Barclays accused of misleading shareholders over John Sunderland resignation March 9, 2015 Barclays has been criticised by a pensions advisory body for “misleading shareholders”. In a statement, the Local Authority Pension Fund Forum (LAPFF) has called for John Sunderland, chairman of the bank's pay review committee, to step down immediately. It claims that ahead of its 2014 annual general meeting 11 months ago, Barclays said Sunderland would [...]
DoPay service launched today March 9, 2015 TWO BILLION people around the world will be given access to financial services for the first time after the launch of a new service at today’s Innovative Finance Global Summit. The new service, named DoPay, is part of the Barclays Accelerator programme and will be unveiled this evening at the Guildhall.
Traders at Barclays and Deutsche Bank questioned over Euribor rigging March 8, 2015 The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) is questioning former traders from Barclays and Deutsche Bank over possible Euribor rigging. According to the FT, which spoke to sources close to the matter, they are being interviewed “under caution”. This means the UK fraud investigators must have at least a reasonable suspicion of wrongdoing, and this type of [...]
CivilisedBank: There’s another new challenger bank on the scene with imminent UK launch plans March 8, 2015 Another challenger bank has joined the scene alongside a growing number of upstarts trying to unseat the dominant high street banking institutions in the UK. CivilisedBank, a new online-only bank aimed at small and medium-sized businesses, is the latest to reveal its plans and expects to open its doors – albeit virtual ones – later [...]
Cheltenham – a special week March 5, 2015 BILL ESDAILE TAKES AT LOOK AT THE BEST OF THE BOOKMAKERS’ CHELTENHAM FESTIVAL SPECIALS WITH only days to go until the start of the Cheltenham Festival, bookmakers are falling over themselves with generous offers to attract new clients. Champion Chase sponsors Betway have pledged to refund all losing bets on their sponsored feature race next [...]
Virgin Money share price jumps as underlying profit more than doubles after IPO March 5, 2015 The figures Shares in recently-listed challenger bank Virgin Money rose almost five per cent in late morning trading, after it posted figures showing full-year underlying pre-tax profit soared 127 per cent thanks to its swelling mortgage loan book. The challenger bank, which floated in November, said underlying pre-tax profit was £121m in 2014, up from [...]
Standard Chartered bonus bungle shows investors need to speak up March 4, 2015 Falling profits, boardroom turmoil and a declining return on equity: by any measure, Standard Chartered’s 2014 was a year to forget. So the decision of Peter Sands (whose resignation last week was met with a surge in the bank’s share price) to forgo a variable pay award for the year was necessary to avoid a [...]
FTSE climbs in late rally as BA owner IAG soars – London Report March 4, 2015 BRITAIN’S top share index rebounded late yesterday, helped by a surge in British Airways owner International Airlines Group (IAG) due to strong traffic figures and by rallies in broadcaster ITV and bank Standard Chartered. The FTSE 100 snapped a three-day losing streak to end 0.4 per cent higher at 6,919.24 points after trading as low [...]
Barclays’ investment bank under strain after profits fall to £1.3bn March 3, 2015 Barclays’ investment bank was the worst-performing unit in the business last year, and could face further cuts if it does not improve quickly. The unit’s profits dived 31 per cent to £1.3bn, the bank’s financial results showed yesterday. And its return on equity fell to 2.7 per cent – far below the 11.9 per cent [...]
Forex probe costs hurt Barclays results as bank reports loss of £174 March 3, 2015 Mounting forex probe costs and an extra PPI compensation bill helped to push Barclays into the red in 2014, as the bank yesterday said its restructuring programme is ahead of schedule. Barclays reported an attributable loss of £174m for the year, compared with a £530m profit in 2013. Much of the damage came from [...]