City watchdog blasts UK banks over money laundering safeguards September 24, 2020 Not all British banks are convinced of the need to invest large sums to crack down on dirty money, meaning the quality of anti-money laundering controls is falling short, the City watchdog’s chief enforcer said. Global lenders, including UK-based HSBC, Barclays and Standard Chartered, have come under increased scrutiny for their anti-money laundering (AML) efforts [...]
Volunteers ‘to be deliberately infected with Covid-19’ in UK vaccine trials September 24, 2020 Britain is reportedly planning to host clinical trials where volunteers are deliberately infected with Covid-19 to test the effectiveness of potential vaccines. So-called challenge trials are expected to begin at a quarantine facility in London in January, the Financial Times reported, citing people involved with the project. The government said it was working with partners [...]
Facebook to launch oversight board just before US election September 24, 2020 Facebook is planning to launch its long-delayed oversight board in mid- to late October, just ahead of the US presidential election, following mounting criticism over its handling of hate speech and other divisive content. The social media giant’s independent oversight board will initially have the power to review decisions to remove content from Facebook and [...]
Wework sells control of China arm for $200m in global pullback September 24, 2020 Wework is selling control of its Chinese division to one of its investors, in a deal that further reduces the office space provider’s global presence after the coronavirus pandemic worsened its financial troubles. Private equity firm Trustbridge Partners will pay the company $200m (£157m) for majority ownership of the unit, as Wework retreats from a [...]
Pent up sofa demand cushions DFS following lockdown profit slump September 24, 2020 DFS reported huge losses as the coronavirus lockdown put its trading on pause, but said pent-up demand from shoppers keen to spend more on furnishings has helped it bounce back. The sofa retailer posted a loss of £56.8m for the year to 28 June, compared to a profit of £28.2m the year before. Revenues fell [...]
Funding Circle losses deepen as pandemic hits peer-to-peer lending momentum September 24, 2020 Funding Circle’s operating losses more than tripled in the first half of the year as the coronavirus pandemic hit its peer-to-peer lending business. The lender, which matches borrowers with retail and institutional investors, reported an operating loss of £113.5m for the six months to 30 June, more than three times the £31.3m loss it posted [...]
HSBC, Citi, Goldman and Deutsche Bank pause plans to return to office September 23, 2020 Banks have rushed to pause plans for staff to return to their UK offices following fresh government guidance on coronavirus. Deutsche Bank and Citigroup have also encouraged staff to return to work remotely amid concerns over rising Covid-19 cases. Read more: City firms begin to send workers home after new government rules The banks’ changes [...]
ING says transaction named in FinCEN files was an administrative error September 23, 2020 ING has hit back at reports citing the FinCEN files that said a Polish subsidiary of the Dutch bank altered the name of a Russian sender on sanctions blacklists on a large payment in 2014 to conceal the sender’s identity. In a statement issued this morning, the lender said the reports were misleading and that [...]
JP Morgan ‘to move €200bn assets from the UK to Germany’ due to Brexit September 23, 2020 JP Morgan Chase & Co is reportedly set to move €200bn (£184bn) assets from the UK to Germany as a result of Brexit. The US banking giant plans to finish the migration of the assets to a Frankfurt-based subsidiary by the end of this year, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The shift [...]
Joules boss ‘encouraged’ by first quarter performance despite revenue slide September 23, 2020 British retailer Joules has reported a drop in revenue for the first quarter, but its boss said he is “encouraged” by the group’s performance. Chief executive Nick Jones said sales for the 13 weeks to the end of August had exceeded expectations, although group revenue slipped 18 per cent to £39.6m. Revenue through Joules’ own [...]
