Santander hits pause on €5bn buyback after US takeover Banking Santander has been forced to hit the pause button on its bumper buyback programme announced earlier this year to comply with US regulation. The Spanish-headquartered bank told markets on Thursday it would temporarily suspend the €5bn (£4.3bn) buyback launched in February to comply with US regulation around its takeover of Webster. The lender struck a [...]
Gocardless axes 90 jobs as UK fintech targets profitability Fintech UK fintech Gocardless has taken the chop to its workforce as the firm sets its sights on breaking into the black in the new financial year. The London-based firm, which specialises in bank-to-bank payment solutions, said it had made a redundancy provision for around 90 roles in the year ending 30 June 2025. This led [...]
Virgin Money swallowed up by Nationwide as top boss exits Banking The boss of Virgin Money is set to depart the firm later this years as the UK bank fully consolidates into the Nationwide umbrella. Chris Rhodes took the reins at Virgin Money following its acquisition by Nationwide in late 2024. Before this post, Rhodes served as finance boss at the UK’s largest building society for [...]
Motor finance compensation to ‘to fire starting gun’ on banking M&A March 31, 2026 The financial watchdog’s long-awaited motor finance redress scheme is predicted to “fire the starting gun” on a wave of deals throughout the banking sector. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) launched the final rules for its redress programme on Monday, with the bill for lenders expected to come in at just north of £9bn, down from [...]
Natwest sells HR advisory arm in latest structure overhaul March 25, 2026 Natwest has sold its human resources advisory arm to a private-equity backed rival in the latest deal by the banking giant on the road to streamlining its operations. The FTSE 100 titan has offloaded Mentor – its small business HR support service – to Empowering People Group, a specialist HR service backed by Limerston Capital. [...]
Federal Reserve orders Oaknorth to set up UK holding firm March 23, 2026 Digital bank Oaknorth has been ordered by the US financial watchdog to switch its domicile to the UK to get the green light on its takeover of a Michigan-based bank. The small business lender is exploring plans to establish a new UK holding company as a way to seal the deal on its acquisition of [...]
UK fintech Zempler Bank snapped up for less than half previous valuation February 12, 2026 London-based fintech Zempler Bank has been snapped up by Nigeria’s biggest bank in a deal that has slashed the firm’s valuation, City AM can reveal. The small business lender – formerly known as Cashplus – has been acquired by The Access Bank UK with a price tag of around £3.45p per share. The sale represents [...]
Why Natwest splashed the cash for a slice of the wealth management pie February 10, 2026 Natwest has opened its wallet for its biggest deal since the financial crisis, as the bank revives its appetite for acquisitions after the remaining government-owned shares in the business were finally sold. But after the FTSE 100 firm watched its share price sink into the red on Monday, will there be a sense of buyer’s [...]
TSB’s profit soars ahead of Santander takeover February 6, 2026 Profit at high street lender TSB soared in the latest financial year as the bank slashed costs ahead of its landmark takeover by Santander. TSB’s pre-tax profit hit £350.4m in 2025, a 20.7 per cent jump from the year prior. The growth was fuelled by rising income streams and falling costs, even as the bank [...]
Irn-Bru maker shares jump after snapping up soft drinks rivals for £50m February 3, 2026 The drinks merchant behind Irn-Bru is forecasting a major boost to profit for the latest financial year after the firm stripped back costs and snapped up a pair of its soft drink rivals. AG Barr, which owns brands such as Boost, Funkin Cocktails and Rubicon, told markets it had sealed a near-£38m deal to buy [...]