HSBC’s online banking is down August 1, 2016 HSBC is suffering technical problems, leaving customers unable to access online banking services. The issue arose around 3pm according to Downdetector, which has had more than 900 reports of issues so far. HSBC said its service is currently unavailable, but did not elaborate on the reason behind the issue. The issue is also affecting First Direct, the [...]
Trading in Unicredit shares suspended as investors digest bank stress tests August 1, 2016 Shares in Italian bank Unicredit were suspended from trading this morning as the lender plunged by eight per cent following the publication of stress test results on Friday evening. Its counterpart Monte dei Paschi, which came bottom of the results but managed to secure new terms on a potential bailout, climbed four per cent in the [...]
UBS rogue trader Kweku Adoboli is sorry but warns it could happen again August 1, 2016 UBS rogue trader Kweku Adoboli has warned banking culture still has a lot to answer for. Adoboli was convicted on two counts of fraud in 2012 after his unauthorised trading lost Swiss banking giant UBS £1.4bn. He was released from prison last summer after serving around half of his seven-year sentence. Now, Adoboli has told [...]
Barclays is ditching telephone passwords for voice recognition August 1, 2016 Barclays is making passwords for telephone banking obsolete by rolling out voice recognition technology to all its customers. The use of biometric technology is being explored by several banks, but Barclays is the first UK bank to make the technology – which works in the same way as a fingerprint – widely available. Read more: Passwords are [...]
Banks need to act swiftly to avoid Brexit problems, warns report August 1, 2016 The banking sector needs to think quick to swerve some of the more negative effects of June's Brexit vote, a report out today suggests. The study by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) warns that, not only will the worsened economic outlook take its toll on banking sector performance, banks need to be preparing for action now, [...]
Bad news expected from UK bank results this week, with profits forecast to slump at HSBC and a loss predicted for RBS July 31, 2016 Another bumper week of UK banking earnings is expected to bring a fresh dose of bad news, with profits expected to slide at HSBC and a loss forecast at RBS. Analysts have estimated banking giant HSBC, which will reveal earnings in the early hours of Wednesday morning, will report a fall in pre-tax earnings of 40 [...]
Interest rates could be about to get more interesting, with cut to 0.25 per cent widely expected next week July 31, 2016 Banks and savers alike will be bracing themselves for Thursday's Bank of England announcement, when it is largely expected interest rates will be chopped. The bank surprised many a few weeks ago when it opted to hold interest rates at its historically low 0.5 per cent level, where it has stuck since March 2009. Many [...]
RBS among worst performing European banks as stress test results are published July 30, 2016 Royal Bank of Scotland was the stand-out British performer in the European Banking Authority’s (EBA) stress test results. But not in a good way. The assessment of how European banks might perform in adverse conditions found RBS’s capital levels down 7.5 per cent, making it the third biggest faller of 51 lenders tested. Under the [...]
A no stress guide to tonight’s European bank stress test results July 29, 2016 At around 9pm British Summer Time, the European Banking Authority (EBA) is due to finally reveal the results of its bank stress test, the latest checkup on the health of the region's lenders. The test results will unveil what the state of capital would be at 51 of the EU's biggest banks, which account for about 70 per [...]
Rates of 0.25 per cent would be fine, it’s zero per cent interest we’re worried about, says Barclays July 29, 2016 Barclays is not all that concerned about a 0.25 per cent interest rate. A zero per cent rate, on the other hand, could cause some issues. Slotted away at the back of its half-year results, which were released earlier on today, Barclays has charted the effect movements in interest rates would likely have on its [...]