HSBC’s chief executive Stuart Gulliver standing down in two years, with Axa’s Henri de Castries hotly tipped as new chairman April 17, 2016 Stuart Gulliver, the chief executive of banking giant HSBC, looks set to stand down from his role in two years. The bank revealed in a letter to its shareholders last month that the new group chairman, who will be joining once current chairman Douglas Flint steps down, will be heading up the search for a new [...]
Are global banks in trouble? These three charts show which lenders are suffering the most April 15, 2016 Better than expected results for Citi Group rounded off a week during which banks in the US reported slumped results, while the IMF and consultancy KPMG questioned the financial recovery. “Expectations were for $1.05. We got $1.10,” said Joshua Mahony, Market Analyst at IG, a global leader in online trading of the per share value. “People [...]
Citigroup profits plunge 27 per cent in first quarter, but earnings per share and revenue beat expectations April 15, 2016 Citigroup's profits and revenue plunged in the first quarter of 2016, but the bank performed ahead of expectations. The figures The US bank reported a profit of $3.5bn (£2.5bn), down from $4.8bn in the first quarter of 2015. The company's revenue during the period was $17.56bn, down 11 per cent from $19.7bn. Its investment banking revenues for [...]
Scandals like the Panama Papers report have made people demand more transparency from their banks April 14, 2016 A stream of seemingly constant scandals has made people demand more from their banks, a survey released today has found. The poll by Triodos Bank discovered that the news agenda in 2015, which included the conviction of Tom Hayes for Libor-related offences and the publication of a report into the HBOS collapse, had led to 22 per [...]
Libor scandal: Financial Conduct Authority pushes to ban former UBS trader over Libor-rigging accusations April 14, 2016 A former UBS trader is facing a ban from working in financial services after the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) issued a decision notice today claiming that he was not a "fit and proper person". The FCA alleges that Arif Hussein played a role in manipulating Libor while working as head of UBS’s GBP Rates Desk. The FCA claims that Hussein was [...]
Wells Fargo has beaten expectations sending its share price higher, though profit fell seven per cent April 14, 2016 US bank Wells Fargo has reported that its profits dropped by seven per cent over the last three months compared to last year. The bank, the third-largest bank by assets in the US, posted profits of $5.5bn (£3.9bn), compared with $5.8bn in first quarter 2015. Revenue tracked upwards however, rising four per cent to $22.2bn. JP Morgan and [...]
EU referendum: Lloyds Banking Group warns of Brexit creating “economic uncertainty” April 14, 2016 Lloyds is the latest bank to issue a warning over Brexit. The banking group warned of economic uncertainty and short term volatility, while the long term impact was unclear. The group which runs Lloyds, Halifax, Bank of Scotland and Scottish Widows and is the UK's biggest retail bank with 30m customers said in a statement: "The board [...]
Bank of America’s profits fall as it misses analyst expectations on revenue April 14, 2016 Bank of America's first quarter net profit slumped by 13 per cent to $2.68bn from $3.1bn last year. It did though managed to match analysts expectations with earnings per share at $0.21, according to a Bloomberg poll. Revenue came in under expectations at $19.5bn, down from $20.9bn in the same period last year. Watchers had forecast revenue of $20.09bn. Shares climbed nearly four per cent [...]
RBS is axing 600 jobs and shuttering 32 NatWest branches, according to the Unite union April 14, 2016 Royal Bank of Scotland has told staff it will be making 600 job cuts and closing 32 branches in its NatWest subsidiary, according to the Unite union. The closures are broken down to 18 branch closures in the bank's northern region, and up to 217 job losses. A total of 220 branches will change their opening hours. In the Midlands [...]
London’s biggest banks will struggle to reach sustained profitability due to bad debts and regulatory fines, IMF and KPMG warn April 14, 2016 A toxic mix of bad debts and regulatory fines will see some of London’s biggest banks struggle to reach sustained profitability, according to two major new reports from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and KPMG. The hard-hitting reports have prompted city analysts to predict looming job cuts in the Square Mile and Canary Wharf, while [...]