UK banks’ shares slide on fears of recession and bad debt January 19, 2023 UK banks’ share prices dipped on Thursday as increasing fears of recession, bad debt and a fairly poor set of US bank earnings this week spooked investors. Barclays shed 2.8 per cent, HSBC 0.6 per cent and Standard Chartered 0.8 per cent. Domestic-focused lenders Lloyds and Natwest also traded lower, finishing down 1.0 per cent [...]
FTSE 100 close: Persimmon and Taylor Wimpey pull index away from record high January 19, 2023 London’s FTSE 100 index registered one of its worst days since the turn of the year, pulling it away from its record high. The capital’s premier index shed 1.07 per cent to drop to 7,747.28 points, while the domestically-focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index, which is more aligned with the health of the UK economy, fell [...]
Barclays’ staff shortages force it to turn away new business January 16, 2023 Barclays has been turning away companies with more than one director apply for new bank accounts as staff shortages have left the lender unable to complete anything but the most basic background checks. Barclays has struggled to open new business accounts for more than four months, and will probably continue to reject companies with more [...]
Why UK banks are not going to cause another financial crisis January 15, 2023 UK banks are better prepared to withstand a jump in home loan defaults, cooling fears of a repeat of the financial crisis, analysts have told City A.M. Strict affordability rules implemented after the 2008 banking crash have strengthened lenders’ loan books, meaning they are well insulated from a potential rise in defaults caused by last [...]
Clawback: How Barclays is chasing down Covid-19 business loan cash January 10, 2023 Barclays has teamed up with a specialist insolvency practitioner to recover money loaned to small businesses through the UK’s Covid support schemes. The British bank has joined forces with insolvency firm Manolete Partners to recover emergency loans paid through the UK government backed Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS), the Financial Times first reported. The UK’s [...]
Barclays, NatWest and HSBC increasingly targeted by litigation funders in wave of class-action lawsuits January 9, 2023 The UK’s top banks are increasingly being targeted with class-action lawsuits as litigation funders back claims against some of Britain’s largest lenders in their pursuit of high returns. Banks listed on the FTSE 100 index are currently facing at least 109 class-action lawsuits in multiple countries around the world, according to analysis by law firm [...]
Relief for mortgage prisoners: Six banks to begin lending on flats with unsafe cladding December 20, 2022 A handful of the country’s biggest banks will consider mortgage applications for some flats with dangerous cladding from January, in a sigh of relief for people trapped in unsellable properties. Lenders withdrew mortgage provisions for unsafe flats following the Grenfell Tower disaster, when 72 people were killed in a fire at a high-rise block in [...]
Barclays slapped with £8.4m fine over card payment failings December 1, 2022 Barclays has been slapped with an £8.4m fine from the payments regulator today after failing to comply with rules governing the cost of card transactions with retailers.
Barclays chief ‘Venkat’ to undergo cancer treatment in New York November 28, 2022 The head of Barclays has been diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma, but doctors have said his “condition is curable,” he announced today. In a statement just after the market open yesterday, C.S. Venkatakrishnan, known as “Venkat” said the illness “has been detected early” and that his “prognosis is excellent”. He will continue to run the bank. [...]
Barclays faces court over £40m breast implant scandal November 9, 2022 Barclays today faced claims it helped a private healthcare company avoid paying compensation to women given faulty breast implants by a private healthcare firm. The bank is accused of working with Midlands law firm The Wilkes Partnership to restructure Hospital Medical Group (HMG), in order to help it avoid paying compensation to women given faulty [...]