Commerzbank and Deutsche Bank merger rumour shot down but German lenders’ share prices still up August 31, 2016 Shares in two big names in German banking are currently riding high on rumours of a merger, even though they have since been denied. Reports from local media that Commerzbank and Deutsche Bank could be heading towards a tie-up were shot down this morning, after the latter's chief executive John Cryan told a conference he didn't see his [...]
Banks lead the FTSE 100, with some lenders setting new monthly highs August 31, 2016 Banks are helping to bolster a reasonably flat FTSE 100 today. Banking mainstays Barclays and HSBC are both among the five greatest risers this morning, while shares in Lloyds, RBS and Standard Chartered are up as well. Barclays is currently up 2.4 per cent at 173.25p, HSBC is up 1.8 per cent at 567.7p, Lloyds is up 1.5 per [...]
Second warning raised this week on banking red tape deadlines August 31, 2016 G20 leaders have received their second warning in a week that some jurisdictions may miss deadlines for implementing new banking rules. Today's report by the Financial Stability Board (FSB), which is chaired by Bank of England governor Mark Carney, notes issues which have been raised with rolling out rules, in particular, those still left to [...]
Financial firms plan to plough money into IT as fintech challengers encroach on turf August 31, 2016 Over half (54 per cent) of traditional financial services firms are planning to splash cash on their IT systems, as the rise of fintech is leaving them quaking in their boots, research out today has found. The study by Robert Half Financial Services also discovered that those who planned to plough more money into technology were [...]
Petition piles pressure on Barroso for Goldman Sachs job, as it reaches over 80,000 supporters August 30, 2016 Former European Commission president Jose Barroso has come under increased pressure for taking up a role at Goldman Sachs, after a petition calling for "strong exemplary measures to be taken against" him reached over 80,000 supporters. The petition, which is being hosted on change.org and was started by an anonymous group of employees of the European Institutions, [...]
Barclays continues to shed its non-core assets and says arrivederci to retail in Italy with sale to CheBanca! August 30, 2016 Banking giant Barclays today revealed it has completed the sale of its Italian retail network to CheBanca!, as it continues in its quest to ditch its non-core business. "I would like to take this opportunity to thank our colleagues in the Italian retail network and wish them well for the future," said Jes Staley, Barclays group chief executive. "Their [...]
Bank of China boosts its profits for first half of 2016 despite dip in net interest income August 30, 2016 Bank of China reported a boost to profits in its interim results today, despite also reporting a small slump in net interest income. The bank, which recently ranked number four in the world for tier one capital in a study by The Banker, reported profit attributable to shareholders of 93bn yuan (£10.6bn) for the first half of 2016, [...]
Concerns raised over deadlines for next round of global banking red tape August 29, 2016 A major global banking body has today warned some member states may not be able to implement the latest tranche of red tape on time. In its seventh report, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision at the Bank for International Settlements warned some of the 27 Basel jurisdictions had raised concerns they may not be able to transpose some [...]
Mon-who? Challenger bank Mondo rebrands as Monzo following trademark snag August 25, 2016 Challenger bank Mondo is no more, officially rebranding itself today as Monzo. The smartphone-centric firm originally called itself Mondo, after the Italian word for world, before its trademark for the name was successfully challenged by another company. After raising £1m in 96 seconds through crowdfunding earlier this year, the bank has clearly decided reaching out to the public is [...]
Royal Bank of Canada bumps up dividend as income increases August 24, 2016 Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) has today announced a boost to its income, along with a slightly sweeter dividend for its third quarter of its financial year. RBC revealed net income of CA$2.9bn (£1.7bn) for the three months to the end of July, an increase of 17 per cent on CA$2.5bn the year before. Meanwhile, diluted earnings per share were reported [...]