Barclays boss Jes Staley ‘deeply regrets’ Jeffrey Epstein links February 13, 2020 Barclays chief executive Jes Staley has said he “deeply regrets” his connection with Jeffrey Epstein after it emerged that British regulators are investigating his links with the convicted sex offender. Staley admitted this morning that he maintained contact with with the disgraced financier, who took his own life in a New York jail last year [...]
Commerzbank to continue cost-cutting after quarterly loss February 13, 2020 Commerzbank said today it was looking to make further cuts to costs after reporting a smaller-than-expected loss for the fourth quarter. The German lender, which is in the process of restructuring following a failed attempt to merge with Deutsche Bank, posted a €54m (£45m) quarterly loss. Chief executive Martin Zielke said he was growing optimistic [...]
Bittersweet farewell for Tidjane Thiam as Credit Suisse profits soar February 13, 2020 Credit Suisse has reported its highest annual profits in almost a decade, just days after chief executive Tidjane Thiam was ousted in the wake of a lurid spying scandal that erupted last year. The figures Credit Suisse’s pre-tax profit rose 40 per cent to 4.7bn Swiss francs (£3.7bn) for 2019, the highest figure since 2010. [...]
Amundi’s assets under management hit €1.65 trillion February 12, 2020 Amundi’s assets under management (AUM) reached €1.65 trillion (£1.38 trillion) in 2019, with the French asset manager boosted by a record fourth quarter. Inflows hit a record £76.8bn during the fourth quarter, including £59.6bn received from a new pension fund mandate at Amundi’s Indian joint venture, it said. Net inflows for the entire year were [...]
UK and EU must avoid a ‘punch-up’ over financial services, says incoming BoE governor Bailey February 12, 2020 Britain and the European Union must find a way to settle disagreements over how the UK’s finance industry can do business with the bloc without it descending into a “metaphorical punch-up”, said incoming Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey. Bailey, who is currently head of the Financial Conduct Authority, also said it would be “hard [...]
Brexit: UK ‘optimistic’ on EU green light for derivatives trading February 12, 2020 The UK is “cautiously optimistic” it will get the EU’s permission for the City’s clearing houses to continue to process trillions of pounds of derivatives for EU customers after Brexit, Bank of England deputy governor Sam Woods said today. The London Stock Exchange’s LCH unit holds positions worth £57 trillion on behalf of clients in [...]
Softbank profit plunges 99 per cent on heavy Vision Fund losses February 12, 2020 Softbank’s quarterly profit has been almost entirely wiped out after heavy losses from its Vision Fund hit the technology investor for the second consecutive quarter. The Japanese conglomerate’s operating profit from October to December plummeted 99 per cent to just ¥2.59bn (£18.2m) after its Vision Fund and a related vehicle recorded a $2bn loss. Softbank [...]
Sainsbury’s Bank chairman Roger Davis steps down February 12, 2020 Sainsbury’s Bank has started a search for a new chair after Roger Davis told the board he intends to step down from the role. Davis has chaired the bank’s board for almost seven years. Sainsbury’s said the search to find Davis’s replacement had begun and that further announcements regarding the timings of his retirement and [...]
MWC 2020: BT and Nokia join exodus of companies over coronavirus fears February 12, 2020 BT is pulling out of the Mobile World Congress (MWC) because of the coronavirus outbreak, becoming the latest in a string of telecoms firms to say they will not attend the event in Barcelona later this month. Earlier today, Nokia and and Deutsche Telekom both said they would not be attending MWC, increasing the likelihood [...]
Intu deep? Shares plunge after Link pulls out of landlord’s £1bn emergency cash call February 11, 2020 Intu shares lost almost a third of their value on Tuesday after Link Real Estate Investment Trust said it would no longer participate in the troubled retail landlord’s £1bn emergency cash call. It emerged yesterday that Link was in talks with Intu, which owns the Trafford Centre, over potentially becoming a “cornerstone” investor in the [...]
