Crisis, debt and a £46bn bailout: Inside Natwest’s return to private ownership April 24, 2025 Natwest is set to end one of British banking’s longest running sagas, as the lender stands inches away from returning to private ownership for the first time in nearly two decades. The FTSE 100 giant has whittled the UK government’s share in the bank to under three per cent, with a full exit expected in [...]
City bonuses beat Wall Street after cap scrapped April 22, 2025 UK financial services handed out the industry’s highest bonuses last year after taking advantage of the lifting of pay restrictions. Workers pocketed an average $149k (£114k) bonus in 2024, according to fresh data from jobs platform eFinancialCareers. This marked a 25.7 per cent jump from 2023 and sent the UK above North America, which rose [...]
Santander to spin off motor finance division from UK business April 22, 2025 Santander is poised to spin off its litigation-hit motor finance division as part of a major overhaul of its UK operations. The Spanish lender has sought permission from regulators to separate its car loan business, which is facing a near-£300m payout as part of the ongoing motor finance scandal, from the rest of its British [...]
HSBC, Barclays, Lloyds: Lenders bank on interest rate cut as mortgage ‘price war’ heats up April 17, 2025 Top UK lenders are offering more mortgages to prospective house buyers, the Bank of England has revealed, as falling interest rates stir up a “price war” on the high street. The Bank’s credit conditions survey revealed that the burgeoning supply of mortgages would come against a levelling off in demand in the three months to [...]
Bank of America, JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs: Wall Street cashes in on market volatility April 15, 2025 Wall Street’s banking giants pocketed record revenues in the first quarter of 2025 as market volatility ramped up. Top lenders were able to smash profit expectations after reaping the rewards of a trading boom caused by President Donald Trump’s erratic tariff agenda. Trump’s bait-and-switch on tariffs triggered countless sell-offs as traders across the globe ditched [...]
S&U shares slump after motor finance drags profits down April 15, 2025 Shares in specialist lender S&U dropped nearly two per cent on Tuesday after annual profits tumbled due to challenges from the motor finance scandal. Pre-tax profit for the financial year ending January 31 2025 fell to £24m, compared to £33.6m in the previous period. Impairment charges rose to £35.6m for the group, reflecting a near [...]
Goldman Sachs: Profit jumps after record quarter for traders April 14, 2025 Goldman Sachs posted a 15 per cent jump in first-quarter profit. The Wall Street giant’s revenue was boosted by record equities trading amid market volatility. The bank’s first-quarter net revenue was $15.06 bn (£11.4bn), surpassing the analyst consensus of $14.8bn (£11.2bn). Net earnings were $4.74bn (£3.6bn). Equity-trading revenue rose 27 per cent from the previous [...]
Financial Conduct Authority: Lenders ‘unclear’ on bereavement policy April 14, 2025 Lenders “can improve” their treatment of bereaved customers, the Financial Conduct Authority has said. The City watchdog has published a framework outlining good and poor practice to help firms “provide the right support” to consumers who are facing difficult times. The FCA said the introduction of the Consumer Duty in July 2023 has helped provide [...]
Barclays shares explode higher as FTSE 100 rebounds April 10, 2025 Shares in FTSE 100 giant Barclays rocketed in early trading after Trump rolled back his ‘Liberation Day’ levies. The bank’s stock shot up over 20 per cent as markets opened, before falling back to a 15 per cent gain. The firm topped the blue-chip index’s risers. The gains helped reverse the lender’s losses in the [...]
HSBC and Barclays shares sink as trouble looms for FTSE 100 banks April 9, 2025 The FTSE 100’s ‘Big Five’ banks were swallowed up by the red on Wednesday as the global trade war ramped up. China increased its tariff on US goods to 84 per cent – a move which followed President Donald Trump’s 50 per cent levy coming into effect today, which took China’s total import tax to [...]