How to invest your bonus: If you’re not off to the McLaren dealership, topping up a pension makes good sense January 18, 2017 Industry experts have warned that bonus season in the Square Mile might not be so bumper this year. In December, research by Emolument.com indicated that just 40 per cent of bankers in mergers and acquisitions found their sweetener satisfactory. And this week, the market leader of PwC’s global financial services HR consulting practice has warned that [...]
Deutsche Bank agrees $7.2bn settlement with US Department of Justice over mortgage-backed securities January 17, 2017 Deutsche Bank has agreed to pay the US Department of Justice $7.2bn (£6bn) over misleading investors with sales of mortgage-backed securities in the run-up to the financial crisis. The bank agreed the settlement amount in principle in December, but it was only finalised today. Deutsche Bank will pay a civil penalty of $3.1bn and provide $4.1bn [...]
Mortgage lending to first time buyers increases as stamp duty bites landlords January 17, 2017 Buy to let landlords continued to shun the property market towards the end of last year, allowing more first time buyers to take out home loans. The number of loans taken out by landlords fell 10 per cent year-on-year in November, according to figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), suggesting that tax changes [...]
US banking giants, including Goldman Sachs, forecast to announce revenue slide next week January 15, 2017 US earnings season might be about to prove that not all that glitters is Goldman, as the investment banking titan is predicted to announce a double digit slide in full-year revenues on Wednesday. Analysts have also forecast a slump in revenues for Morgan Stanley, which reports on Tuesday, and Citigroup, which reports on Wednesday. According to [...]
Increasing levels of cyber security will be vital as fintech approaches “watershed moment” January 12, 2017 In 1993, cartoonist Peter Steiner of The New Yorker coined the phrase: ‘On the internet, no-one knows you’re a dog.’ More than 20 years later, the issue of internet privacy and a user’s ability to send and receive messages anonymously, remains a significant barrier to building online trust. “The reality is, as individuals, if we [...]
Buy-to-lose? With new restrictions on buy-to-let mortgages and the introduction of other punitive measures in 2017, is there any value left in letting for mortgaged landlords? January 11, 2017 As we enter 2017, the tide has truly turned against Britain’s buy-to-let landlords. First, George Osborne discouraged people from buying a second residential property by imposing extra stamp duty of 3 per cent. Now, the Bank of England is demanding that mortgage lenders “stress test” loans to landlords. Since 1 January, the Bank’s Prudential Regulation [...]
Why solving the country’s housing crisis means backing – not battering – landlords January 10, 2017 Politics is a strange world, and the year’s events (Trump, Brexit and elsewhere in Europe) are topsy-turvy. But I still find it strange that Britain’s best and most effective form of housing provision, the private rented sector, is coming under such consistent attack. Policies such as changes to the way landlords are taxed, the stamp duty [...]
Deutsche Bank’s head of financial crime quits after just six months in role January 4, 2017 Deutsche Bank's man in charge of fighting financial crime is leaving his role after just six months. Peter Hazlewood, a veteran of HSBC, JP Morgan and Standard Chartered, was appointed global head of anti-financial crime and group money-laundering reporting officer at the German banking giant last July. He was based in Frankfurt and reported to Sylvie Matherat, the [...]
Deutsche Bank share price up as merger and bailout rumours shot down January 2, 2017 Shares in Deutsche Bank are trading up today after the German banking giant's chairman silenced murmurs of mergers and bailouts. The share price for the country's biggest bank had a turbulent 2016, particularly after it was revealed in September that the US Department of Justice was considering slapping the lender with a fine of as [...]
UK house price growth has edged up from its November low December 29, 2016 December may traditionally be a bad time to try to sell your house – but UK house prices bucked the trend this month, with growth edging up from their low in November. Nationwide's house price index showed prices rose 4.5 per cent in the year to December, up from 4.4 per cent in November, its [...]