Barclays profits tumble 25 per cent as investment banking woes continue April 27, 2016 Barclays pre-tax profits have fallen by almost a quarter year-on-year as the investment bank division struggled to perform. But with a sign of progress being made, and confidence about the outlook for the rest of the year, Barclays' share price rose 3.9 per cent in early trading. The figures Barclays' first quarter pre-tax profit dropped 25 per [...]
All aboard! The banking rollercoaster ride is here April 27, 2016 The UK’s banks have been on a rollercoaster ride since the dark days of the credit crunch in 2008, from PPI mis-selling to Libor and the Forex scandal. Recent woes include market volatility, capital buffers and low interest rates depressing margins. As first quarter reporting season kicks off with Barclays today, some good news at [...]
This is how many people there are retiring this year who have no pension savings… April 27, 2016 One in seven people who are retiring this year will be doing so with an empty pension pot, research released today has found. According to the study by Prudential, many soon-to-be pensioners will be left leaning on the state pension for support, despite this being £27.33 a week less than the Joseph Rowntree Foundation recommends as a minimum [...]
Former Barclays boss Bob Diamond confirms bid talks for bank’s Africa unit April 26, 2016 Bob Diamond, the former Barclays chief executive who resigned from the bank in the wake of the Libor-rigging scandal, has taken another step towards seizing Barclays' Africa arm. Atlas Mara, the London-listed investment company Diamond co-founded in 2013, today revealed it was in talks for Barclays Africa unit which was put up for sale last month due [...]
Mega fines for the UK banking industry might be about to end April 26, 2016 The era of multi-billion pound fines, compensation payouts and litigation charges for UK banks could be drawing to a close, one of the world's leading ratings agencies has said today. In a new report that is sure to make for welcome reading in City boardrooms, Standard and Poor's (S&P) said that 2016 will be the final [...]
Emails between staff about fixing Libor were “improper”, says former Barclays senior executive April 26, 2016 A former senior executive at Barclays has today called emails between staff at the bank about setting Libor to better suit their trading position "improper". Eric Bommensath was formerly global head of fixed income at the bank and today gave evidence in a trial against five former Barclays employees accused of offences relating to manipulating US-dollar linked [...]
Quantifying bank quality: Why four star TSB beats one star Barclays at delivering shareholder value April 26, 2016 Imagine you are on the short-list to become the chief executive of a bank. The interview is going well. It looks like you are their man. But then the conversation turns to rewards. The headhunter explains that you will be rewarded for increasing the bank’s price/book value. They give you a blank sheet of paper [...]
Virgin London Marathon 2016: City boys don fancy dress and STILL lead the pack April 25, 2016 Everyone knows what the Virgin London Marathon is really all about: stupid and impractical costumes. The City has some of the speediest marathon runners in the country, and a few of them even thrashed the competition in full costume. Following the release of our City marathon league table, Londoners have reached out to The Capitalist to share [...]
Week ahead: Brexit expected to knock GDP and earnings April 25, 2016 Concerns over Britain leaving the European Union are expected to have weighed on gross domestic product (GDP) over the first quarter of 2016. Economists are expecting to see growth cooled to 0.4 per cent in the last three months, when the latest numbers are released on Wednesday. In the fourth quarter of last year the [...]
RBS and other UK banks facing first quarter earnings woe after US lenders posted a sharp drop in profit April 25, 2016 British banks are set to post first quarter profits this week that are weighed down by the rising risk of Brexit, bad debt, and poor investment banking performance. The difficult period has already dragged down profits at some the biggest US banks, though they largely managed to beat low estimates. Citibank, Goldman Sachs, Bank of [...]