Santander reviews dividend and slashes executive pay amid coronavirus crisis March 24, 2020 Santander has postponed its interim dividend and slashed pay for senior management due to the coronavirus pandemic, with chair and chief executive of the Spanish bank donating half their pay to a medical equipment fund. The eurozone’s largest lender usually pays out an interim dividend in November, but will now consolidate the payment with the [...]
Softbank plans £35bn emergency asset sale to cut debt amid coronavirus rout March 23, 2020 Softbank is launching an emergency ¥4.5 trillion (£35bn) asset sale to buy back shares and reduce debt in a bid to restore investor confidence as the global stock market rout pummels its shares and portfolio companies. The measures come as the Japanese investment giant and its $100bn Vision Fund, which has recorded two consecutive quarterly [...]
Coronavirus: British companies rush to mothball results after City watchdog calls for delay March 23, 2020 British companies are rushing to delay the publication of their results following an unprecedented call from the financial regulator for results to be suspended due to the coronavirus crisis. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said late on Saturday that listed firms planning to report preliminary results in the next few days should mothball them for [...]
Shell and Total slash costs and suspend buybacks amid oil price slump March 23, 2020 Oil giants Shell and Total have suspended their share buyback programmes and announced billions of dollars of cost cutting as they try to weather the recent crash in oil prices. The price of Brent crude slumped to a 17-year low last week as the coronavirus pandemic has cut global demand for oil and a price [...]
Government launches £330bn coronavirus business loan scheme March 23, 2020 The government has launched the first stage of a £330bn loan guarantee scheme for businesses, to help small and medium-sized firms borrow up to £5m to help them weather the impact of coronavirus. “Any viable business” with a turnover of up to £45m will be able to apply to banks for an 12-month interest-free loan, [...]
Deutsche Bank warns of material impact from coronavirus pandemic March 20, 2020 Deutsche Bank has warned that the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic may affect its ability to meet financial targets as the lender undergoes a radial overhaul following years of losses. The warning is the first time Germany’s largest bank has publicly expressed concerns over the impact of the outbreak, which has disrupted Deutsche’s operations [...]
FTSE 100 climbs as global markets rally on unprecedented stimulus measures March 20, 2020 The FTSE 100 has climbed back into the green as investors eyed a fresh wave of government support for companies coming under financial strain due to the coronavirus pandemic. The blue chip index added over five per cent just after the open but then pared back gains to stand at just over one per cent [...]
Bank of England cancels stress tests over coronavirus March 20, 2020 The Bank of England has cancelled this year’s stress test of major banks in Britain, saying it could be hard to implement new global capital rules while lenders are focused on supporting customer lending amid the coronavirus pandemic. The central bank’s decision to scrap the test of the UK’s eight top banks comes after the [...]
Key worker list: These UK staff can still send their children to school amid coronavirus crisis March 20, 2020 With schools across the country shutting their gates until further notice to help contain the spread of coronavirus, the government has released a list of so-called key workers deemed essential to the UK’s fight against the pandemic. Schools will be closed to the majority of children from 23 March, but have been asked to continue [...]
Banks hope to keep trading floors open if London faces stricter coronavirus lockdown March 19, 2020 Global banks are hoping to keep their London trading floors open amid the worsening coronavirus pandemic and are confident that traders would be designated “key workers” if the capital is placed on formal lockdown. Five major banks told City A.M. they were planning to continue operations with their traders split between core sites in the [...]
