Four things you need to know about today’s CMA retail banking report August 9, 2016 The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has published its long-awaited final recommendations for the UK's banking sector. Since the probe first launched in July 2014, the competition watchdog has faced intense scrutiny from all sides, with smaller institutions hoping the CMA will break up the “Big Five” banks – RBS, Lloyds, HSBC, Santander and Barclays [...]
Barclays to fork out another $100m in the US over Libor-rigging scandal August 8, 2016 Banking giant Barclays is pay out a further $100m (£76.7m) for its role in the Libor-rigging scandal. The settlement covers 44 US states for Barclays Bank PLC and Barclays Capital Inc, it was revealed in a statement from the New York Attorney General's office. Other states included in the settlement include California, Florida and Washington. "There has to [...]
Why oil prices are pushing higher August 8, 2016 Crude rose today on fresh speculation that the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries would move to curb the oversupply which has weighed on markets in recent weeks. Brent crude, the global benchmark, rose 2.42 per cent to $45.34 per barrel this afternoon. Its US counterpart, West Texas Intermediate crude, swelled 2.92 per cent to $43.02. Read more: The World Bank [...]
Banks got a boost from brokers’ ratings August 8, 2016 Banks were the kings of the stock exchange today after their shares received a valuable thumbs up. Barclays closed up 3.6 per cent at 157.40p, no doubt buoyed by Exane BNP upgrading it to outperform from neutral. [stockChart code="BARC" date="2016-08-08 12:22"] Barclays was the second-highest riser in the FTSE 100, following fellow bank RBS, which closed up [...]
FTSE 100 charges towards 14-month high as miners gains August 8, 2016 The FTSE 100 charged higher this morning, as miners clambered towards the top of the index. It was 0.46 per cent higher to 6,822.53 points this morning, after hitting a one-year high on Friday. It had been buoyed by a BoE interest rate cut, £70bn of additional quantitative easing and a new round of cheap loans which could pump £100bn of [...]
City Moves for 8 August 2016 | Who’s switching jobs August 8, 2016 Currencies Direct Currencies Direct, a UK non-bank provider of foreign exchange and international payment services, has appointed Antony Jenkins, formerly CEO of Barclays, as the company's non-executive chairman. He will focus on further advancing Currencies Direct’s digital offering and expanding its existing international footprint, supporting the company’s strong growth potential. For three years, until July 2015, Antony led Barclays [...]
Challenger bank Aldermore expected to show it can outpace the big players this Thursday August 7, 2016 Aldermore is expected to report a large leap in pre-tax profits when it reveals its half-year results on Thursday. Results released by banking's big players over the last fortnight have been rather gloomy, with HSBC and Barclays both reporting substantial slips in their profits and RBS revealing a £2bn loss. Meanwhile, even though Lloyds Banking [...]
Carney’s Brexit bonanza sends FTSE 100 to a 12-month high August 5, 2016 Stock markets have hit their highest levels of the year on the back of the massive stimulus programme unveiled by the Bank of England yesterday. The FTSE 100 surged 0.6 per cent at the open, adding to a 100-point gain yesterday to stand at 6,780 in mid-morning trading. That took the index to a 12-month high, [...]
Mark Carney says UK banks have “no excuse” to stop lending after his new stimulus package August 4, 2016 Announcing a new massive stimulus package and a cut to interest rates, Bank of England governor Mark Carney has told banks they have no excuse to stop lending to the real economy. As part of today's package a new £100bn scheme was announced which will see the Bank printing cash in order to finance cheap [...]
A rate cut could wipe £1.4bn off operating profits at the UK’s top banks August 4, 2016 Profits will be decimated at the UK’s top banks if, as widely expected, the Bank of England cuts interest rates to a historic low of 0.25 per cent today. New analysis by the banking practice of consultants Simon-Kucher and Partners predicts that lower rates would wipe £1.4bn off the operating profits at the UK’s top [...]