has been seen by [...]
This is our best chance to scrap the toxic American tax law that makes pariahs out of US citizens February 9, 2017 We have President Trump in our sights. Having this week officially launched the Washington DC-based Campaign to Repeal FATCA, we’re lobbying to have America’s toxic, imperialistic global tax law swept into the dustbin of history. I’ve been an outspoken critic of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) since it was rushed through Congress by [...]
Commerzbank profits tumble for 2016 as restructuring costs stack up February 9, 2017 Commerzbank announced today that 2016 had taken a nasty chunk out of its bottom line, as restructuring costs and low interest rates took their toll. The figures The German bank revealed net profits attributable to shareholders for its full year of €279m (£237.6m), down 74.3 per cent from €1.1bn the year before. Profits for the fourth quarter [...]
Italian bank UniCredit just confirmed it is €11.8bn in the red for 2016 February 9, 2017 UniCredit confirmed today it racked up losses worth billions of euros during a difficult 2016. The figures Italy's largest bank reported a net loss of €11.8bn (£10bn) for its 2016 full year, a significant drop from the €1.7bn net profit it reported for 2015. Meanwhile, losses in the fourth quarter plummeted to €13.6bn, down from a profit of €153m the year [...]