By: Samuel Norman

Senior City Reporter Samuel is a Senior City Reporter covering all the top financial institutions from retail banks to fintechs as well as stories on capital markets and economics. He has broken stories on some of the biggest names in the City and regularly writes in-depth analysis pieces on companies and industry trends. Samuel also leads on City AM's morning liveblog from 7am everyday. He writes a weekly column found in print and online on Wednesdays. He can be contacted at samuel.norman@cityam.com and posts on LinkedIn and X at x.com/samnormanwrites.

All 1799 Articles

How Natwest, Lloyds, Barclays and HSBC fired up the FTSE 100 in 2025

December 9, 2025

If 2025 was supposed to be the year of the AI bubble, nobody told Britain’s banking giants. Amidst the noise of the US tech boom, the UK’s FTSE 100 banking heavyweights, Natwest, Lloyds, Barclays, and HSBC, have staged a formidable, if understated, rally. Lloyds delivered an astonishing 75.8 per cent gain, while Barclays surged 65 [...]
UK fintech Plum follows Klarna in securing e-money licence

December 8, 2025

Smart money app Plum has managed to secure an e-money licence from the City watchdog, City AM can reveal, even as the volume of application approvals slumps. Plum, which was founded by the former head of banking at Wise, Victor Trokoudes, in 2016, has received authorisation to operate as an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) from the Financial [...]
Visa shifts European HQ to Canary Wharf

December 5, 2025

Payments juggernaut Visa is set to switch its European headquarters to Canary Wharf – hot on the heels of banking behemoth JP Morgan. The move from its current spot in Paddington comes amid a major resurgence in the London financial hub after a number of big firms snapped up offices in the district. Visa will [...]
Watchdogs rip up rulebook for building societies in growth boost

December 5, 2025

British building societies are in line for a deregulation boost after UK watchdogs announced a joint raft of initiatives aiming to power up the sector. Mutuals – which, contrary to banks, are owned by their members – are set to land a significant growth tailwind following a fresh report from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Unilever demerger; House prices hit record high

December 5, 2025

Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog. The Autumn Budget started nearly an hour earlier than expected on 26 November after the fiscal watchdog leaked its forecasts for the UK and with it all the Labour government’s economic policy for the next year. But start as you mean to end rings true [...]
Lloyds boss: Forcing banks to hoard capital is slowing UK growth

December 4, 2025

The boss of Lloyds Banking Group has called on the government to take its deregulation mission further to ramp up economic growth. Charlie Nunn, chief executive of Lloyds Banking Group, welcomed recent regulatory progress, including the Chancellor’s Leeds Reforms package, but added “they are just at the start – there is more to do”. “The [...]
Strap a rocket to UK banks or watch the City drift, shadow chancellor warns

December 4, 2025

Shadow chancellor Mel Stride has called for a tearing down of burdensome City regulation to power up the financial services sector and avoid it losing status. The Tory MP said the pendulum has swung “too far in favour of trying to iron… [and] squeeze risk out of the system”. Stride called for a “bonfire of [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Budget to send borrowing costs soaring; New AIM IPO

December 4, 2025

Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog. Sir Keir Starmer has asked the British public to judge his premiership on the government’s ability to “make people feel better off”. Well, in the capital the Prime Minister shouldn’t be expecting a warm reception from young Brits, who are feeling the pinch of the [...]
Is HSBC’s chair hunt really over?

December 4, 2025

Safe, but surprising – that was the verdict across the City as Britain’s biggest bank unveiled its new chair after a twist-and-turn search. Brendan Nelson will take the post at HSBC, succeeding Sir Mark Tucker, whose exit in September left the bank without a permanent chair for weeks. Except for Nelson. Indeed, the seasoned accountant [...]
Revolut ramps up business offering in Visa tie-up

December 4, 2025

Revolut is set to scale up its offering to UK businesses in a fresh tie-up with payments juggernaut Visa. The fintech’s business to business arm – dubbed Revolut Business – is set to introduce Titan, a premium business card, early next year as it pushes forward in its mission to create the ultimate all-in-one app. [...]

Will Andy Burnham’s stockpile missive start a tinned food revolution?

Ice Hockey World Championships sponsor threatens to pull out over Russia

Andy Burnham says stockpile beans and tuna: Here’s the wine to pair with that

By: Samuel Norman

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