Rachel Reeves mulls bank tax amid scramble to fill fiscal hole October 6, 2025 Rachel Reeves is reported to be weighing up a tax on Britain’s banking giants as the Treasury looks to strum up cash in the forthcoming Autumn Budget. The Chancellor is expected to be staring down a fiscal blackhole of over £20bn come November 26 and banks have been viewed as an easy – and politically [...]
Net zero banking group abandons operations after member exodus October 3, 2025 The global Net Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA) has announced it will cease operations following an exodus of its membership after President Donald Trump returned to power. In a statement released on Friday, the group said following a vote it will transfer from a member-based alliance to establish its guidance as a framework. “As a result [...]
Revolut, Barclays and Monzo top fraud complaints ranking October 1, 2025 Challenger banks Revolut and Monzo have topped the rankings for fraud and scam complaints filed to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) as Brits flock towards digital offerings. Fintech juggernaut Revolut received the most amount of APP fraud complaints referred to the FOS at 1,875. Monzo scored third at 1,063. It comes as the pair continue [...]
Barclays, Citi, JP Morgan bosses sound alarm on bank tax September 25, 2025 Rachel Reeves has been handed a warning by top banking chiefs to prioritise stability for the financial services industry amid speculation of looming tax hikes. The bosses of UK banking giants have cautioned the Chancellor on potential tax rises and stressed the sector must remain competitive. Barclays’ boss CS Venkatakrishnan – known as the Venkat [...]
Rolls-Royce, BAE, Babcock: Defence shares rally after Trump remarks September 24, 2025 Shares in London-listed defence firms rallied during early trading on Wednesday after President Donald Trump changed his tune on the Russia and Ukraine conflict. Aerospace firm BAE Systems led the City’s blue-chips with a 1.6 per cent gain to 1,982.50. Meanwhile Babcock was up over one per cent to 1,195 and FTSE darling Rolls-Royce rose [...]
Banking watchdog launches deregulation push as tax fears grow September 22, 2025 Britain’s banking watchdog has laid out plans to slash regulation across the industry in a bid to sweeten the sector’s operating environment. In fresh proposals hoping to cut the red tape on the sector, the PRA identified 37 “individual reporting templates” which have “overlapping and complex requirements” in a bid to ease the administrative cost [...]
Natwest and HSBC shares dip as bank tax chatter heats up September 22, 2025 Shares in Natwest and HSBC dipped on Monday morning as traders digested renewed chatter of a tax hike on Britain’s banking giants. Natwest tumbled as much as 1.3 per cent to 506p when markets opened, while HSBC fell 0.6 per cent to 1,022p. Barclays fell nearly 0.2 per cent to 381p. Lloyds was broadly flat [...]
Rachel Reeves hosts Scott Bessent and finance execs for investment talks September 16, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves hosted US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent and top dogs from most of the world’s biggest finance firms in a warm-up event ahead of President Donald Trump’s UK arrival on Tuesday evening. City firms including Barclays, HSBC and Revolut sent representatives to Downing Street, where they were joined by bosses from top Wall [...]
Barclays boss: UK banks are taxed too much September 12, 2025 Ahead of the Autumn Budget, Barclays’ chief executive has called on the government to curb pay rises for public sector workers and to avoid increasing taxes on banks. Speaking to the Financial Times, CS Venkatakrishnan said “we need to find a way to curb wage inflation,” and emphasised the need to curb expenditure at the [...]
Challenger banks face ‘profitability trap’ at growth crossroads September 8, 2025 The UK banking sector faces a profitability roadblock that will give the industry’s challengers an “existential” turning point. Fresh data from KPMG suggests the industry’s average return on equity will fall to eight per cent come 2027 down from 13 per cent four years prior. This is set to spark an £11bn reduction in pre-tax [...]