British banks shed workers at fastest pace since 2018 July 2, 2025 British bankers were on the chopping block in 2024 as UK lenders marked the steepest drop in headcount since 2018 amid an industry-wide digital push. Total employee numbers at British lenders slumped 5.25 per cent to 580,371, falling to the lowest number in a decade. Standard Chartered and HSBC made the biggest culls at 4.5 [...]
Standard Chartered slapped with $2.7bn lawsuit over fraud scandal July 1, 2025 Standard Chartered has been hit with a $2.7bn lawsuit over its alleged role in one of the world’s largest financial fraud cases, known as the 1MBD scandal. The London-headquartered lender is being accused of helping move and hide billions of dollars that were stolen from Malaysia’s 1MDB fund, by not sufficiently checking to see where [...]
Will banks be able to escape a Reeves’ tax raid this Autumn? June 27, 2025 As Rachel Reeves watches her fiscal headroom crumble with every Labour U-turn, the Chancellor may return to her budget mantra that those with the “broadest shoulders should bear the heavier burden”. Lenders managed to skirt a tax raid in the 2024 budget after lobbyists warned it could damage the sector’s international competitiveness, but renewed fiscal [...]
Barclays and Natwest shares jump as conflict sparks inflation fears June 16, 2025 Shares in the FTSE 100’s top banks were rising on Monday as the intensifying conflict in the Middle East triggered inflation fears. Barclays and Natwest were up nearly two per cent and Lloyds over one per cent during early trading as oil prices crept up another one per cent to $74.90 a barrel. This follows [...]
FTSE 100 flirts with record high but falters once more June 11, 2025 The FTSE 100 once more narrowly missed on a record closing high on Wednesday after faltering in the final moments of the trading session. The UK’s flagship index edged up 0.13 per cent to 8864.35p. This brought it just short of March’s record close of 8871.31p. Housebuilders topped the morning risers with Persimmon and Barratt [...]
London Tech Week: Nvidia’s Jensen Huang and Keir Starmer unveil AI push June 9, 2025 Nvidia chief Jensen Huang and Keir Starmer unveiled a major AI push at London Tech Week this morning. The two figureheads have unveiled a range of changes to boost Britain’s AI infrastructure, research and industrial capacity, to help the UK become an “AI maker, not an AI taker.” US chip maker Nvidia, a leading player [...]
Barclays and HSBC shares jump after Trump’s legal blow May 29, 2025 Shares in FTSE 100 banking giants rallied on Thursday after President Donald Trump’s tariff agenda was dealt a blow from the courts. Barclays and HSBC climbed over one per cent to 328.05p and 874.50p, while Standard Chartered jumped nearly two per cent to 1,158.00p. This came as the US Court of International Trade declared Trump’s [...]
Tesla and Apple shares surge as US markets rally on trade deal May 12, 2025 Markets on Wall Street soared on Monday as investors welcomed the trade progress between the US and China. The S&P jumped over 2.6 per cent as markets opened and the Dow Jones 2.41 per cent. Amazon gained over seven per cent and Nike six per cent. The tech-heavy Nasdaq rallied 3.5 per cent. Tech giants [...]
HSBC and Standard Charted shares surge as trade war cools May 12, 2025 Shares in banking giants HSBC and Standard Chartered surged on Monday morning as the trade tensions between the US and China appeared to cool. HSBC jumped nearly four per cent, taking its gains for the month to over 14 per cent. Standard Chartered soared over seven per cent, with monthly gains topping 17 per cent. [...]
Standard Chartered shares downgraded after tariff bruising May 7, 2025 Analysts at UBS slapped a downgraded price on Standard Chartered’s shares after a bruising period for the lender amid geopolitical tensions. The analysts reduced the target share price to 1,215p from 1,310p but maintained their ‘Buy’ rating. Shares were down 0.6 per cent on Wednesday at 1,049p. In the fallout of President Donald Trump’s ‘Liberation [...]