Bank of England to set up climate change stress tests December 18, 2019 The UK’s top banks and insurers may be tested together in 2021 for the financial impact of climate change, according to a new Bank of England paper. The tests would include three different scenarios and would assess how firms would deal with more frequent weather events and mass sell-offs of “brown assets” – those considered [...]
String of London restaurants go paperless with City fintech startup Flux December 18, 2019 A number of London hot spots have taken a step towards going paperless, in a tie-up with digital receipts startup Flux. Flux has today signed partnership agreements with Japan Centre, Sakagura and Boparan Restaurant Group, which owns Giraffe, Ed’s Easy Diner and Slim Chickens. The deal means visitors who bank with Monzo or Starling, as [...]
A no-deal EU exit is still an unlikely outcome December 17, 2019 Well, that didn’t take long. Just a few days after Boris Johnson’s thumping majority sent sterling up to pre-referendum highs, his flirtation with a no-deal exit brought it back down to earth yesterday. Read more: CBI welcomes Prime Minister’s Brexit trade deal deadline But are the markets (heaven forbid) missing something? The government is embarking [...]
No-deal Brexit fears trigger sell-off of Barclays, Lloyds and RBS shares December 17, 2019 Shares in Barclays, Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) all slumped in early trading after Boris Johnson brought back the spectre of a no-deal Brexit today. The trio failed to impress in yesterday’s Bank of England stress tests, where analysts warned that a strategy to double a 100-basis point capital buffer designed to protect [...]
BoE: UK lenders can withstand disastrous recession December 16, 2019 The UK’s biggest lenders are strong enough to withstand a financial earthquake stronger than the one that rocked the City in 2008, the Bank of England’s annual stress test has found. Britain’s seven biggest banks could keep lending even if UK national income slumped 4.7 per cent, unemployment surged to 9.2 per cent, and world [...]
Metro Bank launches cash delivery service to woo smaller firms December 16, 2019 Struggling high-street lender Metro Bank has launched a new on-demand cash collection and delivery service in a bid to attract the UK’s small and medium-sized businesses. The challenger bank has today started accepting registrations for the service, called MCash, that it said could help the 4.2m smaller UK firms that rely on physical money. Read [...]
Kier appoints new chairman after tough year December 16, 2019 Kier has appointed a new chairman after a turbulent year to date that has seen the struggling outsourcer’s market cap fall more than 75 per cent. Matthew Lester will step down from the board at Barclays to take up the role in January, replacing outgoing chairman Philip Cox. Read more: A huge private equity tycoon [...]
Virgin Money share price falls after Barclays downgrade December 16, 2019 Shares in Virgin Money are down by more than five per cent today after Barclays downgraded its rating. Barclays analysts shifted Virgin Money’s stock from equal weight to underweight, signifying a pessimistic outlook, today. Read more: Virgin Money cancels dividend after £385m PPI hit The downgrade was made due to weak earnings, high growth in [...]
Why the latest SALT conference is a geopolitical win for the Middle East December 13, 2019 The global business conference, which has become a regular annual feature in Las Vegas, moved its latest edition to another desert oasis...
Prince Andrew’s Pitch@Palace scheme loses third director December 12, 2019 Prince Andrew’s embattled Pitch@Palace initiative suffered another blow as a third director resigned from the company. German-born David Stern, a private investor, is listed as having quit both Pitch@Palace and its international sister, Pitch@Palace Global, on 9 December. Read more: Prince Andrew steps down from Pitch@Palace role On 19 November fellow directors Hanadi Jabado and [...]