Barclays Africa sacks KPMG amid allegations of links to South African corruption scandal May 3, 2018 Barclays Africa today withdrew its recommendation to reappoint KPMG as one of two joint auditors. The move is the latest chapter in a saga which has seen the Big Four accountant’s South African arm become embroiled in a conduct scandal. In mid-April South Africa’s auditor general stripped KPMG of all its central contracts amid allegations [...]
Markets brace for the latest Bank of England interest rate decision May 1, 2018 Following a decade without so much as a hint of a rate rise, expectations are high for the UK’s second increase in just seven months. Most economists expect the Bank of England to raise the base rate to 0.75 per cent this month, up from the current 0.5 per cent. The UK’s economic picture is [...]
Sterling falls after UK manufacturing growth continues to slow slashing likelihood of a May rate hike (USDGDP) May 1, 2018 UK manufacturing growth continued to slow in the second quarter, with the seasonally adjusted IHS Markit/CIPS purchasing managers’ index dropping to a 17-month low of 53.9 in April, down from 54.9 in March. Anything above 50 indicates expansion, and the PMI has signalled expansion in each of the past 21 months, but the reading was [...]
Litigation funder Vannin Capital eyeing multi-million pound London float April 29, 2018 Litigation funder Vannin Capital is working with advisory firm Evercore on plans for a London float that could value it at close to £1bn. Sky News reports that the litigation funder is working with investment advisory firm Evercore on a potential float and is close to appointing banks Barclays and Jefferies as underwriters on the [...]
FCA’s guidelines are undervaluing consumers’ PPI claims by billions of pounds, barristers allege | City A.M. April 27, 2018 Barristers from St John’s Buildings are claiming that consumers could be underpaid by billions of pounds if banks follow the financial regulator’s guidance on Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) payouts. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is ignoring legal cases which mean consumers may be owed around £14bn more than under its own guidelines, the barristers have [...]
Nex and CME’s advisers to land bumper £110m payout for negotiating £3.9bn takeover April 25, 2018 Advisers who worked on the £3.9bn takeover of trading tech company Nex Group by CME Group, the world’s largest futures exchange, are set to land a combined payout of almost £110m. Nex’s financial and corporate brokers, lawyers and public relations (PR) advisers will get a combined £45m, filings today showed, while CME’s will get £63.3m. [...]
Activist investor Bramson ups stake in Barclays April 25, 2018 Activist investor Edward Bramson has boosted his stake in Barclays ahead of the bank’s quarterly results on Thursday. Bramson has increased his share in the bank from 5.16 per cent to 5.41 per cent via his investment vehicle Sherbourne, according to a stock exchange filing. The bank is set to release its results for the [...]
Barclays boss Jes Staley fined for whistleblower scandal April 20, 2018 Barclays boss Jes Staley will pay a fine after an investigation into his attempts to identify a whistleblower, but has escaped further sanctions. Shares in the bank inched up 0.6 per cent in early trading as investors showed signs of relief that the investigation had concluded. The group announced this morning that the FCA and [...]
What Facebook’s downfall will mean for the future of fintech April 20, 2018 The year began with headlines predicting the entrance of Facebook and Google into the banking market, following the introduction of new Open Banking rules which forced banks and payment companies to share data with third parties if customers agreed. The changes were meant to boost account switching and improve price comparison, but some speculated that [...]
Retail sales fall on weather hit but department stores provide unlikely bright spot April 19, 2018 Retail sales fell in the three months to March as bad weather froze petrol sales, although department stores provided an unlikely bright spot thanks to improved web traffic. The volume of sales fell by 0.5 per cent in the three months to March, in line with economists consensus expectations, according to the Office for National [...]