Ranked: The high street banks with the most IT outages March 4, 2019 UK banks are suffering IT outages or security failures at a rate of more than one a day, new figures from the financial watchdog have revealed. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) now requires banks to publish information on IT failures. Read more: Barclays down: Banking app outage hits customers Analysis conducted by Which found there [...]
Financial Conduct Authority may intervene to prevent excessive motor finance costs March 4, 2019 Britain’s markets watchdog is considering banning certain methods lenders use to reward car retailers that cost consumers £300m a year. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said it found widespread use of commission models which allow brokers discretion to set the customer interest rate and thus earn higher commission, which can lead to customers paying “significantly [...]
City watchdog under fire for delaying report into RBS’s GRG unit February 28, 2019 The City watchdog has been accused of delaying a report into its controversial decision not to enforce action against individuals within RBS's disgraced global restructuring unit GRG. One MP has said he expects the report to be a "whitewash" when it is published. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) caused widespread dismay last year when it [...]
Asset management firms ‘inconsistent’ with cost disclosure, City watchdog warns February 28, 2019 Asset management firms are inconsistent with costs and charges disclosure compliance, the city watchdog warned today. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said asset managers must ensure they are “clear, fair and not misleading” in order to avoid confusion over costs for customers. Read more: Asset management firms face overhaul of fund disclosure The FCA's investigation into disclosure [...]
FCA hands £415k in fines to investment groups over float collusion February 21, 2019 The UK’s financial watchdog has slapped two investment management groups with fines for breaking competition rules by sharing information ahead of an initial public offering (IPO). The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) fined Hargreave Hale £306,300 and River and Mercantile Asset Management (Raman) £108,600. It said the firms had shared “strategic information”, including their intentions on pricing [...]
Watchdog gives insurance brokers clean bill of health on competition worries February 20, 2019 Regulator the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) today said it had not found evidence of significant levels of harm in its probe into insurance brokers, meaning that “intrusive remedies” will not be necessary. The FCA launched its analysis of the wholesale insurance brokers market in November 2017 to assess how competition was working in the sector. It said that [...]
Shore Capital snaps up Stockdale Securities to create City’s fourth-largest corporate broking firm February 13, 2019 Shore Capital said today that it had bought Stockdale Securities in a deal to create London’s fourth-largest corporate broking firm by number of main market and Aim-quoted clients. It paid close to book value of £4.9m with additional deferred consideration of up to £4m, subject to performance. Read more: City broker Shore Capital closes in [...]
Sir Vince Cable calls for probe into Treasury role in RBS GRG unit February 13, 2019 Former business secretary Sir Vince Cable has called for an investigation into allegations the Treasury may have “actively encouraged” the activities of RBS’s discredited global restructuring unit GRG. The Liberal Democrat leader has today written to Nicky Morgan, chair of the Treasury Select Committee, to ask that it look into accusations that an executive branch [...]
Pressure mounts on Treasury to publish legal documents on relationship with RBS GRG unit February 12, 2019 Pressure is mounting on the Treasury to release key legal documents regarding its relationship with RBS following allegations it held significant operational control over the bank's disgraced global restructuring unit GRG. Scottish Labour MP Martin Whitfield has lodged a series of parliamentary questions asking for a legal agreement between RBS and the Asset Protection Agency (APA), an [...]
Revolut’s Valentine’s Day advert caused a social media storm – and shows the pitfalls of using comedy in marketing February 11, 2019 Roses are red, violets are blue, there’s a company in hot water and it’s called Revolut. The fintech challenger bank, which offers a mobile-based banking service, recently launched a new ad campaign of Tube posters that joked about the spending habits of its customers. One of the four adverts read: “To the 11,867 people who [...]