At the close: FTSE falls after oil price drop erases earlier gains May 23, 2016 A meandering start to the week saw the FTSE 100 climb strongly shortly after the open only to fall back before lunch time. The blue-chip index ended the day at 6,136.43, down 0.32 per cent from yesterday's close price. The falling oil price, down over one per cent and moving away from the psychologically important $50 per [...]
FCA must act to cap monthly charges on unauthorised bank overdrafts says Labour MP May 23, 2016 Labour MP and Treasury committee member Rachel Reeves has called on the FCA to go beyond the recommendations of the Competion and Markets Authority and install a cap on banks' unauthorised overdraft charges. The CMA last week proposed that banks should be forced to set their own cap on the amounts that they can charge customers [...]
UK dividend attraction falls as it lags behind global payout growth May 23, 2016 UK dividends fell by five per cent in the first quarter of 2016, lagging behind global growth, a new report out today has found. Since 2009, UK dividends have grown 44 per cent, behind the global average of 59 per cent, according to Henderson Global Investors. In the first quarter of this year, the report [...]
Barclays tightens buy-to-let properties lending rules May 22, 2016 Barclays is to tighten rules on lending for buy-to-let properties, increasing minimum rental covers. The decision to tighten lending criteria means that rental payment must exceed mortgage costs by a factor of 145 per cent, up from 135 per cent. The affordability rate will also be reduced from 5.79 per cent to 5.50 per cent. The [...]
Former Barclays banker tells court that bosses must have known about Libor fixes May 22, 2016 A former Barclays trader who is currently standing trial accused of Libor-rigging related offences told the court late last week that three senior figures at the bank must have known about the rate fixing. Jay Merchant, along with fellow former traders Stylianos Contogoulas, Alex Pabon and Ryan Reich and one of Barclays' former Libor submitters Jonathan Mathew, [...]
Salaries and bonuses at London banks, ranked from best to worst – plus who’s paying their staff most fairly May 20, 2016 One size rarely fits all, especially, as a study out today has discovered, when it comes to bankers' pay. The research by Emolument.com, which crunched the numbers on 1,433 salaries, found that paypackets for associates at 18 of London's well-known banks varied by up to £73,000 while the highest paid managing director (MD) is pocketing around £571,963 more than [...]
City Moves for 20 May 2016 | Who’s switching jobs May 20, 2016 Lendinvest Capital LendInvest Capital, the fund management and advisory division of LendInvest, has appointed Jesse Mosebye from Scotiabank to join its expanding team. Jesse spent five years in Scotiabank’s European capital introductions team building investor relationships for the prime brokerage team’s hedge fund and asset management clients. He will work closely with Carl Giannotta, associate [...]
UK bank shares climb following Fed hike speculation May 19, 2016 Bulls piled into UK banks this morning as the Remain camp took a boost in the polls and the US Federal Reserve signalled it could hike interest rates next month. Equites across the board tumbled – a standard reaction to signals of tighter monetary policy – sending the FTSE 100 down by 1.5 per cent [...]
Pay by Fitbit? It could soon be a reality after this acquisition of assets from fintech startup Coin May 18, 2016 Fitbit has indicated a move into payments with the acquisition of technology from a Silicon Valley firm specialising in wearable payments, meaning users might in future be able to pay for things simply by swiping their Fitbit. The tech company has snapped up the assets of Coin, a startup in the fintech and wearables space which created a [...]
Why Google’s Android Pay UK launch is far more exciting than Apple’s May 18, 2016 Less than a year after Apple Pay reached the UK, Android Pay has landed. Since last July only a lucky few – those who own an Apple Watch or one of the recent raft of iPhones (including the SE) – could pay for goods and services via their phones. This was merely the green shoots [...]