HSBC complicit in suppressing human rights in Hong Kong, MPs allege February 8, 2023 MPs have accused HSBC and other British banks of tacitly endorsing the suppression of human rights in Hong Kong. “British banks such as HSBC Bank Plc have been complicit in suppressing the human rights of Hongkongers, by proactively supporting the National Security Law,” the Hong Kong All-Party Parliamentary Group said in a report published today. [...]
Bank chiefs hit back at accusations of profiteering on higher interest rates February 7, 2023 Chief executives from the UK’s four largest lenders today hit back at accusations from MPs that they were too quick to charge customers more interest on their mortgages without offering higher rates on savings accounts. The bank chiefs were asked why interest rates on instant savings accounts remain around one per cent while the Bank [...]
FTSE 100 close: Bleak IMF UK recession warning knocks pound and London index January 31, 2023 London’s FTSE 100 dipped and the pound stumbled today, both driven lower by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warning the UK is on course to be the only major economy to contract this year. The capital’s premier index fell 0.17 per cent to 7,771.69 points, while the domestically-focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index, which is more [...]
Mark Carney’s net zero group disputes data showing only 7 per cent of banks’ energy financing goes to renewables January 24, 2023 Only seven per cent of global banks’ energy financing between 2016 and 2022 went towards renewable energy projects, according to new data, although Mark Carney’s net zero financial coalition has disputed the claim. A report by a group of campaign groups, including BankTrack and Rainforest Action Network, indicates “major failings” by financial institutions to help [...]
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 [...]
HSBC will face no penalty for breaching open banking rules over 50 times January 19, 2023 The Competition & Markets Authority has criticised HSBC for breaching open banking rules on over 50 occasions, but the banking giant has been told it will receive no penalty. HSBC published inaccurate information and failed to publish required information on more than 50 occasions over the last five years, the watchdog said. The violations of [...]
ECJ confirms HSBC rigged Euribor but bank avoids £30m fine January 12, 2023 The European Court of Justice confirmed that HSBC rigged the Euribor rate, but confirmed that HSBC would not pay a £30m (€33.6m) fine. In a ruling released today, the ECJ dismissed HSBC’s “action challenging the finding that it participated in the cartel at issue”. The European Commission investigated HSBC, Credit Agricole and JP Morgan and, [...]
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 [...]
Sign of the times: Bank branches shut doors in their thousands December 24, 2022 More than 5,000 bank and building society branches have closed over the past seven years, according to analysis from Which? The consumer group counted 5,162 bank and building society branches which have closed since January 2015. A further 206 branches are set to close by the end of 2023, according to the Which? findings, as [...]
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 [...]