Private bank Raphaels fined £1.89m for failures that left customers cashless on Christmas Eve May 30, 2019 Private bank Raphaels has been fined £1.89m for poor controls over its outsourcing arrangements. The 230-year old bank was fined £775,100 by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and £1.1m by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) in connection with the failings between April 2014 and December 2016. The weaknesses in its systems came to light on [...]
Uber partners with insurtech startup to offer digital insurance May 30, 2019 Ride sharing giant Uber has struck a deal with a US insurtech startup to offer digital insurance for its drivers. Inshur uses information about average trips, locations and driver ratings in near real-time to calculate the price of the driver’s policy. Read more: Uber facing £1bn VAT tax bill after HMRC opens investigation The startup [...]
Challenger banks struggling to compete with big five banks on cash deposits, study finds May 30, 2019 Challenger banks are struggling to break the stranglehold of the big five banks on the UK's £1.3 trillion cash deposit market, despite often paying better interest rates. The UK's big five banks – Barclays, Lloyds, HSBC, Santander and the Royal Bank of Scotland – hold £827bn of the UK's household deposits, a market share of [...]
City of London Police apologises after diamond and carbon credit fraud case collapses May 29, 2019 The City of London Police apologised today after the trial of eight defendants accused of fraudulent carbon credit and diamond sales collapsed. The trial was abandoned after the credibility of the prosecution’s expert witness Andrew Ager, who had been used in more than 20 previous trials, was called into question. It emerged in cross questioning [...]
Libor broker banned by regulator for dishonest trades May 29, 2019 A broker who was acquitted of helping jailed former UBS trader Tom Hayes rig the Libor benchmark has today been banned by the regulator for dishonesty. Terry Farr, who was formerly a manager on the Japanese Yen desk at brokerage Martins, has been banned by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) from regulated financial activity. Read [...]
Almost three-quarters of companies were impacted by financial crime last year, survey says May 29, 2019 Nearly three-quarters companies were impacted by financial crime in the last 12 months, according to a survey published today. Read more: Financial investment fraud cases jumped 74 per cent in 2018 According to the survey 72 per cent of organisations were aware of financial crime in their global operations over the last 12 months. More than [...]
Airtel Africa planning to raise $1bn in London listing May 28, 2019 Africa’s second-largest mobile operator Airtel Africa today said it is considering a London listing to cut its debt. The telecoms group, which is owned by Bharti Airtel of India, could raise up to $1bn (£790m), Reuters reported, in a float that could value the business at around $5bn. The company said today that it was targeting [...]
Victims of fast-growing fraud could get refunds from today May 28, 2019 A mew code that will allow victims of one of the UK’s fastest growing forms of fraud to receive reimbursement from banks comes into force today. Authorised push payment fraud occurs when a victim authorises a bank transfer into an account they believe is legitimate, but is actually controlled by a fraudster. The number of reported [...]
Esure and Directline founder Sir Peter Wood leads insurance start-up funding round May 28, 2019 Esure and Directline founder Sir Peter Wood has led a £2.5m funding round in insurance start-up Pikl. Wood received £360m when he sold his stake in Esure to private equity firm Bain Capital last year. The serial entrepreneur also founded Directline in the 1980s, allowing customers to buy insurance over the phone, later selling his [...]
London slips behind New York as world’s financial capital, survey says May 28, 2019 London has fallen behind New York as the city that most represents the world's financial centre, according to a report released today. A survey of finance professionals by consultants Duff & Phelps found 52 per cent of respondents chose New York as the world's pre-eminent financial centre, up from 42 per cent a year previously, [...]
