Three things banks want from Wednesday’s Autumn Statement November 20, 2016 The shops are stocking mince pies and there's a distinct chill in the air, which can mean only one thing; the Autumn Statement is near. While those in the booze sector have their fingers crossed for a beer duty freeze and property tycoons want some plans drawn up for affordable homes, what will bankers be hoping [...]
Credit Suisse eyes possible IPO for new bank November 20, 2016 Credit Suisse could be ready to press go on a massive stock market listing, after it moved more than 1m customers to a new bank which goes live today. The new bank – Credit Suisse (Schweiz) – will cater for the lender's Swiss retail, corporate, private and investment banking clients and was set up as part of the [...]
Fraud squad to ask for Barclays tribunal to take place behind closed doors November 20, 2016 The fraud squad will tomorrow ask for an employment tribunal for an ex-Barclays exec to take place in private, on the grounds it could compromise its ongoing investigation into the bank. Since 2012, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) is currently investigating Barclays' handling of an emergency funding exercise back in 2008. As part of that, the fraud [...]
TSB moves to snap up £16bn Bradford & Bingley portfolio November 20, 2016 TSB has put an offer on the table for a £16bn mortgage loan portfolio which belonged to Bradford & Bingley. The government has been slowly but surely selling the assets it picked up in the fallout of the financial crisis, which includes parts of Bradford & Bingley's business. Now, the Sunday Times has reported UK [...]
Autumn Statement sell-offs? Land Registry, Lloyds, Channel 4 and more could be on the privatisation agenda November 18, 2016 Last year was a record for sell-offs of publicly-owned assets, with David Cameron and George Osborne’s government making more than £26bn from stakes in Royal Mail, Eurostar, Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds and other companies. Next week’s Autumn Statement should provide an insight into how far Theresa May and Philip Hammond will seek to continue [...]
Nationwide pulls out of commercial real estate lending as it reports falling profits November 18, 2016 Nationwide announced plans to pull out of commercial property lending as it reported falling profits today. The figures Statutory profit for the six months to September came in at £696m, down from £802m. And underlying profit was reported at £615m, down from £801m. Nationwide said gross mortgage lending was up 17 per cent to £17.5bn [...]
London unlikely to lose out on euro clearing post-Brexit, finds report November 17, 2016 Euro-denominated clearing is unlikely to be shifted out of the UK following Brexit, a report from ratings agency S&P has said. Since the UK voted to leave the EU in June, there have been some fears that London institutions could be prohibited from carrying out lucrative euro clearing activities. While the report highlighted that the [...]
JP Morgan to pay $264m to settle Chinese hiring claims November 17, 2016 JP Morgan is to pay $264m (£212.2m) to settle claims it hired relatives of key Chinese decision makers to win work. The US authorities allege that JP Morgan's Asian subsidiary set up a client referral scheme, distinct from the lender's own hiring processes, to give unfair preference to would-be hires referred by client executives and influential government officials [...]
Co-operative Bank says low interest rates behind decision to cut 200 jobs November 17, 2016 The Co-operative Bank is cutting 200 roles across the business in a bid to cut costs. The roles will be made redundant by the end of March 2017. The bank said low interest rates were partly to blame for the job losses, as it is struggling to make money in the current economic environment. The roles affected [...]
Strictly star (and former shadow chancellor) Ed Balls wants Bank of England independence reformed November 17, 2016 The star of Strictly Come Dancing 2016 has spoken out on the Bank of England's independence. Yes, that's right: former shadow chancellor Ed Balls has called for the BoE's independence to be curbed in response to growing "popular discontent". He has co-authored an academic paper on central bank independence saying: "We need a more nuanced approach [...]