Theresa May issues last-minute Brexit plea to Tory MPs ahead of Brussels visit February 17, 2019 Theresa May has appealed to her warring MPs to set aside their "personal differences" on Brexit and unite behind her deal, as she faces another strained week of negotiations with Brussels. The PM wrote all Conservative MPs urging them to "move beyond what divides us" and warning that "history will judge us". May's latest plea [...]
Opinion: Lloyd’s Lend a Hand mortgage is a great deal for the bank, but is it any good for borrowers? February 15, 2019 A “new” mortgage called ‘Lend a Hand’ from Lloyds made the headlines last week – well, the real headline was the 100 per cent Loan-to-Value, which brought back memories of the financial crisis. Digging deeper into the mortgage itself, this product may well help first-time buyers, provided they are very careful, but, really, it is [...]
Britain prepared to leave EU with no Brexit deal, says Andrea Leadsom February 15, 2019 The UK government is prepared to leave the EU without a Brexit deal in place, according to Andrea Leadsom. The government's leader in the House of Commons suggested it was increasingly unlikely that there would be any form of extension to Article 50. Read more: Theresa May to back down on backstop demands in Brexit deal [...]
Metro Bank tops customer service survey as challenger bank grows in popularity February 15, 2019 Metro Bank has topped an industry-wide customer service survey despite battling an accounting error, which has hit shares in recent weeks. The challenger bank knocked First Direct off the top spot in a Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) survey based on whether customers at the UK’s 16 largest current account providers would recommend their bank to friends [...]
Theresa May to back down on Brexit backstop demands with EU February 15, 2019 Prime Minister Theresa May is reportedly set to compromise on demands for the Brexit deal to be renegotiated, with the UK government backing down on its requests for changes to the controversial Irish border "backstop" agreement. Brexit secretary Stephen Barclay told the EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier that the government is not pursuing a reopening to [...]
Mark Kleinman: Aviva’s missed deadline ensures brickbats February 15, 2019 Viva Aviva? For such a stalwart of blue-chip boardrooms, Sir Adrian Montague suddenly can’t put a foot right. Four years after taking over the chairmanship of Aviva when John McFarlane scuttled off to Barclays, he’s ended up in a rather large pickle of his own making. Sacking Mark Wilson as the insurer’s chief executive last [...]
Qataris pushed ‘quite aggressively’ for Barclays fee during investment scramble, court hears February 14, 2019 A Barclays boss warned his colleagues that Qatari investors were pushing “quite aggressively” to be paid for a controversial services contract at the height of the financial crisis, a court heard today. Richard Boath told fellow executive Rich Ricci that Doha was growing impatient with the bank, after it apparently missed the deadline to pay [...]
Sterling slumps ahead of May’s crunch no-deal Brexit vote as Bercow chooses amendments February 14, 2019 Sterling has taken a tumble as fears grow that Theresa May will be defeated in parliament this evening by the hard Brexiters among her party. The pound fell from 1.287 this morning to as low as 1.278 against the dollar this afternoon as investors grew scared that the Prime Minister may not win a vote [...]
Barclays online banking outage leaves customers unable to access bank accounts February 14, 2019 Banking giant Barclays has apologised to customers after an online outage left many unable to access their accounts today. Customers said they were prevented from accessing the Barclays mobile banking app and other online services for much of the morning. Read more: TSB falls to £105m loss after IT disaster The bank received a flurry [...]
How to choose a provider for your Stocks and Shares Isa February 14, 2019 Isas are a popular way for savers to squirrel away money. And given that these savings accounts are free from both capital gains and dividend tax, the Stocks and Shares Isa is particularly appealing to investors. With all that said, not all Isas are created equal, and charges can vary wildly across providers. Platforms can usually be divided into those [...]