By: Samuel Norman

Senior City Reporter Samuel is a Senior City Reporter covering banking and fintech as well as stories on capital markets and economics. He also leads on City AM's morning liveblog from 7am everyday. He has previously written for the Daily Mail and The i Paper and worked for Sky News as an election stringer. He enjoys writing in-depth analysis of major blue-chip firms and start-ups and also industry trends. He can be contacted at samuel.norman@cityam.com and posts on LinkedIn and X at x.com/samnormanwrites.

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‘Panic mode’: FTSE 100 sinks as oil spikes on Iran’s energy threats

March 18, 2026

Markets were thrown into “panic mode” on Wednesday as the surging price of oil rattled global equities. The price of Brent crude – the international benchmark for oil – spiked as much as five per cent to $110 per barrel as energy facilities across the Gulf faced evacuation following the latest threats from Iran. The [...]
City fears Rayner’s rise as she warns Starmer that Labour is ‘running out of time’

March 18, 2026

Angela Rayner’s ascendancy to the Labour leadership has been flagged as a risk for public finances as the former deputy prime minister said the party was “running out of time”. At a rally on Tuesday night, Rayner suggested that Labour was viewed as representing “the establishment” and said the party’s survival was “at stake”. She [...]
Treasury reforms to banks ombudsman threaten independence, MPs warn

March 18, 2026

The Treasury’s reforms to the banks ombudsman threaten to upend the body’s independence, a group of influential MPs have warned. The government revealed its overhaul proposals for the financial ombudsman service (FOS) on Tuesday in a bid to curb concerns it had behaved as a “quasi-regulator”. But a fresh letter to City minister Lucy Rigby [...]
Diploma: Shares in FTSE 100 giant boom after profit upgrade

March 18, 2026

Shares in specialist tech supplier Diploma boomed on Wednesday morning after the group slapped a hefty upgrade on its financial targets for 2026. The firm’s stock was up as much as 15 per cent on open to 5,771.06p. It came as the FTSE 100 giant said it expects revenue growth to come in at nine [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Diploma leads stocks as pound ticks up; Oil dips

March 18, 2026

Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog. The FTSE 100 index closed up 0.8 per cent higher on Tuesday at 10,403.60p. The gains were accompanied by a stronger performance from the pound, which finished up $1.334 by the time London markets closed, compared to $1.329 on Monday. Sterling and the City were [...]
Is the motor finance scandal making City banks trim the fat?

March 18, 2026

In the fallout of the multi-billion pound motor finance scandal, bank bosses are getting their house in order. The landmark saga, which began with the UK’s financial watchdog’s review into the market over two years ago, centres around the use of ‘secret’ agreements between car dealers and lenders that left customers in the dark on [...]
Boku boss: Nasdaq is no ‘silver bullet’ for fintech listings

March 17, 2026

The boss of one of the London market’s fastest growing fintech companies has warned flocking to a listing on Wall Street is no “silver bullet” for firms seeking deeper liquidity than what’s on offer in the City. Stuart Neal, the chief executive of Boku, told City AM shifting the firm’s listing across the Atlantic would [...]
Starling on hunt for new chair as Deloitte veteran bows out

March 17, 2026

UK fintech Starling is on the hunt for a new chair following the news the firm’s current head would exit later this year. Starling said on Tuesday that David Sproul, the bank’s chair since October 2021, would step down once a successor is appointed. Sproul joined Starling after a near two-decade long career at Big [...]
Oaknorth delays net zero goal as US expansion fuels lending boom

March 17, 2026

UK fintech Oaknorth has slapped a ten year delay on its ambition to be a net zero bank as the firm’s expansion across the Atlantic picked up pace. The small business lender said it expects to meet net zero commitments by 2045, as opposed to previous guidance of 2035 set four years ago. Oaknorth said [...]
Close Brothers to axe fifth of jobs after motor finance ‘wipeout’ warning

March 17, 2026

Close Brothers has warned it will cull as much as a fifth of its headcount as the bank continued its aggressive cost-cutting strategy following mounting losses linked to the motor finance scandal. The FTSE 250 bank said it would axe a staggering 600 full-time roles by the end of the 2027 financial, which represents around [...]

Gloucester Rugby asks fans for £300k as it seeks investors at £36.5m valuation

Bath sell-out bright spark as Champions Cup attendances fall

Barbican Centre: the brutalist landmark weaving art into everyday London life.

By: Samuel Norman

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