Libor latest: Accused ex-Barclays trader says he was just doing what he was trained to May 23, 2016 A former Barclays trader accused of Libor-rigging related offences told the court today that email requests by staff for certain rates were indicative of what they were trained to do. Jay Merchant, along with fellow former traders Stylianos Contogoulas, Alex Pabon and Ryan Reich and former Libor submitter Jonathan Mathew, is standing trial charged with conspiracy to defraud [...]
FCA must act to cap monthly charges on unauthorised bank overdrafts says Labour MP May 23, 2016 Labour MP and Treasury committee member Rachel Reeves has called on the FCA to go beyond the recommendations of the Competion and Markets Authority and install a cap on banks' unauthorised overdraft charges. The CMA last week proposed that banks should be forced to set their own cap on the amounts that they can charge customers [...]
Card is king? The UK is closer than ever to being a cashless society May 23, 2016 The old adage that cash is king is about to be kicked into the long grass, new research suggested this morning – with card payments about to whoosh ahead of cash payments. A study by Payments UK found although cash is still the biggest method of payment – some 45 per cent of all UK [...]
Traditional banks’ dominance of lending market set to continue despite peer-to-peer growth, report finds May 23, 2016 Banks will fight off competition from non-traditional lenders and continue to dominate the borrowing market over the next decade, a Deloitte report has suggested. The firm’s Marketplace Lending report estimates that by 2025 marketplace lenders (MPLs), previously known as peer-to-peer (P2P) lenders, will account for up to around six per cent, or £35.5bn, of the [...]
Former Barclays banker tells court that bosses must have known about Libor fixes May 22, 2016 A former Barclays trader who is currently standing trial accused of Libor-rigging related offences told the court late last week that three senior figures at the bank must have known about the rate fixing. Jay Merchant, along with fellow former traders Stylianos Contogoulas, Alex Pabon and Ryan Reich and one of Barclays' former Libor submitters Jonathan Mathew, [...]
The Co-op’s having a retro rebrand May 22, 2016 The Co-op is returning to its roots with a retro rebrand in a bid to shake off several scandal hit years. The refresh of its image brings back the blue and white logo first introduced in the 1960s but phased out in the 1980s as it promised to return more than £100m a year back to [...]
Here is how banks can better compete for, and profit from, SME business May 20, 2016 SMEs are the backbone of the UK economy, generating roughly half of all private sector turnover and employing around 60 per cent of the UK workforce, according to the Federation of Small Businesses. For banks, then, addressing the needs and expectations of this fast-growing and influential segment must be high on the agenda. The good news? [...]
Contactless card payments are still on the up, but customers aren’t completely sold on them yet May 20, 2016 Contactless payments have more than doubled in the last year from one in 16 transactions to one in seven, but consumers are still not fully sold on them, according to new research. A survey of 2,000 adults by Defendernote indicated that almost a third (30 per cent) said bank customers should reserve the right to [...]
Salaries and bonuses at London banks, ranked from best to worst – plus who’s paying their staff most fairly May 20, 2016 One size rarely fits all, especially, as a study out today has discovered, when it comes to bankers' pay. The research by Emolument.com, which crunched the numbers on 1,433 salaries, found that paypackets for associates at 18 of London's well-known banks varied by up to £73,000 while the highest paid managing director (MD) is pocketing around £571,963 more than [...]
Germany’s biggest lender Deutsche Bank could be next in line for shareholder revolt over pay May 19, 2016 Shareholders at Germany's Deutsche Bank have signalled their distaste for the company's pay plan, with a vote against remuneration proposals at the group's annual meeting in Frankfurt. The bank's pay plan was voted down by 51.9 per cent of its investors, with 48.1 per cent voting in favour. Deutsche has weathered several storms during the [...]