Royal Bank of Scotland to slash 200 UK jobs and shut branches May 12, 2016 Royal Bank of Scotland is planning to slash around 200 jobs from its retail unit, in the latest round of cuts to the lender's workforce as part of a wider restructuring of the business. The planned job losses, which were reported by Reuters, mean that RBS will have axed more than one in 10 positions at its [...]
Deutsche Bank settles unfair dismissal case May 9, 2016 A Deutsche Bank employee who was fired over Libor rigging has received a payout, after the bank decided to settle allegations of unfair dismissal. Shivani Mathur, who was global head of economic resources at the bank’s London office, was one of seven employees ordered to be fired by New York’s banking regulator last year as [...]
Department of Business, Innovation and Skills defends board member who approved BP boss’ pay bonanza April 18, 2016 The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) is standing by the BP director who backed the mammoth executive pay deal that triggered a shareholder revolt last week. Professor Dame Ann Dowling – who serves on the government department’s board as well as chairing the oil giant’s remuneration committee – sanctioned the £13.8m pay package [...]
Beware: Your energy bill could rise by £152 at the end of April if you don’t switch supplier April 18, 2016 Households will be hit with a £152 increase to their annual energy bills at the end of the month unless they switch providers, as several fixed tariffs come to an end. Of the 17 fixed deals that expire on Saturday 30 April, 11 will result in customers being automatically switched to a more expensive standard variable [...]
UK public more likely to invest its pension savings as period of low interest rates drags on April 18, 2016 The UK public has become more willing to take risks with its retirement savings in a period of historically low interest rates, new research has shown. Investment firm Franklin Templeton's annual Retirement Income Strategies and Expectations survey found that 30 per cent of people expect to invest part of their pension pots after they retire, compared to [...]
Boost for smaller businesses as HSBC launches £10bn lending fund April 18, 2016 SMALL- and medium-sized businesses got a £10bn boost today after HSBC unveiled a new lending fund to support their growth. The £10bn fund is part of a broader package of support offered by the UK bank to make it cheaper and easier for smaller businesses to borrow money. It follows the £8bn fund HSBC launched [...]
UK building societies lambast European regulators’ plans to tighten lending rules April 17, 2016 UK BUILDING societies have blasted European regulators' proposals to toughen up lending rules, which they argue would be detrimental to the growth of their businesses . The European Banking Authority (EBA) is considering tightening the necessary leverage ratio, so that building societies will need more capital in order to lend. The proposals are based on [...]
AstraZeneca to join the bid battle for US cancer specialist Medivation April 17, 2016 AstraZeneca is mulling a takeover bid for US prostate cancer specialist Medivation, in a deal that could be worth more than $10bn (£7bn). The FTSE 100 drugmaker has been eyeing the California-based firm for around six months and is looking very closely at making a formal approach, according to sources cited by The Sunday Times. [...]
Private equity firm Livingbridge gobbles up a stake in biscuit firm Thomas J Fudge’s April 17, 2016 Private equity firm Livingbridge has taken a bite out of luxury biscuit maker Thomas J Fudge's, marking the end of 100 years of family ownership. Livingbridge is thought to have snapped up a controlling stake in the company in a multi-million pound deal, although the exact value was not disclosed. Thomas J Fudge's was founded [...]
UK North Sea explorer First Oil Expro goes into administration due to decline in brent crude price February 22, 2016 First Oil Expro, an Aberdeen-based UK North Sea oil explorer, has gone into administration. Two other oil companies, Enquest and Cairn Energy, have taken on the company's 15 per cent stake in the Kraken North Sea oil field. Enquest will now have a 70.5 per cent holding and Cairan 29.5 per cent. Parent company First [...]
