Kemi Badenoch can still woo the City Opinion Just under a year ago I sat down with Kemi Badenoch to talk through her plans to win over the City. I left the interview with little to report back. “We are looking at everything,” Badenoch told me at the time. “Our policy renewal programme is trying to get us to a place where we [...]
Revolut pays compensation for waking customer up with push notifications Fintech The Treasury might be hoping to ease the Financial Ombudsman Service’s workload but there has been no slowdown in perplexing cases. In this week’s column, Samuel Norman tells the tale of Revolut and a sleep-starved customer. Is there an inappropriate time for a push notification? There is, according to one bank customer. Revolut found itself [...]
Vulnerable bank customers could face ‘higher barriers’ to redress in Treasury overhaul Banking Warnings are being raised over a planned Treasury shake-up of financial services rules after an impact assessment revealed vulnerable customers could be excluded from receiving compensation when wronged. The government unveiled its Enhancing Financial Services Bill at the King’s Speech, which paved the way for reform to consumer redress protections through changes in the Consumer Credit [...]
Lloyds hit with highest FCA complaints as finance firms fork out £240m April 28, 2026 Lloyds Banking Group led the pack as the most complained about financial services group in the second half of 2025 as the industry forked out a near-quarter of a billion pounds to dissatisfied customers. Across its subsidiaries, the FTSE 100 giant was hit with a storm of 187,516 grievances to the UK’s financial watchdog in [...]
King’s Speech to unleash wave of City reforms April 26, 2026 A host of City of London reforms will be set in stone at next month’s King’s Speech, as the Prime Minister hopes to use the moment to turn a corner from doubts over his leadership. Impending reforms, including scrapping the payments watchdog and overhauling the financial ombudsman, are set to be legislated in the financial [...]
The King’s Speech is a test of whether the UK is serious about growth April 24, 2026 For the government to prove it means what it says about growth, it should include a Financial Services Bill in the King’s Speech, says Miles Celic When the King’s Speech is delivered in the coming weeks, it will be read as a signal not just of legislative intent, but of economic credibility. For a government [...]
FCA crypto U-turn – everything retail investors need to know April 22, 2026 After banning crypto Exchange-Traded Notes (ETNs) for retail customers in January 2021, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) reversed its position in October 2025, meaning retail investors can once again purchase exchange-listed crypto instruments, such as ETNs. According to FCA research, conducted in conjunction with YouGov, 91 per cent of UK consumers are aware of cryptoassets. [...]
The FCA’s new targeted support regime risks further confusion for consumers April 15, 2026 The FCA’s new “targeted support” regime, introduced to bridge the gap between generic guidance and regulated financial advice, risks being more complex and less effective than the system it replaces, says Matthew Bowles Last Monday, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) formally introduced its new “targeted support” regime. This is an attempt to bridge the long-discussed [...]
Treasury reforms to banks ombudsman threaten independence, MPs warn March 18, 2026 The Treasury’s reforms to the banks ombudsman threaten to upend the body’s independence, a group of influential MPs have warned. The government revealed its overhaul proposals for the financial ombudsman service (FOS) on Tuesday in a bid to curb concerns it had behaved as a “quasi-regulator”. But a fresh letter to City minister Lucy Rigby [...]
Monzo slammed for ‘shaming’ end of year reviews March 7, 2026 Digital bank Monzo has been accused of overstepping the mark by using data it holds on customers to call out their spending habits and lifestlye choices. The bank used data to tell one customer with a past eating disorder that she eats a lot of fast food, spends “more than most” on Just Eat takeaways, [...]