FCA fines fall by half in 2020 as Covid takes hit on enforcement December 21, 2020 The Financial Conduct Authority handed out £183.6m worth of fines this year, more than half the total bill in 2019. The number of fines has fallen too, from 21 to just ten. Lawyers believe the slowdown is due to the pandemic disrupting enforcement activities, not least the FCA’s ability to conduct witness and suspect interviews. [...]
How activist investors will circle in on UK corporates in 2021 December 20, 2020 As companies plan for their post-pandemic future there are signs that they will have to contend with a new threat: activist investors. Activists have so far been biding their time. The usually vocal Edward Bramson paused his campaign against Barclays boss Jes Staley at the start of the year. Bramson has repeatedly called for the [...]
Elon’s twitter, record borrowing and Zoom stocks: City A.M.’s Business Quiz of the Year (Part 1) December 18, 2020 It’s been a… strange year. But there have been some lighter, albeit somewhat baffling, moments in the business world. See if you can remember the highs and lows of 2020, from Barclays behaving badly to the aftermath of Carlos Ghosn’s daring escape – and look out for part 2 before the end of the year.
Barclays chair quits in boardroom shakeup December 18, 2020 Barclays UK chair Sir Ian Cheshire will step down at the start of next year, in a sudden departure after three years at the helm. In a statement, the company said: “With regret, Sir Ian has informed the group that he is unable to accommodate the increased time commitment and duration required to see through [...]
FCA failed to properly regulate London Capital & Finance, inquiry finds December 17, 2020 The UK’s financial watchdog did not effectively supervise and regulate mini-bond scandal company London Capital & Finance (LCF) before it collapsed last year, an independent investigation has found. The inquiry singles out Andrew Bailey, who was the Financial Conduct Authority’s boss at the time, and who is now Governor of the Bank of England. LCF [...]
Curve and Plaid team up to bring open banking to UK customers December 16, 2020 Curve, a smart banking platform, has joined forces with Plaid, an open finance data network, to help people manage their money.
Cold turkey: Ministers face pressure to scrap ‘rash’ Christmas relaxation of rules December 15, 2020 The government is facing mounting pressure to rethink its decision to relax coronavirus restrictions for five days over Christmas over fears it will lead to a third national lockdown. In their first joint editorial for more than 100 years, the British Medical Journal and Health Service Journal today said the government should U-turn on its [...]
Barclays fined £26m for mistreatment of customers in arrears December 15, 2020 The UK’s financial watchdog has fined Barclays £26m for failures in its treatment of customers who fell into financial difficulties. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) found that Barclays had mistreated some retail and small business customers who fell into arrears between April 2014 and December 2018. Read more: Parlez-vous Français? Paris’ finance sector gets ready [...]
Greenwich council backs down in government row over school closures December 15, 2020 The leader of a London borough has said he has “no choice” but to reverse a decision to close schools following legal threats from the government. Greenwich council leader Danny Thorpe said he “cannot agree that this is the correct choice for our schools”, but added: “I cannot justify the use of public funds to [...]
Study shows unethical leadership likely to ‘prevent corruption’ December 15, 2020 Unethical leadership can increase the prevalence of corrupt behaviour in organisations and workplaces. This is according to two Maastricht University studies, carried out by doctoral candidate Untung Manara and associate professor Suzanne van Gils, a lecturer in management communications and ethics, who were particularly interested in whether ethical leaders could help change the behaviour of [...]