The Bank of England has revealed the startups in its fintech accelerator November 9, 2016 The Bank of England has lifted the lid on its groundbreaking fintech accelerator which launched back in June. Speaking at the Web Summit in Lisbon on Wednesday, the central bank's chief operating officer Charlotte Hogg said it had been focused on three key areas: "data analytics, information security, and some work exploring distributed ledgers." "Just over [...]
Don’t be fooled by the Tesco Bank hack – Hackers are more likely to go after firms outside of financial services November 9, 2016 Despite the recent high profile hack on Tesco Bank, cyber criminals are increasingly unlikely to target financial services firms. The Tesco Bank attack – branded unprecedented by top regulators – runs against the trend for hackers to focus on non-banks with lower levels of cyber security, City law firm RPC has warned. According the law firm data [...]
Thinking of switching to Co-op Bank? Here’s why you should move quick November 9, 2016 Those weighing up their options for a new current account might want to make their move before the end of this week. Co-op Bank's £150 bonus for those switching to one of its current accounts is ending on Friday. The bank started offering the sweetener six months ago, and, since then, current account sales have rocketed [...]
Bank shares tanked on Donald Trump’s triumph November 9, 2016 Banks' shareholders were clearly less than thrilled about who won the race to the White House this morning, but are learning to live with it this afternoon. After dipping initially this morning, shares for the big banks listed in London have now recovered. Shares in HSBC are currently up 0.1 per cent at 620.6p, Lloyds Banking Group [...]
RBS faces a long road to profitability as it seeks to put its problems behind it November 9, 2016 In an era of ultra low interest rates, ever tightening regulation and steep legacy fines, times are tough for banks. But taxpayer-backed RBS, which has not made a full-year profit since 2007 and has seen shares slide 36 per cent in the year to date, is having a particularly rough ride. This is largely through problems [...]
Calls for banks to be protected in Brexit as sector’s total tax bill rises to £34.2bn November 9, 2016 The amount of taxes generated by the UK’s banking sector has risen to £34.2bn in the year to March, underscoring the importance of financial services to the wider economy. The figures, revealed today, have generated fresh calls to defend the City during upcoming Brexit negotiations. A study published today by professional services firm PwC on behalf [...]
Unpredictable and punitive taxation is threatening the competitiveness of UK banking November 9, 2016 Winston Churchill famously claimed that “for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle”. But for banking – Britain’s biggest export sector – the handle is still being pulled. New figures published today by the BBA show [...]
Barclays is selling its Irish insurance unit, as it continues to ditch its non-core business November 8, 2016 Barclays announced today it has agreed to sell its Irish insurance business, marking the latest step in a long journey to scale back its non-core business. The bank will sell Barclays Insurance (Dublin) Designated Activity Company and Barclays Assurance (Dublin) Designated Activity Company to Monument Re for an undisclosed sum and the deal is expected to [...]
National Crime Agency launches criminal investigation over Tesco Bank fraud attack November 8, 2016 The National Crime Agency (NCA) has launched a criminal investigation into the recent fraud attack on Tesco Bank. The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) said it was working with the NCA and Tesco Bank, as well as other groups, and said it was "providing direct assistance to the company at their request, including on-site assistance". Tesco Bank uncovered [...]
Biggest banks must bolster bail-in funds to reduce rescue risk, says Bank of England November 8, 2016 Big banks have until 2022 to boost their bail-in resources to the point where they should not need to be bailed out if the economy turns south, the Bank of England has noted today. Bail-in funds refer to special kinds of debt which a bank can call in for equity if it needs to, essentially meaning investors [...]