Italian banks fall as Monte dei Paschi’s future hangs in the balance following Matteo Renzi’s resignation December 5, 2016 Most people aren't out of bed yet, but it's already a dramatic morning for Italy's troubled lenders, who are facing more uncertainty following the result of the country's referendum. The FTSE Italia all-share banks index was down 4.3 per cent in early trading in the country after the resignation of Prime Minister Matteo Renzi threatened another setback in [...]
Royal Bank of Scotland reaches £800m settlement deal with three shareholder groups December 5, 2016 Royal Bank of Scotland has reached a settlement with three out of five shareholder groups involved in claims relating to a rights issue the bank carried out during the financial crisis. RBS said today that it has concluded a "full and final" settlement with three of the groups, representing around 77 per cent of the [...]
ECB set to unleash more firepower in December meeting December 5, 2016 The European Central Bank is widely expected to extend its quantitative easing programme by six months at its next policy meeting on Thursday, amid ongoing political risk and stubbornly low inflation. The bank is largely expected to keep the size of its monthly bond purchases unchanged beyond its current end date of March 2017, at [...]
Retail shareholders hold out for better deal in RBS lawsuit December 4, 2016 A subset of shareholders suing RBS over how it handled a financial crisis fundraising are holding out for a better deal, despite other investors closing in on an out of court offer. Shareholders are currently due to face off against the bank in court next March, claiming the lender misled them into taking part in a 2008 [...]
Italian banks still struggling along as country heads to the polls December 4, 2016 Italian lenders have been scrambling to bolster their position as the country heads to the polls today to vote in its constitution-changing referendum. The country's banks, which are burdened with some €360bn (£301.5bn) in non-performing loans between them, have been suffering for some time and there are concerns a 'No' vote could send more unwanted shocks [...]
Europe will suffer if Brussels shuts the City of London out of EU markets December 2, 2016 Benjamin Franklin once said that “you may delay, but time will not”. With Article 50 to be triggered before the end of March pending the Supreme Court ruling, how much more time can Westminster and Brussels policy-makers really afford to spend on political rhetoric? Can we really ignore warnings from European officials that UK plans to [...]
(Banco) Popular decision? Shares rise as chairman Angel Ron ousted December 1, 2016 Shareholders can be a harsh bunch sometimes; shares in Spain's Banco Popular shot up today after the board voted to oust its long-serving chairman. Angel Ron has sat at the helm of the struggling bank for more than a decade, but his leadership, include poor progress in ditching the lender's toxic assets, has recently sparked grumbles from [...]
UBS wraps most of its wealth management business into Frankfurt hub December 1, 2016 UBS today revealed it is consolidating the majority of its wealth management business into one legal entity in Frankfurt. The move will merge together the Swiss banking giant's subsidiaries across Germany, Italy, Luxembourg (which included the branches in Austria, Denmark and Sweden already), the Netherlands and Spain. UBS hopes the move will help to simplify its [...]
FCA wants customers to shop around for the best bank interest rates and have revealed who gives the best returns on cash December 1, 2016 With interest rates at rock bottom levels we've all become accustomed to the fact we shouldn't expect much of a return from our bank accounts. And today, the UK's financial watchdog named and shamed the banks paying the lowest interest rates on cash savings accounts. Read more: City watchdog warns of asset management "market failure" [...]
Donald Trump hands top job at commerce department to Bank of Cyprus vice-chairman December 1, 2016 President-elect Donald Trump has appointed the vice-chairman of soon-to-be London-listed Bank of Cyprus as his secretary of commerce. Billionaire investor Wilbur Ross was a key Trump ally during his bid for the White House. Similar to the President-elect, he has criticised the North American Free Trade Agreement and blamed China's entry into the World Trade Organisation in 2001 [...]