Shawbrook owners put plans to sell the challenger bank on ice September 4, 2022 The owners of Shawbrook Bank have reportedly shelved their plans to sell the lender. Private equity firms BC Partners and Pollen Street Capital were seeking bids of around £2bn for the challenger bank, which specialises in lending to small and medium-sized companies. The Financial Times reported, however, that the firms had failed to attract offers [...]
‘Break the chains’ of regulation holding back challenger banks, MPs say August 30, 2022 A “one-size-fits-all” approach to regulating UK lenders has failed and watchdogs need to “break the chains” restricting the growth of challenger banks, a group of MPs said today.
Atom Bank set for first year of profit after three quarters in the black July 18, 2022 Digital lender Atom Bank is on track to post its first full year of profits after revealing today it had spent three quarters in the black in the full year to March. The Durham-based bank, founded by chief executive Mark Mullen in 2014, notched underlying pre-tax losses for the year of £2m, a £34m improvement [...]
Newly minted: Challenger bank Kroo is just second to be granted BoE licence since August 2016 June 27, 2022 There’s a new bank on the block with digital company Kroo receiving the first licence issued by the Bank of England since early 2021. The FinTech firm becomes just the second to get a green light since 2016, after completing a number of tasks to prove its robustness, compliance, risk management and leadership. Kroo was [...]
City watchdog hits Ghana International Bank with £5.8m fine over money laundering failures June 23, 2022 The UK’s financial watchdog has fined Ghana International Bank £5.8m over its poor anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing control measures. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) fined the London bank over its failure to carry out proper checks for money laundering. The watchdog said that while there is no evidence any money laundering actually took place, [...]
Monzo poised to press on with crypto plans, co-founder says June 16, 2022 Monzo is likely to double down on its crypto investment plans despite a looming ‘crypto winter’, its co-founder said today.
FCA urges lenders to ‘act now’ to protect consumers from cost of living crunch June 16, 2022 The UK’s top financial watchdog has written to UK lenders today urging them to “act now” to ensure they can protect consumers amidst a cost of living crunch this year.
Canadian bank CIBC subjected senior exec to racial and sexual discrimination, lawsuit says May 30, 2022 An ex-senior banker at one of Canada’s biggest banks has filed an £800,000 lawsuit against her former employer over claims she was subject to racial and sexual discrimination while working at the firm. Zhuofang Wei, a former executive director at the London office of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC), is suing the bank [...]
Exclusive: KPMG to hire 3,500 tech workers to staff newly launched digital products business May 27, 2022 KPMG today launched a new digital solutions business which is set to see the firm more than double the size of its 3,000 strong technology focused workforce by hiring 3,500 new data scientists and engineers. The UK arm of the Big Four firm said it plans to create 1,000 London tech jobs, in its efforts [...]
‘Brexit is a mistake and London will be damaged’ warns Sir Howard Davies as NatWest chair claims ‘Boris Johnson hates the Treasury May 23, 2022 SIr Howard Davies, the chairman of banking giant NatWest, has called Brexit ‘a significant mistake’ as the City grandee said he is not very optimistic about the future of the UK. In fact, Sir Howard said he is concerned about the long-term impact Brexit will have on the City of London. In an interview with [...]