Santander and TSB kick off mortgage rate cuts after Iran turmoil April 16, 2026 Santander and TSB have kicked off the mortgage rate cutting cycle after lenders pulled deals and hiked their rates amidst the turmoil in Iran. From Thursday, Santander said it would be lower the price on higher loan-to-value (LTV) mortgages products by near 0.3 per cent, which includes its two-year fixed, first-time buyer products. Meanwhile, TSB said it [...]
Private credit firm exposed after cosmetics retailer plunges into administration April 7, 2026 A private credit firm has been forced to write down the value of one of its portfolio companies after online retailer Give Me Cosmetics was placed into administration. London-based Beechbrook capital, which offers finance to lower mid-market British businesses, had lent around £6.5m to fund the acquisition of Give Me Cosmetics in April 2024, in [...]
Arbuthnot chief: High street banks’ push into wealth is no threat March 30, 2026 One of London’s oldest private banking institutions has sounded off on the influx of the British banking giants looking to grab a slice of the wealth management pie. Andrew Salmon, the boss of Arbuthnot Latham, told City AM that when big bank rivals attempt to go “stratospheric” with their thresholds, it would benefit from its [...]
Metro Bank shares dip after SME lending pivot sees profit balloon March 4, 2026 Metro Bank has swung back into profit as the firm’s pivot into small business lending led to a bump in revenue. The FTSE 250 lender returned to profitability with a pre-tax profit of just north of £98m – a 15-year high and major clawback from losses of £14m last year. The swing came as Metro [...]
HSBC bonus pot swells to 14-year record despite profit hit February 25, 2026 HSBC announced its bonus pot had swelled to an over decade high on Wednesday despite the bank recording a hit in annual profit as hefty impairment charges helped offset a boom in the bank’s wealth management operations. The FTSE 100 banking titan recorded a seven per cent drop in pre-tax profit for the annual year, [...]
Barclays kicks off £15bn shareholder bonanza after profit rises February 10, 2026 Barclays kickstarted plans to dish out heaps of cash to shareholders on Tuesday after the bank’s profit breezed ahead of expectations for the 2025 financial year. The FTSE 100 giant launched a fresh £1bn share buyback after pre-tax profit soared 13 per cent in the last 12 months to £9.1bn. This came ahead of internal [...]
Santander takes jab at City watchdog as motor finance bill balloons February 4, 2026 Santander has took another major swipe at the City watchdog after the banking giant hiked its provisions for the motor finance scandal. As it reported full-year results, the bank said its bill for the car mis-selling saga had reached £461m, building on a previous £295m provision. It follows the bank’s UK arm missing its third-quarter [...]
Lloyds shares rally after profit boost and £1.8bn buyback January 29, 2026 Shares in Lloyds Banking Group jumped on Thursday as the bank launched a £1.8bn share buyback after breezing past profit expectations in the 2025 financial year. The FTSE 100 banking giant recorded a 12 per cent jump to pre-tax profit in the full-year netting £6.7bn and easily surpassing the £6.4bn pencilled in by internal analysts. [...]
Nigel Farage: Reform will tax the banks even if they don’t like it January 22, 2026 Nigel Farage has confirmed Reform will slap a tax on the UK’s banking giants in the latest dramatic escalation of his party’s tensions with the City. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in the Davos, Farage said: “This will be tough for banks to accept but I am sorry – the drain on public finances [...]
Lloyds shares to offer best cash-back rate in Europe, analysts say January 9, 2026 Lloyds shareholders are set for a bumper few years as analysts predict the bank will continue to splash cash on dividends and buybacks. The bank has been tipped to move to a half-year buyback, in a move that will majorly ramp up the money it hands back to investors. In 2025, Lloyds beat out its [...]