The Treasury says RBS may not have to sell Williams & Glyn after all under £750m deal February 18, 2017 The government has announced RBS may not have to sell its 307 Williams & Glyn branches, with the bailed-out bank instead being forced to spend £750m on a competition-boosting fund for challenger banks. Europe’s commissioner for competition policy will start the process of finding an alternative to a sale, which could see a removal of [...]
These are the UK’s best and worst banks – look away now Barclays users February 17, 2017 Feeling disappointed by your service at Barclays? Well, research shows you're not alone. Barclays has been voted the worst British bank yet again, falling to the bottom of MoneySavingExpert's twice yearly poll. But Barclays isn't the only high street lender that had a poor showing. HSBC and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) came towards the bottom of the table, as 21 per cent of [...]
Industry calls for corporate governance clampdown for private firms to avoid BHS-style scandals February 17, 2017 Business groups are urging the government to strengthen corporate governance rules for privately-run firms, or risk a repeat of high-profile scandals like last year's collapse of BHS. The UK's private companies are currently not held to the same set of standards as the country's listed companies. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is [...]
All change at Bob Diamond’s Atlas Mara as chief exec steps down February 16, 2017 Atlas Mara, the African investment vehicle co-founded by former Barclays boss Bob Diamond, has unveiled plans for a shake-up. The investor, which in October reported a 70 per cent slide in pre-tax profits, said chief executive John Vitalo had stepped down, with a replacement to be announced in "due course". Vitalo, who joined the company in [...]
Big five banks run up £100bn bill in bad loans and legal costs over the last five years February 16, 2017 The UK's big five banks, which report full-year results next week, have run up a bill of nearly £100bn over the last five years for a toxic mix of fines and bad loans according to a new analysis. However, the era of sour loans and megafines that dwarf the banks' dividend payouts could finally be [...]
Scotland lose captain Greig Laidlaw for the rest of the Six Nations – but hooker Ross Ford insists they will cope February 15, 2017 Hooker Ross Ford believes Scotland boast the leadership and experience to cope without captain Greig Laidlaw after he was ruled out of the rest of the Six Nations. Scottish rugby chiefs confirmed on Wednesday that scrum-half Laidlaw suffered ankle ligament damage in Sunday’s 22-16 defeat to France, meaning he will miss their remaining three matches. [...]
Artificial Intelligence to reveal the biggest secret in oil February 15, 2017 The EIA is, and will continue to be, the gold standard for reporting U.S. oil inventories, and the administration’s weekly reports have the power to immediately swing crude oil prices depending on builds or draws in oil stocks. But while the U.S. is a transparently reporting country, other nations are not revealing oil stocks data, [...]
HSBC has appointed a new boss for its retail bank February 14, 2017 HSBC has named a new boss for its retail bank – the current head of commercial banking. Ian Stuart will become chief executive of the newly ring-fenced institution, subject to regulatory approval. Stuart will be based in Birmingham, in the head office of the retail bank. Stuart has helmed commercial banking in both the UK for the bank [...]
As the Co-Op Bank goes on sale, is now the time to buy UK banks? February 14, 2017 It wasn't hard to spot the irony when Paul Flowers, chairman of the avowedly ethical Co-Operative Bank and a methodist minister, was arrested for drug possession in 2013. In the same year, the mutual Co-operative Group ceded control of the ailing lender to its bondholders, after a massive £1.5bn hole was discovered in its balance [...]
Now Santander lets you make payments using just your voice February 13, 2017 More proof that voice control is the future… Santander is now letting customers make payments just by asking their phone, along with several other new functions that work in a similar way to Apple's Siri or Amazon's Alexa Users of the bank's SmartBank app can use their voice to check their account balance, report a lost [...]