Brexit minister denies that delaying Article 50 is government’s strategy February 13, 2019 Brexit secretary Stephen Barclay has pushed back against claims that the UK faces a choice between Theresa May's withdrawal agreement or a delay to Brexit. Last night, ITV reported that the Prime Minister’s chief negotiator, Olly Robbins, said MPs would be forced into a last-minute choice between May’s deal or a delay to Article 50, in [...]
Blockchain startup Chainalysis targets London with $30m raise from Accel February 12, 2019 Crypto compliance startup Chainalysis has raised $30m (£23.3m) from venture capital giant Accel to open an office in London's Soho. The US firm's series B round was supported by existing investor Benchmark, which upped its stake in the company after funding Chainalysis' $16m series A last year. Chainalysis said it will use the proceeds from the round to open [...]
Ex-Barclays trader accused of Euribor rigging felt ‘let down and used’ by private messages February 11, 2019 A former Barclays employee on trial for Euribor rigging has said he felt "let down and used" when he discovered that a colleague had been privately discussing with another trader at a rival bank how they could alter submissions for the interest rate benchmark. Colin Bermingham, 62, told Southwark Crown Court he felt it was "absolutely not right" that [...]
HSBC chair Mark Tucker set to head up influential City lobbyists TheCityUK February 11, 2019 The chairman of HSBC Holdings has emerged as the frontrunner to head the board at one of the City’s main lobby groups replacing fellow banker John McFarlane. Mark Tucker is set to be announced for the role at TheCityUK in the coming days as outgoing Barclays chairman McFarlane steps down in the spring, Sky News [...]
Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct makes offer to rescue collapsed Patisserie Valerie February 9, 2019 Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct has made an offer to buy the collapsed café chain, Patisserie Valerie, which fell into administration last month. Sports Direct confirmed in a statement late on Friday that it had made an offer to buy the company but did not divulge any further details. Ashley, 54, is hoping to add to [...]
Royal London to transfer £1bn of assets to Ireland over ‘no-deal’ Brexit concerns February 6, 2019 The UK's largest mutual insurer, the Royal London Mutual Insurance Society (RLMI), is to transfer £1bn of its assets to Ireland amid increasing concerns over a no-deal Brexit. A High Court judge yesterday granted RLMI permission to move its business from the European Economic Area (EEA) to a newly formed Irish subsidiary, Royal London Insurance DAC, because of [...]
Former Barclays boss Bob Diamond steps down as chairman of Atlas Mara amid strategic review February 6, 2019 Former Barclays boss Bob Diamond has stepped down as chairman of Atlas Mara as the pan-African financial group launches a strategic review to improve performance. Diamond, the firm’s co-founder, will retreat to the role of non-executive director, further scaling back his involvement. Read more: Former Barclays boss Bob Diamond says banks need to take more [...]
Stereotypes won’t close the gender funding gap February 6, 2019 The latest figures from the British Business Bank on venture capital funding do not make for comfortable reading. Female-led startups get just 1p for every £1 of VC investment, all-male teams receive £5bn of funding per year, and having a single woman on the team correlates with lower investment. “Shocking”, in the words of chief [...]
Activist investor Edward Bramson makes fresh attempt to secure place on Barclays’ board February 5, 2019 Activist investor Edward Bramson has submitted a resolution to be appointed to Barclays’ board of directors at the banks annual general meeting (AGM) in May. Bramson, the chief executive of Sherborne Investors which holds more than five per cent of the bank's shares, has previously called for Barclays to downsize its investment banking division. Read more: Barclays [...]
Weathering the storm: City expects minimal Brexit impact on jobs February 5, 2019 The number of City jobs expected to move overseas in the event of a hard Brexit has fallen to just 2,000 – according to the latest survey of financial institutions. A Reuters study also suggests that investment banks are planning to increase their London headcount. In September, the Reuters survey showed that 5,766 jobs would [...]