Bank of England goes big with £150bn stimulus amid second lockdown November 5, 2020 The Bank of England will inject £150bn more stimulus into the UK economy to help it handle a new England-wide lockdown, and predicted that growth would go into reverse in the final three months of the year. The big increase in bond-buying – which came as the BoE left interest rates untouched at 0.1 per [...]
Bank of England to ‘look into’ suspected leak of stimulus decision November 5, 2020 The Bank of England will “look into” a suspected leak of its monetary policy decision to The Sun newspaper, which correctly reported its decision to pump £150bn into the economy before the BoE officially announced the position. There is no suggestion that The Sun acted improperly in its reporting of the story, which also said [...]
BoE brings forward rate decision ahead of Sunak’s statement on Covid support November 4, 2020 The Bank of England (BoE) has moved the announcement of its November interest rates decision forward to avoid it clashing with a statement on Covid-19 support from the chancellor. The Bank moved the announcement after Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Rishi Sunak would make a statement on the government’s coronavirus support measures to Parliament at [...]
Four things to watch as the Bank of England sets interest rates November 4, 2020 The Bank of England’s group of interest rate-setters will announce their latest monetary policy decision tomorrow, albeit virtually. Since the last meeting in September, the government has announced a new month-long lockdown for England amid soaring coronavirus cases. Most analysts expect the Bank to launch more stimulus to support the economy during the winter. Here [...]
Weekly outlook, 2-6 November: FTSE heavyweights in spotlight as election day arrives November 2, 2020 It’s election day at last, and while the outcome of Tuesday’s vote in the US will drive the headlines for much of this week and beyond, there’s still a full slate of results and economic updates in store for UK markets. With coronavirus cases now surging at an alarming rate, Boris Johnson has announced a [...]
UK to increase sentence for market abuse in post-Brexit financial regulation October 21, 2020 The UK is planning to increase the maximum prison sentence for market abuse from seven to 10 years, as the government sets out a roadmap for financial regulation after the end of the Brexit transition period. The government is also proposing introducing “more proportionate” regulation of investment firms and giving the City watchdog greater powers [...]
Metro Bank loans rise as capital remains below regulators’ expectations October 21, 2020 Metro Bank today reported a two per cent hike in lending for the third quarter, as the British bank warned its capital remained below buffers set out by regulators following a significant hit from the pandemic. Loans handed out by the bank climbed to £15.09bn in the three months to 30 September, up two per [...]
Bank of England and US regulators renew deal on clearing cooperation October 20, 2020 The Bank of England and US trading watchdog have signed a new agreement to cooperate on the supervision of cross-border clearing of financial transactions. “The CFTC and the BoE express their willingness to cooperate in the interest of fulfilling their respective regulatory mandates, particularly in preserving the benefits of cross-border clearing activity,” the Bank said. [...]
Banks not ready for negative interest rates, says Natwest chairman October 15, 2020 British banks are not ready to implement negative interest rates, the chairman of Natwest said today. “We’re not completely ready for it,” Howard Davies said during an interview. “There would be technical issues and many contractual issues.” The chairman said he was not in favour of negative rates being introduced, telling Bloomberg Radio there was [...]
Bank of England asks UK banks about readiness for negative rates October 12, 2020 The Bank of England has asked UK banks for information about their readiness for zero or negative interest rates, following its announcement last month that it was considering taking rates negative if needed. In a letter today, deputy BoE governor Sam Woods told lenders: “we are requesting specific information about your firm’s current readiness to [...]