FCA bans wealth manager trio behind £35.5m investor visa scam August 26, 2026 The financial watchdog has banned and fined a trio of former wealth managers after discovering they operated a scheme designed to help clients slip past UK investor visa rules. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) found that three Dolfin Financial executives had run a scheme designed to create the false impression that visa requirements to enter [...]
As it happened: Antofagasta leads FTSE 100 rally; oil falls as US-Iran deal ‘close’ August 26, 2026 Welcome back to the City AM FTSE 100 liveblog. The UK’s blue-chip index slipped on Wednesday morning, dragged down by oil majors BP and Shell, before recovering later in the day to be level with Tuesday’s close. Brent crude – the international benchmark – fell by more than two per cent on Wednesday to $86 [...]
As it happened: FTSE 100 jumps in best streak since May; Vistry, Melrose lead risers August 25, 2026 Welcome back to the City AM FTSE 100 liveblog. The blue-chip index jumped on Tuesday to extend its best winning streak since May. Melrose Industries led the FTSE 100 after the completion of a probe into a chemical incident in California, while Vistry gained 18 per cent on the FTSE 250 after winning cash in [...]
European private credit booms as private equity firms are forced to refinance August 24, 2026 Lending by European private credit firms hit a record-high in the first half of the year as a subdued dealmaking environment forced private equity firms to pause sale processes and renegotiate their portfolio companies’ debt, new data suggests. The value of direct lending across the continent hit €63.2bn (£54.1bn) in the first six months of [...]
As it happened: Stocks rally; US to unveil ‘economic D-Day’ Iran sanctions August 24, 2026 Welcome back to the City AM liveblog. The FTSE 100 rallied on Monday afternoon following a brief slump in the early afternoon. Wier, Airtel Africa and Intercontinental Hotels Group led the index’s risers while Autotrader and Melrose Industries dragged on the index. The attention of investors is trained on the other side of the Atlantic, [...]
Standard Life partners with Goldman Sachs and CVC to fuel pension risk transfer business August 20, 2026 Standard Life has struck a deal with a group of global finance giants including CVC and Goldman Sachs in a bid to accelerate its push into the booming pension risk transfer market. The FTSE 100 group has joined forces with a CVC-led consortium, which also includes insurer Prudential, to commit as much as £2bn over [...]
Investors risk losing life savings with unregulated services, watchdog warns August 20, 2026 The UK’s financial watchdog has warned everyday investors could lose their life savings if they pump cash into high-risk unregulated investment services. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has said the recent failure of Woodville Consultants, a litigation funder which raised cashed through unregulated loan notes, had revealed the risks facing investors. Woodville collapsed in July [...]
Burnham’s devolution drive could ‘push 90,000 jobs out of London’ August 12, 2026 Roughly 90,000 of London’s white-collar jobs could be pushed into other parts of the country as Andy Burnham accelerates his devolution drive, a top recruitment firm has predicted. Legal, banking and accounting firms could be among those to shift thousands of jobs away from the capital in a bid to capitalise on the Prime Minister’s [...]
London IPO candidate Utmost sees inflows slide August 12, 2026 A wealth soultions firm expected to IPO in London later this year has posted a fall in inflows as a boost generated by last year’s UK government tax shake up tailed off. Utmost, owned by private equity firms Oaktree Capital and Brookfield, recorded £4.4bn of inflows in the first half of the year, down from [...]
Aberdeen is back in the FTSE 100 but is Interactive Investor holding it up? August 12, 2026 Five years ago former Aberdeen chief executive Stephen Bird made what would prove to be a disastrous choice when he chose to rebrand the investment manager abrdn. The decision was widely mocked across the Square Mile – including earning the odd jibe in these pages. Some have called Bird’s decision the beginning of his downfall [...]