Government launches review into false Post Office fraud claims June 11, 2020 The government has launched a review into the Fujitsu Horizon IT system that caused Post Office branch mangers to be falsely accused of fraud. Business minister Paul Scully confirmed yesterday that there would be a review of “the failings that occurred at Post Office Ltd” in the scandal. More than 550 Post Office branch mangers [...]
Barclays squares up for latest legal battle as £1.5bn Staveley suit hits High Court June 8, 2020 Financier Amanda Staveley’s private equity firm today told the High Court it had received a “substantially worse” deal than Qatar when its syndicate invested billions of pounds in Barclays during the financial crisis in 2008, as it launched a civil case against the bank. PCP Capital Partners is claiming damages of up to £1.5bn for [...]
Black Lives Matter: Which business leaders have spoken out after George Floyd’s death? June 4, 2020 Business leaders across industries are speaking out about racial inequality in the wake of George Floyd’s death that sparked Black Lives Matters protests in cities across the US. Floyd, an unarmed African American man, was killed by a white police officer in Minneapolis last week. Bosses of some of the world’s most successful firms, including [...]
UK bank shares rise on optimism about lockdown easing June 3, 2020 Shares in major UK banks rose today on increased optimism about lockdown measures easing globally. HSBC shares rose 2.2 per cent to 393p, Lloyds Banking Group shares rose nearly 4.7 per cent to 33.4p, Barclays shares rose nearly 2.5 per cent to 122p, Royal Bank of Scotland shares rose 2.6 per cent to 123p and [...]
BoE’s Andrew Bailey tells UK banks to up preparations for no-deal Brexit June 3, 2020 Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey has reportedly told UK banks to ramp up their preparations for a no-deal Brexit as the UK sticks to its target to strike a deal before the end of the year. Bailey told British lenders to accelerate their planning for a no-deal Brexit scenario in a call yesterday, according [...]
Mass US protests over George Floyd killing rage for eighth straight day June 3, 2020 Large-scale protests continued for the eighth straight day in the US yesterday, with peaceful demonstrators defying curfews and some areas seeing the return of violence as the country was rocked by the police killing of black man George Floyd. In Washington DC, more than 1,000 protestors remained outside near the White House past the 7pm [...]
Crypto markets gearing up for institutional money June 2, 2020 Prime brokers are the key to institutional adoption of cryptocurrencies and digital assets – but are they ready for prime time? Current estimates place the number of crypto hedge funds in the hundreds, and recent research from PwC revealed that assets managed by these funds doubled in the last year alone. With more and more [...]
Banks warn up to half of ‘bounce back’ borrowers could default June 1, 2020 UK banks have reportedly warned that up to half of the government’s “bounce back loans” are unlikely to be repaid. Senior bankers have estimated between 40 and 50 per cent of the bounce back borrowers could default on the debt, according to a report by the Financial Times. As businesses brace for a slow economic [...]
Ex-Sage chief Stephen Kelly appointed chair of Tech Nation May 31, 2020 The former boss of Sage Group Stephen Kelly has been appointed the chair of technology industry body Tech Nation. Kelly succeeds Eileen Burbidge, partner at technology venture capital firm Passion Capital, who stepped down in January after four and a half years at the helm. Kelly led the turnaround of enterprise software company Sage Group [...]
What are negative interest rates and will the UK turn to them? May 22, 2020 Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey this week said he has changed his mind on negative interest rates, saying the BoE is keeping them under “active review”. President Donald Trump has repeatedly made clear that he is a fan of negative rates, and wants the US to have them as it deals with the coronavirus [...]