Barclays offloads UK loans portfolio to Goldman Sachs-led consortium September 7, 2015 Barclays continued its asset sell-off yesterday, offloading its UK secured lending arm to a consortium led by Goldman Sachs. Since chief executive Antony Jenkins was replaced in July, the bank has picked up the pace of its cost-cutting under chairman John McFarlane. Earlier this month, it sold most of its Portuguese business, representing a £1.7bn [...]
Barclays sells UK secured lending portfolio September 7, 2015 Barclays has sold off another of its non-core assets, just days after offloading most of its Portuguese business. The bank has now sold its UK secured lending portfolio to a group led by Goldman Sachs for an undisclosed sum, which it said would reduce its risk-weighted assets by £1.2bn and improve its capital ratio. Read [...]
UK pensions deficits: FTSE 100 firms fear pension pain as workers retire September 6, 2015 Pension schemes represent a “material risk” for many of the largest companies in the FTSE 100, new research shows. Six firms, including BAE Systems, British Airways-owner International Airlines Group, RSA and Royal Bank of Scotland, all have total disclosed pension liabilities almost double their equity market value, so says JLT Employee Benefits’ quarterly report [...]
Barclays share price rises as it confirms sale of Portuguese assets September 3, 2015 Barclays confirmed this morning it will sell its Portuguese non-core assets – including its retail banking, wealth and investment businesses, as well as the small business arm of its corporate banking business – to Bankinter. It will also sell its insurance business in the country to Bankinter's insurance subsidiary, which operates a joint venture with [...]
August Bank Holiday 2015 blues for Barclays, RBS and NatWest staff as local branches stay open August 27, 2015 In these modern times of accessibility and 24-hour contact, is the Bank Holiday becoming part of Britain’s history more than a cultural event? Three lenders were excited to announce the desecration of the sacred so-called bank holiday weekend by opening branches across the country. While execs and chairs head off to their homes in the [...]
Fed policymaker Dennis Lockhart says US interest rates should be raised this year August 24, 2015 A senior Fed policymaker has called for US interest rates to be raised this year, despite the panic that has hit global markets over China's economy. Read more: Black Monday 2015: US stocks battered in biggest fall since 2011 Dennis Lockhart, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, said in a speech today [...]
HSBC, Barclays and RBS among nine banks signing up to $2bn US foreign exchange settlement August 14, 2015 Nine banks including HSBC, Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) have agreed a $2bn (£1.3bn) settlement with US investors over currency rigging-accusations. Goldman Sachs, BNP Paribas, Bank of America, JP Morgan, Citibank and UBS also signed up to the deal, according to lawyers negotiating on behalf of the investors. A statement by law firm [...]
As Barclays bans jeans and flip-flops at its head office, is it right to clamp down on casual dress? August 9, 2015 Jeff Watt, director of Greentarget, says Yes. Some might say that the clothes don’t make the man, but in my view, flip-flops are for the beach, not the boardroom. The introduction of dress down Friday – or #DDF, as the Twitter generation might call it – resulted in most men simply adopting another form of [...]
Barclays cuts 150 investment bank jobs July 31, 2015 Barclays is planning to cut around 150 jobs in its investment banking arm, City A.M. understands. The cuts come shortly after chief executive Antony Jenkins was ousted by new chairman John McFarlane, who has earned the nickname "Mack the knife" thanks to his no-holds-barred approach to cutting headcounts. Deputy chairman Sir Mike Rake has also [...]
Barclays boss John McFarlane looks to cut costs despite profit rise in bid to streamline bank July 30, 2015 Barclays, Britain’s largest bank after HSBC, yesterday delivered £3.1bn of pre-tax profits for the first half of this year, boosted by a 36 per cent rise in the performance of its investment banking arm, which chipped in almost half the total. The investment bank made £1.44bn pre-tax profit. John McFarlane, who joined the bank as [...]