More staff than ever are working on fintech at the City regulator September 22, 2016 The City regulator's team of staff working with fintech startups has grown tenfold in the last two years, it's been revealed, as it increasingly looks at the implications of technology on finance. The Financial Conduct Authority's (FCA) Project Innovate scheme, which kicked off in 2014, now has more than 20 staff focused on the crossover [...]
Brexit fears overshadow latest Lloyd’s of London results September 22, 2016 Insurance behemoth Lloyd's of London has issued another stark warning over the fallout from the UK's vote to leave the EU as its underwriting profits slipped in the first six months of the year. Update: Lloyd's of London's chairman has told City A.M. it will announce whether it will relocate following the Brexit vote The [...]
Postal Savings Bank of China in world’s biggest IPO in two years September 21, 2016 China's sixth-largest lender by assets has raised $7.4bn (£5.6bn) in the world’s biggest initial public offering since Chinese ecommerce retailer Alibaba’s 2014 float. The state-owned Postal Savings Bank of China (PSBC) was priced at the lower end of expectations in Hong Kong and was heavily reliant on cornerstone investors – big buyers that get priority [...]
Co-op Group set to announce 25 per cent hit on value of bank stake September 21, 2016 The Co-operative Group has taken a 25 per cent hit to the value of its stake in Co-op Bank, the company is expected to announce this week. As part of its half-year results on Friday, the group is poised to put a £145m value on its 20 per cent stake in the lender, down from £185m. The [...]
Morgan Stanley and Blackrock presidents warn Brexit will shrink London’s financial crown September 21, 2016 London's financial industry woke up this morning to a fresh warning that Brexit could cap the size of the sector in the City. Blackrock president Rob Kapito noted that multinationals with a UK presence would now be carefully considering their options relating to how much of their business they kept in the country. "I don't think [...]
How this challenger bank used the Brexit vote as an opportunity and broke even in less than a year September 21, 2016 New company founders are frequently told to plan to spend their first few years languishing in the red. Now one challenger bank has proved it is possible to buck the trend, and the recent Brexit vote may have given it a nudge in the right direction. OakNorth Bank today revealed it has broken even and inched into profitability, [...]
Banking shares bolster FTSE 100…except for RBS September 21, 2016 Banks' investors have a reason to celebrate this morning, as share prices among lenders are on the rise – with the exception of RBS. At time of writing, Barclays is the biggest riser of the FTSE 100, while shares in HSBC, Standard Chartered and Lloyds Banking Group are also up, after the Bank of Japan [...]
Why big banks have lost their way, according to the boss of Arbuthnot Latham September 20, 2016 Banking's biggest players have forgotten how to fine tune their wealth offerings, creating opportunities for some of the sector's smaller firms, according to the boss of one long-established private bank. Speaking to City A.M., Ian Henderson, chief executive of Arbuthnot Latham, said his bank's strategy was "around continuing to nibble away at customers either disenfranchised or unhappy with [...]
The price isn’t right: Santander talks to buy Williams & Glyn grind to a halt September 20, 2016 Santander has called it quits on talks to buy Williams & Glyn from Royal Bank of Scotland. Last month, it was revealed that Santander UK had put forward a bid to buy Williams & Glyn, which has a 300-strong branch network, although it was also reported at that time that the deal was tentative and [...]
This consulting firm has created an “editable” blockchain and people are puzzled September 20, 2016 Blockchain, heralded in part for keeping an immutable record of transactions, could soon become editable. Accenture has patented a prototype for making changes to it in "exceptional circumstances" to take into account errors recorded such as so-called fat finger moments, or, human error. “As we focus on new uses for blockchain technology beyond the realm of cryptocurrency, absolute immutability will become both [...]