Pay for Natwest’s top boss balloons to £6.6m as bonuses soar Banking The boss of Natwest has defended a bumper rise to his pay packet in the last financial year as the bank dished out the cash on employee bonuses. The group’s chief Paul Thwaite pocketed a £6.6m package, an increase of 33 per cent from £4.9m in 2024. “I recognize that senior roles in financial services [...]
HSBC to cough up £230m over dividend tax-fraud claims Banking European banking juggernaut HSBC is set to cough up nearly £230m to settle an investigation relating to tax-fraud claims. The FTSE 100 titan was accused of helping foreign investors evade taxes on dividends through a sophisticated financial manoeuvre known as ‘cum-cum’ trading. This relates to a series of transactions between 2014 and 2019, which were [...]
Legacy banks must ‘radically modernise’ or lose to fintech stars, says former Barclays boss Banking A decade ago, Antony Jenkins was ousted from his role as chief executive of Barclays and months later warned the banking sector was reaching an “Uber moment”. Jenkins declared technology would be an “unstoppable force” in the banking sector and could lead to hundreds of branch closures and potentially slash the industry’s workforce by half. [...]
Monzo boss was ‘pushed out’ over IPO dispute December 16, 2025 The boss of digital bank Monzo is said to have been pushed out from the top role following a dispute with the company’s board over a potential stock market listing. TS Anil, Monzo’s chief executive of the last five years, is said to have been at odds with the fintech’s board ahead of his surprise [...]
Budget whiplash: How bank shares were hit by the Treasury’s ‘hokey cokey’ leaking November 25, 2025 Last week the House of Commons speaker reprimanded the Treasury for what he called a “hokey cokey” Budget. “Can I just say it isn’t normal for a Budget to be put in the press,” Sir Lindsay Hoyle said in his dressing down of ministers. “One minute it’s in, next minute it’s out.” Few sectors have [...]
Barclays shares rise after new buyback launch and jump in income October 22, 2025 Barclays has set out plans to shift to a quarterly share buyback after the firm recorded a surge in total income for the third quarter. The FTSE 100 titan netted £7.2bn in total income, breezing past as internal analyst consensus of £7bn. The figure was also up nine per cent year-on-year. The bank said it [...]
Banker bonus rules are getting watered down. Will anyone shed a tear? October 16, 2025 When the European Banking Authority published its guidelines on executive pay in 2015, the report pronounced on 126 separate rules spread across 173 pages. Any banker able to get through the whole rulebook without falling asleep surely deserved every penny of the eyewatering bonus they received – provided it met the guidelines. The EBA’s voluminous [...]
Bankers to get bonuses much sooner as PRA relaxes rules October 15, 2025 Bankers will be able to collect their bonuses much sooner under a relaxation of remuneration rules unveiled by the UK’s prudential regulator. The new rules will allow part-payment of bonuses for the most senior bankers from year one, rather than year three under previous rules. The amount of time that senior bankers must now wait [...]
Lloyds: FTSE 100 giant’s slow wealth progress sparks takeover talk October 7, 2025 Lloyds’ “slow” progress in wealth management has sparked talks of a potential takeover as the banking titan looks to beef up its offering for high net worth individuals. The FTSE 100 giant exited the area in 2013 as part of a simplification drive after the financial crisis, with the reduction of its stake in St [...]
HSBC sells UK life insurance arm in latest European retreat July 3, 2025 Banking juggernaut HSBC has marked its latest retreat on European operations after selling its UK life protection arm to insurance firm Chesnara. HSBC have offloaded the division for £260m, which Chesnara will fund through a combination of external resources, credit facility and a equity raise. The move comes amid Georges Elhedery‘s sweeping changes at the [...]