Banks called on to extend pandemic era support to vulnerable customers as cost of living pressures mount January 22, 2023 British banks are being called on to extend support offered to customers during the pandemic as the cost of living crisis increasingly affects vulnerable customers. A new report from Fair4All Finance – a government-backed financial inclusion body – found that “unprecedented” support from banks significantly helped customers during Covid-19 with “no detrimental impact on bottom [...]
UK’s Supreme Court to decide whether £1.6bn Tuna Bonds case should be heard in London’s courts January 22, 2023 Britain’s top court will this week hear a long-running dispute between Mozambique and a Lebanese shipmaker over whether a case relating to the ‘Tuna Bonds’ should be heard in London’s courts. The UK’s Supreme Court will decide whether the dispute between shipping company Privinvest and the Republic of Mozambique over the $2bn (£1.6bn) scandal should [...]
Activist shareholder Caius Capital takes five per cent stake in embattled Metro Bank January 22, 2023 London-based activist shareholder Caius Capital has taken an £11m stake in embattled challenger bank Metro Bank. The investment brings Caius Capital’s stake to five per cent, making it one of Metro Bank’s ten largest investors. The stake from Caius Capital, an alternative investment manager focused on “distressed and special situations”, comes a month after Metro [...]
Financial crime: Anti-money laundering and crypto fines surge to £4bn in regulatory crackdown January 22, 2023 Anti-money laundering fines globally surged 53 per cent in 2022 while fines to crypto firms rose over 90 per cent as regulators cracked down on financial misconduct, data from Fenergo shows. In total, financial institutions were fined nearly $5bn (£4.04bn) in 2022. According to Fenergo’s financial crime policy manager Rory Doyle, the jump was linked [...]
Where are Lloyds and Halifax closing 40 branches in 2023 and what does the high street exodus mean for you? January 20, 2023 Lloyds Banking Group said it will close a further 40 branches this year, as the exodus of banking branches from Britain’s high streets continues. Lloyds will close the doors at 22 branches while there will be 18 closures at Halifax. The branches will be closed between April and June this year. The bank noted that [...]
Close Brothers share price falls as sets aside £90m for legal loans January 20, 2023 Close Brothers will set aside an additional £90m in its 2023 financial statements against bad loans from legal-finance specialist Novitas Loans. Close Brothers acquired Novitas in 2017. In 2021 Close Brothers ceased approval of new loans from Novitas and let existing loans run off. In a statement today, the merchant banking group said Novitas was [...]
Davos round-up: BoA ‘over-achieved’ on hiring, Morgan Stanley’s succession plan and Shapps searches for Britain’s Silicon Valley January 19, 2023 As some of the world’s most important CEOs, politicians and thinkers gather at the World Economic Forum in Davos, City PM wraps up some of the top lines from the day. US bank layoffs Major Wall Street lenders have been forced into making large scale redundancies in the face of a global economic slowdown. Goldman’s [...]
UK banks’ shares slide on fears of recession and bad debt January 19, 2023 UK banks’ share prices dipped on Thursday as increasing fears of recession, bad debt and a fairly poor set of US bank earnings this week spooked investors. Barclays shed 2.8 per cent, HSBC 0.6 per cent and Standard Chartered 0.8 per cent. Domestic-focused lenders Lloyds and Natwest also traded lower, finishing down 1.0 per cent [...]
HSBC will face no penalty for breaching open banking rules over 50 times January 19, 2023 The Competition & Markets Authority has criticised HSBC for breaching open banking rules on over 50 occasions, but the banking giant has been told it will receive no penalty. HSBC published inaccurate information and failed to publish required information on more than 50 occasions over the last five years, the watchdog said. The violations of [...]
‘We’re all terrified of being accused of greenwashing’, Standard Chartered boss tells Davos January 19, 2023 Standard Chartered CEO Bill Winters demanded clear rules on climate financing at a Davos meeting as potential lenders are “terrified of being accused of greenwashing”. Winters agreed with panellists that there needed to be much more action on financing climate change initiatives. However, he warned there needed to be standards on “what’s a good project [...]
