CYBG axes deal with former Barclays boss following Virgin Money merger November 12, 2018 The new owner of Virgin Money has cancelled the bank’s partnership with a technology company run by former Barclays chief executive Antony Jenkins. CYBG, which also owns Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank, axed the deal following its £1.7bn takeover of Virgin Money in September, Sky News reported. Virgin Money had hired Jenkin's fintech start up 10X [...]
Showdown: Barclays boss set to meet troublesome activist investor November 11, 2018 Ever since the activist investor Edward Bramson revealed his 5 per cent stake in Barclays in March of this year, the two sides have danced around each other. The bank's chief executive, Jes Staley, aspires to lead an investment banking powerhouse. Bramson, on the other hand, wants that operation scaled back – favouring, in its [...]
Barclays bosses to meet activist investor Edward Bramson over calls to scale back investment bank November 11, 2018 Barclays chief executive Jes Staley and chairman John McFarlane will meet activist investor Edward Bramson in New York this week over calls to downsize the investment bank’s markets division. The meeting comes as Barclays received backing from top shareholder James Lowen, who told the Sunday Times that a decision to scale back the division would [...]
City faces a Brexit ‘nightmare’ unless a deal is done by Christmas, says new lord mayor November 11, 2018 The new lord mayor of London has said banks and insurers will face an "administrative nightmare" unless a Brexit deal is secured by Christmas. Former Barclays executive Peter Estlin told the Sunday Times that there was a "huge amount" of anxiety in the City despite recent suggestions that the Prime Minister was closing in on a [...]
Barclays economists predict orderly Brexit and boost to UK stock markets November 7, 2018 An orderly Brexit is on the cards and could ultimately make UK stocks “more investable” to global investors, Barclays analysts have predicted. The bank's European equity strategy division has predicted a Brexit deal will be agreed by the end of the year accompanied by a rebound in the pound. But it said the relative performance [...]
Made in Britain: The entrepreneur helping UK firms realise their exporting ambitions in Asia November 5, 2018 I am at the National Liberal Club in London. Everything about this place – from the smoking room to the 1915 portrait of Winston Churchill – screams old-world British at me. And there’s nothing coincidental about Siddharth Shankar’s choice of meeting place. Surrounded by empty chesterfield sofas, Shankar seems to be in his element – [...]
UK plcs produce record-breaking profits after revenue soars beyond £2 trillion mark November 5, 2018 Profits at the UK’s publicly listed companies jumped nearly 14 per cent in the third quarter of the year, pushing total profits over the last 12 months to a record £217.9bn. UK plc pre-tax profits rose from £143bn in the same measure a year earlier. The previous record was set in 2012. Revenues over the [...]
Barclays and Lloyds among the worst performers in EU bank stress test November 3, 2018 Barclays and Lloyds surprised markets yesterday after being named and shamed in the EU’s banking health check. The two British lenders were among the worst performers in the EU banking watchdog’s new report, which tested European banks and their ability to withstand a hypothetical market shock. While none of the 48 lenders fell below the [...]
Barclays appoints former Rothschild veteran Nigel Higgins as next chairman November 1, 2018 Barclays has confirmed that Rothschild deputy chairman Nigel Higgins has been lined up as the replacement to current group chairman John McFarlane, following a six month search process. The switch-over, which was revealed by Sky News earlier this evening, is scheduled to take place after the bank's annual general meeting in May 2019. However Higgins [...]
We must turn the page on the public perceptions of finance November 1, 2018 A company needs to stand for something more than making money. Sustainability matters more than profit. The mission should be a lasting contribution to society that finds a balance between all stakeholders. Those aren’t the words of a pious left-wing hand-wringer but of John McFarlane, chairman of Barclays, in an anthology of writing published this week [...]