Judges need to work on boosting their public image, says justice secretary Liz Truss, warning they’ll be in the spotlight even more post-Brexit March 19, 2017 The justice secretary today called on the judiciary to do more to boost its public image, warning it will face more scrutiny once the European Court of Justice is no longer the top court post-Brexit. Liz Truss told the Financial Times the Supreme Court would face "even greater attention" once the UK was no longer [...]
Votes on boardroom pay could become legally binding in the near future, as the government mulls feedback from corporate governance consultation March 19, 2017 Shareholders could be given the right to block bumper pay packets for companies' executive teams in the much-anticipated upcoming white paper on corporate governance. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has run a consultation on corporate governance, including executive pay and whether pay votes should be binding, which closed for feedback last month. At [...]
Revealed: Hampshire Trust Bank more than doubles new lending in 2016, after it launches commercial mortgages business March 19, 2017 Hampshire Trust Bank more than doubled the value of the new loans it wrote in 2016, City A.M. can reveal. The challenger bank racked up loan originations of £393m in its 2016 financial year, up 132 per cent compared with £169m at the end of 2015. The boost is partly thanks to the lender launching a commercial mortgages [...]
Bank of England steps up to push along Co-op Bank rescue plans, amid worries buyers might be shying away from the struggling lender March 19, 2017 The Bank of England's regulatory team has begun making plans of its own for Co-op Bank, as they become increasingly impatient with the troubled lender's sale. The Co-op Bank, which is currently 20 per cent owned by the wider Co-operative Group, revealed last month it was looking for a buyer for the whole of the business. [...]
Deutsche Bank kicks off its €8bn rights issue on Tuesday as German lender attempts to bolster its capital March 19, 2017 Deutsche Bank announced today it is due to press go on its €8bn (£6.9bn) rights issue on Tuesday, as the German banking giant tries to shore up its capital. The Frankfurt-headquartered lender announced a slew of plans to improve its capital position earlier this month, including, in addition to the rights issue, holding onto its Postbank division, streamlining [...]
HSBC’s chief exec Stuart Gulliver fails to close probe into his taxes, as taxman requests a string of information March 16, 2017 The boss of HSBC may have hand to over more information to the taxman, after a bid by the businessman to close a probe into his affairs failed. HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) opened an investigation into Stuart Gulliver's personal tax return for 2013-14 in December 2015. The tribunal decision notice stressed the enquiry was limited to factual [...]
Sandi Toksvig and Noel Fielding revealed as presenters for the Channel 4 version of Great British Bake Off March 16, 2017 Channel 4 today revealed comedians Sandi Toksvig and Noel Fielding will be stepping into the Great British Bake Off (GBBO) tent as the show's new presenters. Also new for the eighth season of the show will be food writer Prue Leith. She will be joining baker Paul Hollywood, who hopped channels after the BBC lost the rights [...]
Solicitor general gives no guarantees fraud squad won’t be culled, as the government mulls the future of economic crime oversight in the UK March 16, 2017 The solicitor general today came out in support for the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) but refused to go as far as guarantee it won't be rolled into another of the UK's crime agencies in the future. The government is currently auditing the UK's approach to economic crime, leading some to believe the future of the SFO [...]
Senior Barclays’ banker believes the bank’s rules on Libor had flaws, court told in trial against two former traders March 16, 2017 A senior Barclays' banker today in court conceded the rules the bank asked staff to follow on Libor had some flaws, as a trial against two of the bank's former traders rumbles on. The Serious Fraud Office has claimed Stylianos Contogoulas, 45, and Ryan Reich, 35, played roles in a conspiracy to fix the benchmark rate [...]