City watchdog hands out second largest ever money laundering fine as Standard Chartered pays $1.1bn to settle transatlantic probe April 9, 2019 The City watchdog has dished out its second largest anti-money laundering fine as part of a transatlantic probe into Standard Chartered. The bank has agreed to pay a total of $1.1bn (£842m) to settle with US authorities and the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) over claims it breached sanctions against Iran. Read more: Standard Chartered [...]
Lloyds Bank stars as FTSE 100 rockets in Q1 April 9, 2019 | City Talk By Graeme Evans from interactive investor. After a great first quarter for stock markets, we assess the best and worst blue-chips of 2019 so far. It’s been a storming start to 2019 for the FTSE 100 index, with popular interactive investor stocks including Lloyds Banking Group (LSE:LLOY), Next (LSE:NXT) and Tesco (LSE:TSCO) among those on [...]
Standard Chartered prepares for potential $1bn sanctions penalty April 8, 2019 Standard Chartered is expected to cough up more than $1bn (£770m) as it settles with US authorities over sanctions-busting claims. The payment could be agreed as early as tomorrow morning, sources told Reuters. Read more: Standard Chartered to build new virtual bank in Hong Kong It would be the culmination of a years-long investigation into [...]
If Brexit has taught us anything, it’s that we need to be bold when it comes to world trade April 8, 2019 A little over two years ago, the first direct rail freight service from China to the UK rolled into Barking’s 165-year old station to much fanfare. Of course, the completion of this mammoth 18-day, 7,500-mile trip from the Chinese city of Yiwu marked the moment that the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) reached the UK. [...]
UK bank shares: A pre-Brexit view March 12, 2019 | City Talk Some UK bank shares have made massive profits for shareholders, but how should you play the sector now? It’s been a few weeks since the last of the big UK-listed banks published results for 2018, and share price performance since has been varied. Brexit, of course, has played its part and, with some lenders up [...]
Standard Chartered announces plan to slash costs February 26, 2019 Standard Chartered today announced further plans to slash costs as the lender reported that profits grew 28 per cent last year. The figures The group has completed $3.2bn worth of cuts since 2015 and is targeting a further $700m reduction in costs as part of its new three-year strategy to boost growth, it announced in [...]
HSBC boss John Flint needs to deliver short term rigour to the bank as well as a long term vision February 19, 2019 Imagine making nearly $20bn in profit during your first year in a job, only to be met with profound disappointment. Such is the lot of John Flint, the latest chief executive tasked with bringing the best out of Europe's biggest bank. HSBC's pre-tax profit for 2018 dragged the FTSE into the red on Tuesday, disappointing traders [...]
If Britain looks outward, it will find Nigeria open for business January 29, 2019 As the vote on Theresa May’s withdrawal agreement looms, parliament is at an impasse. The likelihood of a no-deal Brexit is increasing – in Germany, it is now seen as the most probable outcome, while in France, a “hard Brexit” contingency plan has been triggered. Deal or no deal, however, Brexit gives the UK the [...]
UK dividends hit record-breaking high in 2018 January 21, 2019 UK dividend payments rose to a record £99.8bn last year driven by rising profits and better than expected special dividends. British American Tobacco accounted for almost one fifth of the increase in UK dividends as it paid out an additional £900m over the course of 2018, entering the UK top five for the first time, according [...]
FTSE 100 index rises on hopes of US – China trade war breakthrough January 18, 2019 The FTSE 100 is up more than one per cent this morning on hopes of a breakthrough in trade talks between the US and China. The index was boosted by hopes of progress in the trade war, which were sparked by news reports suggesting that the US is considering reducing tariffs on Chinese imports. Read more: Markets lift [...]