Awkward: Deutsche Bank’s “fat finger” slip-up as bank accidentally pays out $6bn to a single customer October 20, 2015 After what was hardly a sterling week for Deutsche Bank following lower-than-expected results, it's now been reported the lender mistakenly misplaced $6bn (£3.9bn) as part of a "fat finger" transaction. Worst day at work ever? The FT reported that in June, a junior member of the bank's foreign exchange sales team accidentally sent $6bn to one [...]
Gold-plated Armani loos, a golden staircase and 16th century timber flooring: Here’s London’s most expensive office October 19, 2015 After all the hysteria over London's super-prime housing market, this was always bound to happen: a developer has unveiled London's swankiest offices. If you're running a business on any kind of budget, look away now… The office building, at 54 Brooks Mews, is in the middle of Mayfair (natch), and has been developed by Enstar [...]
It turns out humans don’t actually need eight hours’ sleep – our ancestors got by on six and a half hours October 16, 2015 Eight hours' sleep: it might be a goal for many people, but the majority of us rarely get more than seven hours. We can all stop feeling bad about it, though, after new research suggested the idea of eight hours' sleep is actually a myth. In fact, our ancestors got by on about six and a half [...]
The Co-operative Bank wants to spend £1m growing the UK’s co-operative sector October 16, 2015 It may still be shaking off the effects of a £1.5bn black hole in its balance sheet, but The Co-operative Bank is already looking to the future, after it announced plans for a £1m boost to the UK's co-operative sector. In a statement today, it said it had agreed a three-year partnership with Co-operatives UK [...]
What emissions crisis? European new car registrations jumped in September – and people were desperate for Volkswagens October 16, 2015 While politicians and those at the top of Volkswagen wring their hands in anguish over the emissions cheating scandal, it turns out the rest of Europe just sort of shrugged and got on with it, after new figures showed the number of new VWs registered in Europe jumped 8.3 per cent in September. Lest we forget, [...]
Ministers, companies and unions descend on Rotherham for UK steel crisis summit October 16, 2015 Ministers, representatives of producers and unions have descended on Rotherham for a crisis meeting over the UK's remaining steel industry. The summit comes a day after the final closure of the SSI steelworks in Redcar, announced last month, which caused the loss of 1,700 jobs. The government said today's summit will address the "challenging conditions" facing the market, after [...]
Bank of England hires Deloitte to lead review into payment systems and Chaps crash October 15, 2015 Remember when the Bank of England's Chaps payment system crashed, causing chaos across the system when large money transfers were suspended? More than a month on, the Bank of England has got around to appointing someone to find out what happened. The winner of that dubious accolade: Deloitte. A problem with the Bank's Real-Time Gross [...]
Elon Musk is about to put thousands of driverless cars on the road – but drivers of Tesla Model S with Autopilot have been warned: Keep your hands on the wheel October 15, 2015 Did the future just arrive on the world's roads and we didn't even notice? Cult electric car maker Tesla said last night that it's about to push an update to 60,000 of its Model S vehicles which will allow them to autonomously park (including finding a parking spot) and change lanes. Elon Musk, the company's [...]
Bank of England and PRA’s new ring-fencing rules “could cost banks five per cent” of their operating budget October 15, 2015 The Bank of England has today laid out further details about how Britain's biggest banks will have to restructure in order to comply with so-called ring-fencing regulations. From 2019, banks with core deposits greater than £25bn will have to separate their retail activities from the riskier parts of the business. The requirements were first set out in the Financial Services [...]
Virgin Money share price rises as mortgage lending jumps: More proof challenger banks are winning? October 15, 2015 The "Big Four" have good reason to worry about challenger banks, after Virgin Money announced net mortgage lending almost doubled in the nine months to the end of September. The figures Gross mortgage lending jumped 38 per cent to £5.5bn in the first three quarters of the year, the bank said today, with net mortgage lending rising 98 per [...]
