RBS jumps on DoJ settlement reports : RBS finally returned to profit after a decade of losses May 14, 2018 Last year RBS finally returned to profit after a decade of losses, and while it was only a minor profit there was still a sense that the bank may have turned a corner in turning the tide of regular losses. Not surprisingly the market reaction to the £752m profit was a little underwhelming given that [...]
Mark Carney and Sadiq Khan throw weight behind City mental health campaign as research show number of staff raising mental heath concerns is rising May 14, 2018 Bank of England governor Mark Carney and London Mayor Sadiq Khan have thrown their weight behind a campaign led by the Lord Mayor of the City of London to end the stigma around mental health in the workplace. This comes as new research from the Institute of Directors (IoD) shows that business leaders have seen [...]
Royal Bank of Scotland boss Ross McEwan rejects suggestions he will quit: ‘The job’s not done yet… I’d like to be around a little longer’ May 11, 2018 Royal Bank of Scotland chief executive Ross McEwan has hit back at reports he is preparing to step down, today insisting he wants to remain at the helm until 2020. The New Zealander wants to oversee the return of the state-backed bank back to private ownership. Yesterday RBS announced it had finally ticked off one [...]
Finding value in American growth May 11, 2018 Last year saw global growth accelerate at its fastest pace since the financial crisis as this long-running bull market defied expectations and found another gear. It was a period of synchronised global growth reminiscent of yesteryear – a brief boon for global stock market investors. But with growth inevitably cooling in 2018, the challenge now [...]
Whatever the weather, Next sticks to its guns May 11, 2018 Predicting the weather is notoriously fraught with difficulty, but predicting that retailers will blame the weather for bad performance is a sure thing. Whether it’s too rainy, too snowy or even too sunny, high street operators are renowned for finding a way to pin their poor performance on something other than their own actions. The [...]
Poor weather puts a dampener on Bank of England rate hike as policymakers adopt ‘wait and see’ approach for economic growth May 10, 2018 The Bank of England has voted to keep interest rates steady once again at 0.5 per cent, shunting back a decision to hike rates after a slew of weak economic data. Though the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) said that the lower-than-expected economic growth in the first quarter was likely to be a temporary blip, [...]
Pound falls as BoE hold interest rates again – but experts argue a rise is still on the horizon May 10, 2018 The pound has fallen on the news that the Bank of England has chosen not to raise interest rates, falling 0.2 per cent against the dollar to $1.35. The decision came after a slew of weak economic data put governor Mark Carney’s plans to raise rates above historic 0.5 per cent levels on hold. Just [...]
All eyes on Bank of England governor Mark Carney as rates decision due tomorrow May 9, 2018 The chances of the Bank of England (BoE) not raising interest rates in May seemed inconceivable just a few months ago. Back in February, BoE deputy governor Ben Broadbent said that it would not be a “great shock” to the economy if the Bank raised interest rates twice this year. Now, it will be a [...]
Retailers suffer biggest drop in consumer spend on record: BRC May 9, 2018 Retail spending suffered the sharpest decline since records began last month, according to the British Retail Consortium. Year-on-year consumer spend dropped by 3.1 per cent in April, following a 2.3 per cent rise in March, adding to downbeat data that makes a Bank of England interest rate hike this week even less likely. The drop [...]
Hedge fund Caius Capital reports Unicredit for allegedly breaking European banking rules by misclassifying capital May 8, 2018 A hedge fund has reported Italian bank Unicredit to the European Banking Authority, alleging that it has misclassified a massive near-€3bn (£2.6bn) chunk of its capital. International and EU standards require that all banks must hold some “common equity tier one” (CET1) capital, such as common shares and retained earnings, to protect them and help [...]