Barclays goes ‘overweight’ FTSE 100 amid global rout April 7, 2025 Barclays strategists have upgraded their position on the FTSE 100 to ‘overweight’ in the face of the extreme rout of global stocks after Trump’s swingeing global tariffs. Despite suffering its worst two-day trading period since the pandemic, London’s blue-chip index has outperformed its international peers in recent days, falling just under 10 per cent since [...]
Barclays and Natwest stock plunge warns of ‘looming global recession’ April 7, 2025 The FTSE 100’s banking giants have weighed on the index since Trump’s tariff onslaught and analysts have warned their losses could be a global recession indicator. Barclays plummeted nearly five per cent during midday trading on Monday. The lender has lost nearly 20 per cent in the last five days. Meanwhile, Natwest sank over seven [...]
Santander: Ex-Treasury chief civil servant could be new bank chairman April 5, 2025 Former Treasury permanent secretary Sir Tom Scholar who was sacked by Liz Truss could become the new chairman of Santander UK, according to a report. Sir Tom, who helped devise the Covid-19 furlough job protection scheme, is the preferred candidate for chairmanship of Britain’s fifth-biggest high street bank, Sky News is reporting. He could be [...]
HSBC, Natwest and Barclays shares plunge as FTSE 100 downturn deepens April 4, 2025 The FTSE 100’s ‘Big Five’ banks were back in the red on Friday as tariff woes intensified. Shares in Natwest and Barclays slumped nearly ten per cent after China announced retaliatory tariffs against the US, making them the index’s top fallers. HSBC lost over eight per cent. Lloyds and Standard Chartered were not far behind [...]
HSBC and Barclays shares plummet as tariff woes hit FTSE 100 April 3, 2025 Shares in Britain’s top lenders plunged into the red during early trading on Thursday as Trump’s tariff announcement hit London markets. Europe’s biggest lender HSBC was down over five per cent, with Barclays seeing a more than four per cent drop. Standard Chartered was the FTSE 100’s top faller, as the bank’s stock sank over [...]
Barclays, NatWest, Citibank, JPMorgan: Major British banks take forex rigging case to Supreme Court April 1, 2025 Central British banks, including Barclays and NatWest, will be at the Supreme Court today, aiming to overturn a decision in the forex rigging case.
IT outages: Are UK banks failing to modernise? March 20, 2025 Imagine it’s payday, and you’re trying to pay your bills or make a critical purchase, only to discover that your bank’s system has gone down. For millions of customers at Britain’s major banks, this nightmare is all too familiar. Over the past two years, nine of the UK’s banks were offline for more than 800 [...]
Motor finance: Lloyds and Close Brothers shareholders await landmark hearing March 19, 2025 The eyes of shareholders at Britain’s biggest lenders will be on April’s landmark motor finance hearing, as the scandal heads to the Supreme Court. The hearing, scheduled for April 1-3, will allow car loan providers to challenge the October 2024 Court of Appeal ruling that it was unlawful for banks to pay a commission to [...]
Close Brothers shares plunge as motor finance costs mount March 18, 2025 Banking group Close Brothers plunged to a £104m loss in the first half of 2025 after the firm set aside provisions for the motor finance scandal. The lender recorded a pre-tax loss in the first half of its 2025 financial year, compared to a profit of £88.1m in the same period of 2024 due to [...]
Howden: Insurance giant set for US deal and £23bn stock market float – report March 15, 2025 Insurance giant Howden is reportedly set for a US takeover deal which could lead to a £23.2bn stock market float, according to Sky News. The British insurance broker, founded by David Howden, anticipates finalising a £7.73bn ($10bn) takeover of American private insurance broker and risk management adviser, Risk Strategies, in the next few weeks, the [...]