Labour adviser Lord Mitchell forecasts Wonga end as boss Tim Weller quits November 20, 2014 Payday lender Wonga lost its third chief executive in a year as interim boss Tim Weller was yesterday revealed to have left the embattled firm. Labour peer Lord Mitchell – who advises Ed Miliband on enterprise – unusually seized on the troubles to forecast the demise of the group. “Another Wonga CEO resigns [...]
EU beats UK in bonus cap legal battle November 20, 2014 Britain’s standing in the EU is lower than ever, and the UK yesterday admitted defeat in the latest spat. Should Britain ever have challenged the bonus cap? The Bank of England thinks the bank bonus cap does more harm than good. British institutions such as Barclays took a pummeling in the US when they cut bonuses, losing [...]
Bank of England tells banks’ directors to be more ambitious November 20, 2014 Banks’ directors are too focused on complaining about the risk of going to jail, and not doing enough to work on the big objectives of their companies, the Bank of England’s Martin Taylor said yesterday. To run a bank properly, non-executives should work together on the big strategic direction of the bank. Currently, they often [...]
Investec bank profits surge as legacy of financial crisis fades November 20, 2014 Anglo-South African bank Investec reported strong profits for the six months to September yesterday, overcoming a fall in the rand. Impairments fell by more than 20 per cent on the year, and are down to one-fifth of their £320m level seen three years ago, as the bank moves on from the financial crisis. Pre-tax operating profits [...]
Bank of England fines RBS over payments crash November 20, 2014 NEGLECTED IT systems could put the safety and soundness of RBS at risk, the Bank of England warned yesterday as it teamed up with the City watchdog to fine the bank £56m. The regulators were investigating a serious payments system crash, which locked millions of customers out of their accounts in mid-2012. It is a [...]
Close Brothers property success outweighs weak markets income November 20, 2014 FINANCE house Close Brothers reported strong property finance incomes in the first quarter of its financial year, benefiting from the UK’s economic recovery. Its asset finance arm also performed well, taking the loan book across the two units up 2.3 per cent to £5.4bn. Its asset management arm held steady in the three months to 31 [...]
Towergate up for sale as investors flee insurance broker November 19, 2014 Europe’s biggest privately owned insurance broker Towergate is up for sale just a month after its boss Mark Hodges quit last month. The troubled firm reported pre-tax losses of £112.7m for the first three quarters of the year, compared with a loss of £19.1m over the same period of 2013. If it is not sold [...]
Fed to raise interest rates before Bank of England November 19, 2014 US INTEREST rates are expected to rise before those in the UK, as the Federal Reserve last night indicated it will not slow down its path to tighter money despite wobbles in the world economy. Mark Carney has indicated the Bank of England will keep rates lower for longer as wages are not yet rising [...]
RBS braced for £50m fine over 2012 IT systems failure November 19, 2014 RBS is today expected to receive a fine over its systems failures, which left millions of customers unable to spend or transfer money. The fine comes more than two years after the 2012 crash which watchdogs are investigating, and is expected to come to around £50m. City regulators have been investigating the 2012 failures, but it [...]
Japan sees its exports leap November 19, 2014 JAPAN’S exports jumped sharply in October in an encouraging sign that there are some drivers of growth in the economy, official figures showed this morning. The economy slipped into recession this week, and growth is slowing in key markets like China, but exports still managed to jump by 9.6 per cent on the year. Analysts [...]