Has Nationwide’s Debbie Crosbie been vindicated? Opinion Nationwide has been proclaimed Britain’s best bank. The UK’s largest building society – which is, in fact, not a bank due its status as a mutual – has been handed the crown of Britain’s top banking services provider. Of course, the report from Forbes and research firm Statista is not undisputed, no matter how much [...]
Barclays and Lloyds shares pop as FTSE 100 banks rally on ceasefire Banking A whopping surge from Barclays and Lloyds led a rally across banking stocks on Wednesday morning as the City welcomed news of a ceasefire in the Middle East. Barclays soared eight per cent as trading in London kicked off, hitting highs of 438p, helping the firm claw back losses made since the start of the [...]
Barclays’ high street U-turn exposes a divide in British banking Opinion In Westminster, the news cycle is never short of drama over U-turns. Subtle tweaks or direct bait-and-switches on policy are batted away by government spokespeople as mere “pivots” as opposed to full 180-degree turns. But away from all the hoo-ha in the Commons, over in the City an abrupt handbrake turn has left skid marks [...]
Blackrock mulls a move to HSBC’s Canary Wharf tower March 31, 2026 Blackrock is mulling a move to HSBC’s Canary Wharf skyscraper with the site one of a number of locations viewed by the firm as it scouts for a new London headquarters. The world’s largest asset manager has taken a look at the 8 Canada Square tower, which HSBC is set to vacate next year. But [...]
Revolut poised to hit Natwest and Lloyds in deposit war March 20, 2026 Revolut’s long-awaited UK banking licence approval is set to trigger a “deposit war” that could hand a major blow to incumbent giants Natwest and Lloyds. The $75bn fintech juggernaut finally bagged its full-fat UK banking permit earlier this month after a four-year tussle with regulators. Analysts are expecting the move to send ripples across the [...]
Standard Chartered evacuates Dubai offices amid Iran war March 11, 2026 London-headquartered Standard Chartered has begun to evacuate staff from its offices in Dubai following the latest escalations in the war in the Middle East. The FTSE 100 giant boasts a large presence in the region as part of international expansion efforts across the United Arab Emirates but has now found itself caught in the growing [...]
Barclays joins run of mortgage rate hikes in blow to borrowers March 9, 2026 Barclays has become the latest in a flurry of mortgage lenders to hike their rates amid mounting fears the Bank of England will keep the base interest rates higher for longer following the war in the Middle East. The blue-chip banking giant has slapped a 0.1 per cent increase on rates on a selection of [...]
Meet Reeves’ outsider tasked with steering the City to growth March 3, 2026 The City has rolled out the red carpet for the banking watchdog’s new chief after Katharine Braddick, a seasoned veteran of the financial trenches, was named on Friday as the successor to Sam Woods. For a cool £314,000 a year, she’s set to take on the brief of steering the UK’s banking sector. Chancellor Rachel [...]
How HSBC and Standard Chartered are riding high on Asia’s wealth February 26, 2026 London’s banking giants are circling the UK’s wealth management pie. But two other top lenders could be carving out a feast 6,000 miles away. HSBC and Standard Chartered posted hefty bumps to their wealth divisions, driven by a strategic focus on Asia and the Middle East. In financial results shared on Wednesday, HSBC revealed bank-wide [...]
HSBC bonus pot swells to 14-year record despite profit hit February 25, 2026 HSBC announced its bonus pot had swelled to an over decade high on Wednesday despite the bank recording a hit in annual profit as hefty impairment charges helped offset a boom in the bank’s wealth management operations. The FTSE 100 banking titan recorded a seven per cent drop in pre-tax profit for the annual year, [...]