Bank of England’s Sam Woods warns of crackdown on the City January 12, 2020 Deputy Bank of England governor Sam Woods has warned the City that it could face a crackdown by regulators as they try to ensure the financial system remains safe a decade on since the financial crisis. Woods – who is chair of the BoE’s Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) which oversees lenders and insurers – told [...]
City of London Corporation planning chief retires January 9, 2020 A chief council planner involved in some of the Square Mile’s biggest projects over the past three decades is retiring from the City of London Corporation. Chief planning officer Annie Hampson OBE was intimately involved with projects, such as the Gherkin, Millennium Bridge, the refurbishment of the Bank of England and the redevelopment of St [...]
Carney rate cut comment sends pound crashing to two-week low January 9, 2020 The pound slumped to a near two-week low today after Mark Carney warned that the Bank of England (BoE) could cut interest rates to boost the economy. Sterling dropped as much as 0.55 per cent against the dollar to $1.301 as the central bank governor said a cut was possible if weaknesses in the economy [...]
UK productivity creeps up but crisis continues January 8, 2020 The UK’s long-running struggle with productivity showed little sign of ending today when official figures revealed output per hour worked grew only marginally in the third quarter of 2019 following four successive quarters of falls. Productivity grew by 0.1 per cent in the July to September period of last year compared with the same period [...]
Central banks running low on ammunition to fight recession, Mark Carney warns January 8, 2020 Central banks may not be able to fight off a sharp economic downturn because their monetary policy arsenals are still depleted following the global financial crisis, outgoing Bank of England Governor Mark Carney has warned. “It’s generally true that there’s much less ammunition for all the major central banks than they previously had and I’m [...]
World’s largest law firm Dentons set to launch in Ireland January 8, 2020 The world’s largest law firm Dentons is poised to open its first office in Ireland. Dentons has hired banking partner Peter O’Brien from Irish firm Matheson to spearhead its expansion into the market. Since the Brexit vote in June 2016, Ireland has been targeted by UK and international law firms looking to set up operations [...]
S&P says UK banks will ‘ease’ rather than ‘roar’ into 2020s January 7, 2020 US credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) has predicted UK banks will “ease” rather than “roar” into the 2020s as low interest rates, technological disruption and political risks present new challenges to the sector. British lenders had a torrid 2019, with expensive misconduct charges denting their balance sheets and Brexit uncertainty casting gloom over [...]
Investors brace for rocky week of geopolitical tension January 5, 2020 Investors are bracing themselves for a rocky week’s trading which will be dominated by heightened tensions in the Middle East and feature a key US jobs report and many companies’ financial results. Traders started 2020 in a buoyant mood on Thursday of last week, with equity indices rising considerably. The US’s assassination of Iranian general [...]
Andrew Bailey: Three issues the new Bank of England chief will have to tackle January 5, 2020 A safe pair of hands. That’s the cliche about the new Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey, who will take over the position from Mark Carney in March. The City and the British public will be hoping it is correct. Bailey does indeed have about as much experience of the BoE as it is possible [...]
Wall Street lenders face reporting probes by UK banking watchdog January 4, 2020 A number of Wall Street’s biggest banks are facing investigations from the UK’s banking regulator regarding concerns of widespread financial reporting failures. The Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) is commissioning reports on the quality of data being supplied to it by companies including Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, according to Sky News. The UK operations of [...]