Toyota braced for motor finance pay out as ruling nears June 18, 2025 Toyota has set aside millions in case the Supreme Court rules the company and the wider industry should pay customers compensation when it delivers its verdict on the motor finance saga in the coming weeks. The UK-based financial services arm of the car giant has earmarked the funds to shore itself up in the eventually [...]
S&U shake off motor finance woes as verdict looms June 18, 2025 Specialist lender S&U said it remains confident in the group’s turnaround from motor finance woes after a strong start to the financial year. The bank said in a trading update on Wednesday that optimism in their annual report was “clearly being justified” by the firm’s performance since April. S&U’s profit for the financial year ending [...]
Metro Bank shares soar after takeover interest from Shawbrook owner June 16, 2025 Shares in Metro bank boomed as markets opened on Monday after reports the high street lender had been approached for a takeover. The FTSE 250 bank’s stock was up nine per cent to 122.00p during early trading. On Friday, shares closed at 112.2p, giving it a market capitalisation north of £750m. This follows private equity [...]
FCA boss: Buy now, pay later regulation is a trade off June 10, 2025 The chief executive of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said the new clamp down on buy now, pay later (BNPL) regulation would be a “trade off” as he faced a grilling from MPs. Nikhil Rathi, who was reappointed as the regulator’s boss in April, told the Treasury Committee the crackdown would have “beneficiaries and downside [...]
FCA lays out Pisces rules with trading to begin later this year June 10, 2025 The UK’s financial regulator has published its rulebook for the new Pisces market framework, laying the ground for trading to commence later this year. The new type of platform, which facilitates the trading of shares in private companies, promises to address a long-standing liquidity gap for growth companies and early investors, offering a potential bridge [...]
JP Morgan launches risk-rated investment portfolios June 3, 2025 JP Morgan plans to scale up its UK investment offering after fresh research revealed a huge frustration among UK retail investors. The lender found nearly one in six UK investors were unsatisfied with the income they received from investments, despite two-thirds saying the income from investing was important. The firm is using its Asset Management [...]
Starling Bank: The rise and fall of a fintech darling May 30, 2025 Over a decade ago three fintechs entered the banking scene and set their sights on reshaping its landscape. Starling, Monzo and Revolut rapidly expanded as they leveraged modern tech to streamline banking operations, enhance consumer experience and disrupt traditional financial models. The trio of fintech darlings ballooned customer bases in record numbers. But as two [...]
Close Brothers slapped with a downgrade after rocky third-quarter May 26, 2025 Close Brothers was handed a downgrade by Peel Hunt analysts on Friday after its third-quarter update did little to calm investor nerves. The bank said fees and expenses were still at an “elevated level” in the recent quarter as net expenses jumped to £13.9m. This was up from £11.6m in the same period last year. [...]
Motor finance: Is Close Brothers heading for a car crash? May 22, 2025 Costs are mounting, loan books are shrinking, an existential motor finance ruling looms – is Close Brothers heading for disaster? It’s been a bruising 12 months for the lender, with its stock down over 25 per cent. Recent rallies have helped it claw back gains of over 65 per cent in the last six months [...]
What will stricter buy now pay later regulations mean for Klarna? May 20, 2025 The government is clamping down on the “wild west” of buy now, pay later (BNPL) but this could spark trouble for industry veterans in a competitive sector. The Treasury is set to bring BNPL providers under the supervision of the Financial Conduct Authority, meaning they will have to adhere to the stricter frameworks of the [...]