Saturday Special: The biggest money laundering scandals in banking August 20, 2022 Financial watchdog the FCA warned challenger banks earlier this year to stop cutting corners in combating financial crime so that customers can set up accounts quickly and easily. Sarah Pritchard, who heads the market division of the City regulator, said in May that there cannot be a “trade-off” between getting customers to come into the [...]
Canary Wharf’s giants stand by idly as Brits flock en masse to challenger banks Monzo and Starling Bank August 20, 2022 In yet another sign that traditional High Street banks are losing ground across the UK, challenger banks have overtaken the established Canary Wharf institutions in a survey ranking how satisfied people and firms are with their services amid the worsening cost-of-living crisis. Starling Bank and Monzo were the top-ranked current account providers, while high-street lenders [...]
Best ETFs for an environment with rising interest rates August 19, 2022 | City Talk On 4th August, the Bank of England raised interest rates by an outsize 0.50% – the largest single increase since 1995, taking the Bank Rate to 1.75%. This follows on from the Fed’s second 0.75% rate hike on 27th July, as Central Banks try to rein in inflation. Whether or not interest rate rises will [...]
Dire economy drags UK consumer confidence down to lowest level ever August 19, 2022 “Exasperation” with the plight of the UK economy has eroded consumer confidence to the lowest level ever, reveals a closely watched survey published today. Households are being downtrodden by a string of bleak economic news, uncertainty over how they will cope with sky-high energy bills during the winter months and sharp fall in spending power. [...]
Ex-dividend shares tame FTSE gains as UK bond yields hit fresh 14-year high August 18, 2022 Traders ditching companies that have yet to announce the details of their next shareholder giveaway tamed London markets’ gains today. The capital’s premier FTSE 100 index jumped 0.35 per cent to 7,541.85 points, while the domestically-focused mid-cap FTSE 250, which is more aligned with the health of the UK economy, climbed 0.55 per cent higher [...]
Marex hails record year as market volatility boosts profits to £49m August 18, 2022 London-based broking and trading firm Marex hailed a record set of results today as wild swings in commodity markets helped boost profits by 70 per cent.
Historic inflation surge to swell UK debt interest bill to over £200bn August 18, 2022 A historic inflation surge is set to swell the UK’s debt interest bill to over £200bn, top economists have warned today. Britain’s public purse is set to come under intense pressure over the next two years that may cause the government to miss their borrowing fiscal rule, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS). [...]
Bank of England to launch another jumbo rate hike to tame over 10 per cent inflation August 17, 2022 The Bank of England is set to launch a series of jumbo rate hikes to tame inflation that is beginning to be driven by domestic factors, City economists warned today. Prices climbed 10.1 per cent annually in July, the fastest acceleration since February 1982 and much higher than the Bank and analysts’ forecasts, according to [...]
Inflation overshoot spooks investors as FTSE 100 house builders tumble August 17, 2022 London markets were shaken today by concerns that inflation is firming in the UK as housebuilders suffered heavy losses on the prospect of more rate hikes. The capital’s premier FTSE 100 index dropped 0.27 per cent lower to 7,515.75 points, while the domestically-focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index, which is more aligned with the health of [...]
Norway’s sovereign wealth fund notches record $174bn loss August 17, 2022 Norway's sovereign wealth fund, the worlds’ largest, made a record loss of 1.68 trillion Norwegian crowns ($174bn) in the first half of the year as its investments were rocked by fears of a global recession and rampant inflation.