US banking giants, including Goldman Sachs, forecast to announce revenue slide next week January 15, 2017 US earnings season might be about to prove that not all that glitters is Goldman, as the investment banking titan is predicted to announce a double digit slide in full-year revenues on Wednesday. Analysts have also forecast a slump in revenues for Morgan Stanley, which reports on Tuesday, and Citigroup, which reports on Wednesday. According to [...]
Soma Oil & Gas probe set fraud squad back almost £60k, after investigation was dropped late last year January 15, 2017 The fraud squad’s investigation into Soma Oil & Gas set it back almost £60,000, City A.M. has learned. Answering a Freedom of Information request, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) revealed it spent £59,912 on its investigation into the oil company, which opened in July 2015, following allegations of bribery and corruption. The figure does not [...]
Out-of-depth traders among reasons for the seriousness of last year’s sterling flash crash January 13, 2017 The bank for central banks has today pointed the finger at inexperienced traders as one of the causes of last October's sterling flash crash. On 7 October last year, sterling plummeted around nine per cent against the US dollar in the early hours of trading in Asia, although it bounced part way back again quickly [...]
Unicredit shareholders approve Italy’s largest ever rights issue of €13bn January 12, 2017 Shareholders at Unicredit have today given the thumbs up to the bank's €13bn rights issue. Italy's largest bank announced the country's largest ever rights issue last month in a bid to rebalance its finances as part of its ongoing turnaround plan, with the shares set to be issued by June. The bank's investors today granted the lender [...]
Brexit minister confirms bumpy EU departure will hurt Europe as well as UK January 12, 2017 A junior minister from the Brexit department has today become the latest in a string of voices to say a bad Brexit deal will harm Europe. In a grilling with the House of Lords on transition periods, parliamentary under secretary of state Lord Bridges of Headley said: "We want to have a smooth and orderly exit [...]
Lobby group calls for clear and upfront transitional plans to see City through lengthy Brexit process January 12, 2017 A leading think tank has today called on the government to secure "clear and upfront" transitional arrangements to smooth the path for the City through Brexit. A new paper, which lays out the financial and professional services sectors priorities for the Brexit negotiations, from lobby group TheCityUK also warns that drawing up the final EU departure deal could [...]
Banks could pull in more customers if they offered insurance, survey suggests January 12, 2017 A survey released today contains a potential solution for banking bosses worried about falling customer numbers: start offering insurance products. The figures from marketing specialist Collinson Group found consumers typically hold four different insurance products from three different providers . Almost two thirds (63 per cent) are sick of the split and would much prefer a [...]
Brexit research group calls for bespoke equivalence deal to give financial sector access to Single Market January 12, 2017 A Brexit research group is calling for the government to consider striking a bespoke equivalence agreement as part of the EU departure deal to maintain access to the Single Market for the financial sector. In a report published today, which was compiled by law firm Norton Rose Fulbright on behalf of the Financial Services Negotiation [...]
Accused ex-Barclays trader was given no legal guidance by employer, lawyer says January 11, 2017 The lawyer for an ex-Barclays trader facing forex-fixing claims in the US has hit back at the trader's former employer for not giving him enough guidance on the law. Chris Ashton was late last night charged by the US Department of Justice (DoJ) with conspiring to fix prices and rig bids in the foreign exchange [...]
Supreme Court confirms it will not be handing out advance copies of the Article 50 judgment January 11, 2017 The Supreme Court has today confirmed it will not be giving anybody an early peek at the impending Article 50 decision. "In view of the potential sensitivity of the case, there will be no copies of drafts available to anybody before the day of hand-down," a Supreme Court spokesperson said. Last December, all 11 of the [...]