Financial services firms expected to dump green finance and DEI June 18, 2025 The financial services industry is taking a dramatic step back from green finance and diversity policies. Over half of UK senior financial professionals believe their leadership will place less focus on environmental, social and governance (ESG) policies in the coming years. Meanwhile, a similar proportion, 54 per cent, believe diversity, equality and inclusion commitments will [...]
Why the Bank of England will hold interest rates June 17, 2025 At every other meeting, the Bank of England publishes its monetary policy report alongside its interest rate decision. Each lengthy report includes fresh details on revisions to central forecasts, which are poured over with glee by economists and investors.. But this Thursday’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting will offer few statistical goodies. Officials will meet [...]
Barclays calls in McKinsey to find savings in investment arm June 17, 2025 Barclays has tapped global consultancy giant McKinsey in a bid to identify cost-saving areas across its investment banking arm. The FTSE 100 bank is looking to simplify its investment bank, with consultants examining the front office, finance, risk and technology divisions. The consultants will be looking at duplication of work and whether tasks can be [...]
Simply: Fintech SME lender expands loan book as firms turn to debt finance June 17, 2025 Simply Asset Finance notched a record loan total in the last year as firms turned to debt financing to fuel their expansion plans. The UK lender to small- and medium-sized enterprises topped £1.75bn in the total cumulative value of all loans they’ve approved and funded after the firm’s loan book expanded by £505m over 2024. [...]
Barclays and Natwest shares jump as conflict sparks inflation fears June 16, 2025 Shares in the FTSE 100’s top banks were rising on Monday as the intensifying conflict in the Middle East triggered inflation fears. Barclays and Natwest were up nearly two per cent and Lloyds over one per cent during early trading as oil prices crept up another one per cent to $74.90 a barrel. This follows [...]
High street banks ramp up SME lending to highest since 2022 June 16, 2025 High street banks are scaling up their lending to small businesses, with the first quarter of 2022 hitting the highest amount since 2022. Lenders issued £4.6bn worth of loans in the first three months of the year marking a 14 per cent year-on-year jump. The rise was driven by a surge of lending to agriculture, [...]
Nationwide to Greggs: King’s honours list champions UK business leaders June 14, 2025 Entrepreneurs and company chiefs in tech, recruitment and banking have been recognised for their contributions to UK business in the King’s birthday honours. Microsoft UK boss Clare Barclay and ceramics founder Emma Bridgewater, dubbed the “queen of pottery”, received damehoods for services to business. Nationwide chief executive Debbie Crosbie, who led a £2.3bn takeover of [...]
Will fintech banks survive falling interest rates? June 13, 2025 Fintech lenders have accelerated their swing to profitability after interest rates spiked. The UK’s neobanks pocketed record revenues in the last 12 months. Revolut’s takings grew 72 per cent topping £3.1bn. Meanwhile Monzo’s revenue hit £1bn for the first time. But this came as interest rates maintained a post-financial crisis high of 5.25 per cent [...]
Sam Renouf: From athlete to CEO and City AM Triathlon Team Challenge June 12, 2025 The CEO of the Professional Triathletes Organisation (PTO), Sam Renouf, on his journey from athlete to founder and launching the City AM Triathlon Team Challenge. Sam Renouf knows exactly when he realised he had to give up on his dream of becoming an Olympic champion. A rising star in the British triathlon set-up, the 21-year-old [...]
FCA chief: Court delays denying victims justice June 12, 2025 Delays in the UK court system are denying victims of financial crime justice and preventing better regulation of the finance industry, the boss of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has said. Nikhil Rathi told City AM that his organisation was working “really hard to accelerate [its] investigations” but that the slow pace of high-profile court [...]