Relocations rise ahead of Brexit but London will stay ‘dominant’, report finds October 16, 2019 More than 330 financial firms have relocated parts of their business ahead of Britain’s imminent departure from the EU, a new report has found. Hundreds of banks and financial services companies have moved staff or set up new entities in the EU, rising by 23 per cent since a previous report in March. Read more: [...]
Banks struggle with PPI claims after deadline surge October 16, 2019 Customers who lodged complaints over the mis-selling of payment protection insurance (PPI) may have to wait until next summer for a final response. Read more: PPI costs account for over half of all conduct and litigation in UK banks Britain’s competition watchdog has said it is challenging banks to deal with complaints as quickly as [...]
Brexit deal talks falter as deadline looms October 16, 2019 Brexit talks appear to have faltered this morning, with EU negotiators saying remaining issues cannot be solved at a technical issue. Bloomberg is reporting that Brussels has all but ruled out a deal at this stage, and has said “a new mandate from London is required”. However a Downing Street source played down this as [...]
Brexit secretary: New political declaration drafted October 16, 2019 Brexit secretary Steve Barclay has this morning confirmed a new political declaration with the EU has been submitted, as the UK government attempts to secure an 11th-hour deal. Speaking this morning before the Brexit committee, Barclay said changes to the Irish backstop meant it necessarily followed that “there would be changes to political declaration”. The Cabinet [...]
Telegraph group suffers profit slump as ‘structural decline’ outweighs subscriber growth October 15, 2019 The Telegraph has suffered a huge decline in pre-tax profit for the year, as a rise in subscriber numbers failed to counteract a “structural decline” in print revenue. Telegraph Media Group (TMG) posted pre-tax profit of just £900,000 in 2018, a fall of 94 per cent on the previous year. Revenue also slipped three per [...]
Eleventh hour Brexit proposals to be tabled by UK October 15, 2019 UK negotiators are poised to table new proposals in a last-ditch bid to secure a Brexit deal. According to Irish broadcaster RTE, the latest set of proposals – which are being put forward after the supposed deadline for a deal has passed – follow a 90 minute meeting between Prime Minister Boris Johnson and DUP [...]
Delving inside FinTech innovator Prepaid Financial Services October 15, 2019 “Our core strength is achieving consistent profitability,” Valerie Moran, Head of Operations & Client Relations. It’s late on a Wednesday night in the City. PFS’ owners have reached the end of a selfie queue at a private bank after Valerie Moran was invited to deliver a keynote speech on a hot topic – Diversity and [...]
Michel Barnier: Brexit deal ‘still possible this week’ despite difficult talks October 15, 2019 The EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, said today that reaching a fresh Brexit deal “will be difficult” but that it “is still possible this week”. Barnier told EU ministers in Luxembourg that Brexit negotiations with the UK are “intense” and that “our team are working hard”. Read more: Sterling creeps back up as hopes [...]
Climate activists target bankers during second week of protest October 14, 2019 Hundreds of climate protesters shut down traffic at the heart of the City today, accusing the financial sector of “bankrolling the environmental crisis”. Read more: Extinction Rebellion targets Blackrock in day of City protest Activists from protest movement Extinction Rebellion gathered in the rain at around 7am to begin a “day of disruption” that saw [...]
Markets have shown what a deal could yield October 14, 2019 This is the week in which it will become clear whether Boris Johnson’s government has secured an agreement with the European Union. If he has (and the signs are encouraging, if not yet cause for celebration) then he’s only half way out of the woods. MPs will sit on Saturday — the first weekend sitting [...]