British banking chiefs take a leaf from Elon Musk’s DOGE Banking The chiefs of the UK’s Big Four banks are taking a leaf out of the Elon Musk playbook in their strident bid to slash costs. Natwest’s Paul Thwaite, Lloyds’ Charlie Nunn, HSBC’s Georges Elhedery and Barclays’ CS Venkatkrishnan are in the midst of major cost-cutting endeavours that bear similarities to Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency [...]
Cavendish shares eye year high after rejecting deals unit takeover Banking Shares in investment bank Cavendish spiked on Tuesday as the firm confirmed it had rejected takeover interest in its deals unit after facing private equity-backed interest. Cavendish had been approached regarding a deal that would break up the London-listed investment bank by Smith and Williamson (S&W). The value of the offer remains unclear, Sky News [...]
Peel Hunt: Bonuses scrapped for third year running Business Peel Hunt has scrapped bonuses for its top executives for a third year running as losses at the investment bank continued. Chief executive Steven Fine took home a pay packet of £465,000 for the year to 31 March, 2025, while chief financial and operating officer Sunil Dhall received £316,000, according to its latest annual report. [...]
Barclays calls in McKinsey to find savings in investment arm June 17, 2025 Barclays has tapped global consultancy giant McKinsey in a bid to identify cost-saving areas across its investment banking arm. The FTSE 100 bank is looking to simplify its investment bank, with consultants examining the front office, finance, risk and technology divisions. The consultants will be looking at duplication of work and whether tasks can be [...]
Peel Hunt: City broker makes a loss amid economic headwinds June 16, 2025 Investment bank Peel Hunt faced the pinch of economic and market struggles in its latest financial year as cost-cutting measures took a chunk out of the firm’s bottom line. The City broker made a loss before tax of £3.5m, which the firm said was due to restructuring costs. But the company recorded a profit of [...]
Is HSBC turning its back on Europe? May 20, 2025 When Georges Elhedery took the helm at HSBC, he wasted no time making his mark on the firm. Elhedery plotted a “simpler, more dynamic and agile organisation” in his sweeping restructure first announced in October 2024. One significant change introduced by the new bank chief was splitting the business into “eastern markets” covering the Asia-pacific [...]
HSBC investment bankers axed on bonus day received no bonus March 27, 2025 HSBC issued no bonuses to axed investment bankers, despite letting them go on the day they were set to learn their pay award figures. The FTSE giant told staff in its investment arm last month that they were facing the chop after the firm announced in January it would wind down mergers and acquisitions advisory [...]
How the Light Gets In founder: Bankers! Of course they need philosophy May 9, 2024 Philosopher Hilary Lawson on why you should spend your May bank holiday at Britain's first festival of ‘ideas’
Goldman Sachs flies top London banker to Paris in latest post-Brexit relocation April 23, 2024 Goldman Sachs has relocated one of its top European investment bankers from London to Paris as part of a shake-up in the group's regional structure following Brexit.