Barclays fossil fuel financing increases despite ‘net zero’ pledge November 11, 2020 Barclays has increased its financing of fossil fuel firms despite setting a ‘net zero’ goal for itself earlier this year following investor pressure, according to a new report. The bank, which is Europe’s largest fossil fuel financer, provided $24.58bn (£18.55bn) in underwriting and lending to major fossil fuel companies between January and September this year. [...]
Rishi Sunak announces post-Brexit outline for City of London November 9, 2020 Rishi Sunak has outlined the City of London’s future after Brexit, which will aim to provide stability for EU financial services firms operating in the UK while also trying to open up the sector to more international markets. Sunak said the Treasury today was unliterally publishing “a set of equivalence decisions for EU and EEA [...]
Car sales fall again in worst October in nine years November 5, 2020 Sales of new cars declined again last month in the weakest October in nine years for the UK car market. New figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said that sales dropped 1.6 per cent to 140,945. More than half of the decline came as a result of Wales’ two week “firebreak” [...]
Thanks to reverse mentoring, I am confident that our uncertain future is in safe hands November 5, 2020 It is difficult to recall a time when the future looked less certain than it does today. Perhaps the only thing we can be sure of right now is that we are at the beginning of a challenging period, as we grapple with the impacts of the pandemic on the economy. For younger people, the [...]
FTSE 100 and US stocks jump ahead of presidential election November 3, 2020 The FTSE 100 jumped and US stocks rose sharply, as investors hoped that today’s US election would lead to a big stimulus package. Traders and investors around the world are preparing themselves for the culmination of a chaotic US election campaign. Polls have Democrat challenger Joe Biden well ahead, but memories of President Donald Trump’s [...]
Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank return London staff to home working November 2, 2020 Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank are to return non-essential staff in their London offices to home working ahead of the introduction of a new coronavirus lockdown in England on Thursday. Several major banks had been encouraging staff to return to their London offices in recent months following the relaxation of initial lockdown measures, but news [...]
Black British Business Awards announces 2020 winners October 31, 2020 The Black British Business Awards has announced its 2020 winners, who have been awarded for their outstanding business talent. The award recognises rising stars and leaders across industries, including financial services and professional services. Segun Osuntokun, managing partner at law firm Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner in London has been named Business Person of the Year [...]
Natwest returns to profit as virus loan charges fall October 30, 2020 Natwest returned to profit during the third quarter, reporting forecast-beating earnings after setting aside a smaller-than-expected sum to deal with bad loans due to the coronavirus pandemic. Natwest posted an operating profit before tax of £355m for the three months to September on an income of £1.9bn. The figure beat the bank-compiled analyst estimates of [...]
Credit Suisse profit drops as wealth management fees tumble October 29, 2020 Credit Suisse Group said it would renew dividends and begin a share buyback programme despite posting a 38 per cent drop in net profit for the third quarter as a surge in investment banking failed to offset a slowdown in wealth management. The Swiss banking giant reported a profit of 546 million Swiss francs (£461m) [...]
StanChart considers resuming dividend after quarterly profit beats estimate October 29, 2020 Standard Chartered said it would consider resuming dividends after reporting a smaller-than-expected 40 per cent drop in third quarter profit as it lowered coronavirus loan loss expectations. The UK-based, Asia-focused lender posted an underlying pre-tax profit of $745m (£572m) for the three months to September, significantly ahead of bank-compiled analyst forecasts of $502m, Standard Chartered [...]