Citi hit with £5m fine for violating UK sanctions on Russia Banking Citi has been hit with a fine of nearly £5m after regulators found it violated the UK’s sanctions regime on Russia. The Wall Street giant’s London branch was found to have processed £19.7m in illicit transactions spanning 970 payments. The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) ruled that, in one instance, Citi failed to freeze [...]
Monzo faces outage as thousands of users unable to make payments or transfers Fintech UK fintech Monzo has suffered an outage that has left thousands of its users unable to use its banking services. The digital bank said it had “identified some issues” and initiated a stand-in backup service, which would allow users to still complete card payments and receive transfers. But some users have continued to raise concerns [...]
JP Morgan boss issues bank tax warning to John Healey Banking The boss of JP Morgan has issued a bank tax warning to John Healey as the Chancellor gears up to deliver his first Budget in October. Jamie Dimon, who has led Wall Street’s biggest bank since 2006, held a call with Healey on Thursday where the bank chief emphasised “getting public policy right” as crucial [...]
HSBC kicks off $1bn share buyback after profit smashes forecast August 4, 2026 HSBC has resumed its share buyback programme after profit soared past expectations in the second quarter of 2026. The FTSE 100 bank – whose market cap of £274bn makes it the London Stock Exchange’s most valuable company – posted $10.1bn (£7.5bn) in pre-tax profit for the last three months, surging past an internal forecast of [...]
Revolut will become $1 trillion company by 2035, says early VC backer July 31, 2026 Revolut will secure a price tag of $1 trillion within a decade, an early backer of the fintech has claimed. The digital banking juggernaut is in the midst of a secondary share sale at an expected valuation of $115bn and was last valued at $75bn in November 2025, when it landed investment from chip giant [...]
Mahmood called for banker bonus tax to fix youth unemployment July 17, 2026 Shabana Mahmood has previously called for a tax on banker bonuses to fix youth unemployment in a move that will renew fears the sector could be targeted for a cash grab. The front-runner to be Andy Burnham’s Chancellor was a staunch supporter of a bill set out by Labour in opposition that sought to levy [...]
UK fintech Starling to axe 130 roles in AI-powered simplification drive July 3, 2026 Starling is gearing up to cut some 130 roles in a bid to streamline its operations following a fall in profit over the last year. The London-based fintech told staff this week it would restructure its banking and tech operations as it leveraged AI across operations ahead of an influx of new projects. It said [...]
UK banks’ digital ID bid is a game of optics – and the odds are not in their favour July 1, 2026 A digital ID row has dominated headlines in the last year, and banks are set to join the row. In this week’s column, Samuel Norman takes a look at what they might be in for. Britain’s banks have voluntarily thrown themselves into one of the most toxic culture wars of the decade. Few subjects evoke [...]
UK banks fear a ‘disaster’ with Ed Miliband as Chancellor June 24, 2026 City banks are fretting over the prospect of Ed Miliband as Chancellor as Andy Burnham mulls who he will give the keys to Number 11. The banking industry is bracing for a shake-up at the Treasury and fears it could be hit with a fresh raft of taxes under a new Chancellor while key deregulatory [...]
Soaring petrol prices and Devil Wears Prada 2 help consumer spending return to growth June 9, 2026 Soaring fuel prices and box office hits helped consumer spending return to growth in May, according to fresh data from Barclays. Consumer card spending was up 0.8 per cent year-on-year last month, following a 0.1 per cent dip in April. The rise came as essential spending jumped 0.7 per cent, led by a near 12 [...]