Card clash: Mastercard UK’s Mark Barnett on the battle for payments market share October 15, 2018 The likelihood is that, reading this, you have a Visa debit card somewhere on your person. Only two per cent of Britons currently have a Mastercard debit card, but that will change shortly after a string of wins for the US giant which will see its market share increase by 10 times. TSB and Santander [...]
Bank of America posts record quarterly pre-tax income in spite of investment bank weakness October 15, 2018 Bank of America today beat analyst expectations with record quarterly pre-tax profits and higher revenues for the third-quarter, although analysts were less impressed by the lender’s loan growth amid nerves from the recent market sell-off. Pre-tax income rose by 18 per cent to $9bn in the three months to the end of September, while revenues [...]
Action on productivity must take centre stage as calls for action grow louder October 12, 2018 The British economy has surprised experts time and time again in recent years, as unemployment has continually hit new lows. Yet the flipside of this miraculous fall in jobless numbers has been a truly dire slump in productivity growth – a slowdown which threatens the UK’s place at the top table among the world’s big [...]
Stockpiling, sterling plunge, and demand slump consequences of no-deal Brexit warns Budget watchdog October 11, 2018 The government’s independent budget watchdog today warned that a no-deal Brexit would likely prompt a wave of stockpiling, plunging asset prices and a slump in demand in the British economy. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), the body tasked with producing economic forecasts based on government policy, warned that increased barriers to trade will have [...]
CYBG joins the big British banks’ risk model club ahead of Virgin Money merger October 11, 2018 Challenger bank CYBG today announced it has received the regulatory thumbs-up to use its own risk models to determine how much capital it must hold, in a move which could potentially allow it to hold less. The firm, which owns the Clydesdale and Yorkshire banking brands and is currently merging with Virgin Money, said the [...]
Royal Bank of Scotland introduces 1.5 per cent savings rate days after Goldman Sachs October 11, 2018 Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) today announced a new savings rate of 1.5 per cent just weeks after Goldman Sachs entered the British market. The instant access savings account will pay the annual rate, which will put it near the top of the best-buy tables for some customers, up to the first £10,000, whereas Goldman's [...]
Investor demand for environment-friendly firms is becoming ‘phenomenon’ says top Barclays banker October 11, 2018 Demand for investments in businesses pursuing environmentally and socially responsible aims is building up unstoppable momentum, according to a top banker at Barclays. Joe McGrath, global head of banking at the British bank, says the growth of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) concerns in business has become a “phenomenon” in the last five years. ESG [...]
British exports to EU to be ‘cut in half’ by hard Brexit warns German think tank October 10, 2018 Britain and the EU would sustain economic hits worth billions of pounds if no Brexit deal is agreed before the 29 March 2019, according to analysis by a German think tank. British exports to Europe could fall by as much as 50 per cent, while German exports would decrease by 43 per cent, according to [...]
Brexit means nearly 1,000 pages of Brexit from the Financial Conduct Authority October 10, 2018 The City watchdog today made moves to make Brexit mean Brexit in its rules, publishing two enormous papers detailing changes to regulation in case of a no-deal Brexit. The Financial Conduct Authority published a 781-page doorstopper consultation on changes to its handbook and the EU’s binding technical standards (BTS), alongside a comparatively slim 150-page consultation [...]
Government expects 5,000 Brexit job losses for the City October 10, 2018 The government expects the City of London to lose 5,000 jobs because of Brexit, the City minister said today. John Glen said he backed the estimates of the head of the Prudential Regulation Authority, Sam Woods, on the number of job moves at a hearing of the House of Lords' EU Financial Affairs Sub-Committee. Large [...]
