Moody’s: Conduct litigation charges for Lloyds, HSBC, Barclays, RBS and Santander UK rose 40 per cent to £15bn last year March 22, 2016 Legal fees and remediation costs for conduct issues will continue to pose downside risks for Britain's biggest banks, Moody's Investors Service is warning today. In a new report out this morning, the credit rating giant said conduct charges are on the rise – and will continue to constrain profitability at the UK's five largest lenders for years [...]
Shore Capital share price rises despite scrapping its dividend as chief executive warns the outlook for markets may not improve March 22, 2016 Shore Capital's share price has risen in trading today, despite the company axing its dividend and warning challenging markets could continue. The company reported strong profit growth in its preliminary results for its year ended December 2015, mostly due to the sale of a number of radio spectrum licences in Germany to Deutsche Telekom AG. The sale of six [...]
30% Club founder Helena Morrissey warns plans to link bonuses to gender equality targets may backfire as Virgin Money boss Jayne-Anne Gadhia publishes women in finance review March 22, 2016 Proposals for bonuses to be tied to the number of senior women at financial institutions have been criticised by top City figures, who say the move threatens to deter women from working in the Square Mile. In a government-backed review out today, Virgin Money chief exec Jayne-Anne Gadhia recommends financial services firms “connect parts of [...]
Senior PRA official in the running to take over top spot after Andrew Bailey departs March 21, 2016 Lyndon Nelson, a senior official at the prudential regulation authority (PRA), is among a small number of candidates being interviewed to take over as governor of the banking watchdog. Nelson is a contender to replace Andrew Bailey, who was recently appointed as the next chief executive of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), according to Sky News. He [...]
Moody’s places Deutsche Bank on review ahead of possible downgrade and forecasts delay in improving profitability March 21, 2016 Ratings agency Moody's has placed Deutsche Bank on review and may downgrade the company and some of its affiliates. Moody's said the move was "prompted by the rising execution hurdles facing Deutsche Bank in its efforts to strengthen and stabilise profitability over the next three years" and cited Deutsche's recent weak performance within its capital market operations. [...]
Outcry from Unite the union as Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) set to launch “shameless” raid on its staff’s defined benefit pensions March 21, 2016 Unite has today heavily criticised what it described as a "shameless" decision by banking giant Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) to pass on £18m a year in costs of running its defined benefit (DB) pension scheme to its employees. RBS' decision is a result of changes to the pension system, which effectively increased the rate of both [...]
Lloyds bondholders head to the courts over bank’s attempts to buy back bonds at face value March 21, 2016 Lloyds bondholders head to the Supreme Court today, as they attempt to stop the bank from compulsorily purchasing bonds back at face value. The bondholders, who won the right to have their appeal one day before the repurchase was due to take place in February, argue that the bank should pay a premium for the bonds [...]
Not all banks on board with pay equality scheme ahead of Tuesday announcement at the Bank of England March 20, 2016 The Treasury is scrambling to sign up remaining banks ahead of radical proposals on gender balance set to be unveiled by the chief executive of Virgin Money Jayne-Anne Gadhia at the Bank of England on Tuesday. The challenger bank boss has been carrying out a nine month investigation into gender equality in the banking industry and [...]
UBS: European Court of Human Rights accepts petition to challenge French court ruling on helping clients avoid tax March 18, 2016 UBS has won the support of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to push through a challenge to a French ruling over whether it helped clients avoid tax. The Swiss bank said in its accounts filed today that the Strasbourgh-based ECHR had accepted a petition to challenge parts of the decision. UBS was placed under formal examination in [...]
UK challenger banks: OneSavings Bank, Aldermore, Shawbrook among the lenders seeing a bounce-back March 17, 2016 Challenger banks are bouncing back after months of share price weakness, with the markets rewarding smaller listed lenders for posting double-digit increases in profits, lending and customer numbers. The regulators have handed out licences to 15 new banks since 2013, and City A.M. understands around 10 more are seeking a licence this year. Recent years [...]