Ministers to be handed ‘statutory powers’ to steer regulator’s growth agenda May 13, 2026 Ministers will be handed new “statutory powers” to steer UK watchdog’s growth agenda and define what it means in different “regulatory contexts“. In the King’s Speech, the government revealed its Regulating for Growth Bill – a cross-sector piece of legislation designed to beef up the UK’s regulatory system’s fostering of growth. The government’s report takes [...]
‘Dual squeeze’: FCA approvals for e-money licences plummet May 13, 2026 The number of successful applicants for e-money licences has plummeted in the last few years raising further questions over a slow down in market growth. Fresh figures – revealed in a Freedom of Information request by financial regulation consultancy Pathlight Associates – showed just 35 applicants were able to bag an electric money institution (EMI) [...]
As it happened: Market jitters as Streeting set to make bid against Starmer May 13, 2026 Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog. UK borrowing costs are taking a modest breathe this morning after settling much higher yesterday after a session jam-packed with political turmoil. The 10-year yield on UK gilts spiked ten basis points to over 5.1 per cent on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the 30-year yield soared to [...]
AI in banks? It’s all marketing and FOMO May 13, 2026 As banks are rush to beef up their AI capacity Samuel Norman recounts the sentiment shared across the industry at a conference in Copenhagen last week. Like all sectors, banks are chasing the promises of AI. The industry is shrugging off growing fears around job losses and rushing to beef up their AI credentials. Last [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Stocks down on election day; oil back below $100 as Iran deal hangs in balance May 7, 2026 Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog. It’s local election day in the UK and Keir Starmer’s premiership is hanging in the balance as his Labour Party prepares to take a drubbing in council boroughs across the country. Gilt yields rose at their fastest rate earlier this week as the market prepares [...]
Revealed: The 2026 City AM Awards Winners May 7, 2026 Around 500 guests enjoyed a night of celebration at London’s Guildhall on Wednesday 6 May where the winners of the 2026 City AM Awards were crowned. From 60 finalists across 12 categories, the judges chose their champions. Personality of the Year Greg Jackson CBE The entrepreneur and CEO of Octopus Energy has become one of [...]
City watchdog probes Mastercard, Visa, Paypal for alleged anti-competitive conduct May 6, 2026 The City watchdog has confirmed it is investigating a trio of payments giants over alleged anti-competitive conduct. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) will probe Mastercard, Paypal and Visa under the Competition Act 1998 regarding its suspected conduct related to the “funding and usage” of Paypal’s digital wallet. Paypal’s digital wallet is an app-based system that [...]
‘Inflection point’: Challenger banks loan growth halved in 2025 May 5, 2026 Challenger banks have reached an “inflection point” after loan growth across the industry halved in the last year, a fresh report has warned. New analysis from Big Four firm EY showed lending growth across UK challenger, specialist and digital banks slowed to 4.5 per cent in 2025, down from 8.9 per cent. This came as [...]
Exclusive: Lloyds in tie-up with Google to build AI agents April 30, 2026 Lloyds Banking Group has formed a tie-up with Google as the financial services giant sets its sight on building its own AI agents, City AM can reveal. The blue-chip lender is leveraging Google Cloud – the tech giant’s suite of computing services – and the bank’s existing Large Language Model to create a new internal [...]
Monzo lost one current account switcher for every two gained in 2025 April 30, 2026 UK fintech darling Monzo lost one current account switcher for every two it gained last year. The neobank registered just over 20,000 new switchers in the final quarter, but over half of this was offset by the 11,000 thousand outflows. The picture for the final few months of the year mirrors the picture for the [...]