Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays, Lloyds, First Direct: Bank customer satisfaction survey shows that newcomers beat Big Four September 9, 2015 Newcomers beat out big banks for customer satisfaction, as the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has been voted worst provider again, showing it hasn’t been forgiven for recent IT glitches. None of the Big Four claimed any of the top three spots, showing that satisfaction with big banks is way down, according to uSwitch, which [...]
John McFarlane to staff: Leaked memo says Barclays needs to make “tough calls” to push up shareholder returns September 8, 2015 It's been just a couple of days since the traditional back to work season kicked off and already Barclays' boss John McFarlane has ruffled a few feathers with a memo sent to staff hinting at a cull. In a welcome back note sent to all Barclays staff this morning, City A.M. understands that the man famously [...]
Barclays offloads UK loans portfolio to Goldman Sachs-led consortium September 7, 2015 Barclays continued its asset sell-off yesterday, offloading its UK secured lending arm to a consortium led by Goldman Sachs. Since chief executive Antony Jenkins was replaced in July, the bank has picked up the pace of its cost-cutting under chairman John McFarlane. Earlier this month, it sold most of its Portuguese business, representing a £1.7bn [...]
Barclays sells UK secured lending portfolio September 7, 2015 Barclays has sold off another of its non-core assets, just days after offloading most of its Portuguese business. The bank has now sold its UK secured lending portfolio to a group led by Goldman Sachs for an undisclosed sum, which it said would reduce its risk-weighted assets by £1.2bn and improve its capital ratio. Read [...]
Tesco’s share price rises as it agrees to sell Korean arm Homeplus to consortium of investors led by MBK for £4.2bn September 7, 2015 Tesco's share price opened up this morning after revealing it has agreed to sell its South Korean arm Homeplus for £4.2bn to a consortium of investors, led by MBK Partners, the beleaugered supermarket has confirmed. The consortium also includes the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, the Public Sector Pension Investment Board and Temasek. [...]
UK pensions deficits: FTSE 100 firms fear pension pain as workers retire September 6, 2015 Pension schemes represent a “material risk” for many of the largest companies in the FTSE 100, new research shows. Six firms, including BAE Systems, British Airways-owner International Airlines Group, RSA and Royal Bank of Scotland, all have total disclosed pension liabilities almost double their equity market value, so says JLT Employee Benefits’ quarterly report [...]
Chancellor George Osborne’s bank tax comes under attack from Labour and SNP September 6, 2015 Small challenger banks and building societies will receive a boost if Labour and the SNP are successful in their attempt to amend Osborne's new bank tax. In his budget this year, the chancellor announced plans to replace the increasingly unpopular bank levy with an eight per cent surcharge on profits for banks of all [...]
Top 100 undergraduate employers: Bank of America Merrill Lynch is the UK’s best employer for recent graduates and other young talent September 4, 2015 It’s hard to find qualified work as a student, but some UK companies are better than others at making the most of undergraduate talent. Bank of America Merrill Lynch has claimed the top spot, as last year’s winner Barclays dropped down to the ninth place on the list when Rate My Placement ranked the top [...]
City Moves for 4 September 2015 | Who’s switching jobs September 3, 2015 EY Ajay Rawal has been appointed partner within the professional services firm’s financial services transaction advisory practice. He joins from Alvarez & Marsal, where he was a partner in its European financial industry advisory services group. Rawal has over 15 years’ experience consulting in financial services. LONDON Advertising Bruce Haines has been appointed chairman at [...]
Non-conformity should be banned, say tattoed British workers September 3, 2015 Just one month after Barclays chief John McFarlane banned flip-flops and jeans at Barclays HQ in Canary Wharf, Britain's businesses are now taking rather a dystopian stance on individuality…. A survey by CV-Library has found over a third of Brits believe that people shouldn't "express personal style" at work, despite half of them having tattoos, [...]