Google DeepMind’s London AI drug spinout eyes $50bn valuation October 8, 2026 London-based AI drug discovery firm, Isomorphic Labs, is reportedly seeking a valuation of up to $50bn (£37bn) in fresh funding talks, just five months after raising $2.1bn from investors. The Google DeepMind spinout, led by Nobel Prize-winning scientist Sir Demis Hassabis, is in early discussions to raise new capital at a valuation of at least [...]
Interest rate fears dampen UK house buying demand October 8, 2026 Brits held off inquiring about buying new homes last month as fears over higher mortgage rates dampened the market. Housing demand dropped in September, according to a survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), which found that 22 per cent of property professionals saw buyer inquiries fall last month. That figure was up [...]
Former City traders’ fraud convictions overturned October 7, 2026 A group of five former City traders previously convicted of rigging the Libor and Euribor interest rates have had their fraud convictions overturned by the Court of Appeal. The five investment bankers, who previously worked at Barclays, had their convictions quashed having served jailtime for conspiring to rig the now-defunct interest rates in the run-up [...]
House prices fall faster in London as property market stays ‘subdued’ October 7, 2026 House prices in London fell at a faster rate last month, as homeowners in the capital continue to bear the brunt of the property market slowdown caused by the Iran war. The average house price in London fell by 2.2 per cent to £531,548 in the year to September, according to the Lloyds house price [...]
Stages of tax grief: Is it time for bankers to bargain? October 7, 2026 Banks are in the firing line at the Budget and in a meeting with bosses on Tuesday chancellor John Healey played coy on any increased rates. In this week’s column Samuel Norman looks at what trade-off could be made. Also on the cards, fresh data shows fintechs are lurching ahead of the incumbents on customer [...]
UK bank bosses and John Healey set for tax showdown October 5, 2026 When banking lobbyists geared up for an offensive ahead of the 2025 Budget, a tax cut barely made the wishlist. Modest in their ambitions, advocates were preparing to settle for anything that didn’t see their already eye-wateringly high tax bill rise. That is until, City AM understands, officials advised them to make a cut a [...]
‘Disastrous’: Average five-year fixed mortgage rate surges to six per cent October 5, 2026 The average five-year fixed mortgage rate has broken the six per cent mark for the first time in three years after a fresh raft of lenders hiked prices. The typical five-year agreement has hit six per cent, according to Moneyfacts, while the average two-year is a whisker behind at 5.98 per cent. It is the [...]
Raising bank taxes will reduce jobs, former Chancellor Hunt warns Healey October 5, 2026 Former Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has issued John Healey a major warning over any increase to the level of taxes paid by UK banks ahead of the forthcoming Budget. The top Tory MP, who has sat on the back benches since Labour came to power in 2024, said Healey must ignore the “siren voices” calling for [...]
London to make up ‘more than half’ of new UK banking jobs September 28, 2026 London will make up more than half of all new banking jobs in the UK, new data has indicated, as the likes of JP Morgan and Barclays are set to bring a recovery in hiring levels. Data compiled by the recruitment firm Morgan McKinley has suggested that UK banking vacancies are set to rise by [...]
KBRA Assigns Preliminary Ratings to UK Logistics 2026-4 DAC September 24, 2026 KBRA UK (KBRA) is pleased to announce the assignment of preliminary ratings to five classes of UK Logistics 2026-4 DAC, a CMBS single-borrower transaction. Since the assignment of preliminary ratings and publication of our Pre-Sale report on 10 September 2026, the issuer has elected to upsize the loan amount from £613.7 million to £1.0 billion [...]