Santander annual profit falls 12 per cent on one-time charges January 29, 2020 Spain’s biggest bank Santander suffered a 12 per cent fall in profit in 2019 as the lender was hit by goodwill and restructuring costs and low interest rates. It pulled in record annual revenues, however, supported by solid expansion in the Americas, its yearly results showed today. The figures Profit before tax at the lender [...]
‘Pack of cards would have started to tumble’ if Barclays failed to secure Qatar cash, court hears January 28, 2020 Barclays would have been left in a dire position if it had failed to get Qatar to commit to two multi-billion pound financial crisis fundraisings, the Old Bailey heard today. A barrister for the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) today began the closing argument for the prosecution in the landmark trial of three senior former Barclays [...]
FCA has not brought a single prosecution under new anti-money laundering powers January 28, 2020 The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has not brought a single prosecution under new tougher criminal powers to combat money laundering that were introduced in 2017, a freedom of information (FOI) request shows. The FCA has the power under the Money Laundering Regulations 2017 to criminally prosecute a person or organisation it suspects of not putting [...]
Virgin Money boosts consumer loan book in ‘difficult market’ January 28, 2020 The UK’s sixth-largest lender Virgin Money oversaw a solid expansion of its personal and business loan book in the three months to December despite a “difficult market”, it announced today in a trading update. Virgin Money – which was bought by CYBG for £1.7bn in 2018 – also confirmed the worst is over in terms [...]
City watchdog demands banks explain similar overdraft pricing January 28, 2020 The City watchdog has demanded that high street lenders explain why they have aligned their new overdraft rates at around 40 per cent following a rule change. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) will from April ban banks from charging more for unarranged overdrafts, in response to complaints that such fees were regularly 10 times as [...]
Philip Hammond joins fintech startup Oaknorth as adviser January 27, 2020 Former chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond has joined small business lender Oaknorth as an adviser. Hammond will work with clients of the fintech startup and “senior policymakers around the world” on the issue of small and medium-sized firms’ access to loans. The ex-Treasury boss said: “I am delighted to be joining Oaknorth’s advisory board [...]
Lender Amigo kickstarts formal sales process January 27, 2020 Lender Amigo today launched a strategic review and opened itself to offers as its founder signalled he wants to sell on his majority stake in the struggling company. All or part of Amigo’s business could be sold after founder James Benamor’s Richmond Group said it was open to divesting its stake of 60.66 per cent. [...]
Going green: The City is leading the charge towards a sustainable financial future January 27, 2020 This year, for the first time ever, the climate crisis dominated the World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report. The five top threats to the global economy identified all concerned the environment. Unprecedented climate events are happening with alarming regularity. The message is clear: we must urgently work together to achieve the transition to a green [...]
Goldman Sachs introduces gender quota for floats January 26, 2020 Goldman Sachs will not take a company public unless there is at least one “diverse” candidate on the board. Speaking at Davos last Thursday, the bank’s chief executive David Solomon said: “From a governance perspective, diversity on boards is a very, very important issue.” The push for diversity will be focused primarily on women. Solomon [...]
RBS boss Alison Rose mulling thousands of Natwest job cuts January 26, 2020 Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is reportedly considering axing thousands of jobs at Natwest as part of a series of cost-cutting measures. Under Alison Rose, who in November became the first woman to run RBS, executives are working on the so-called Project Tusk to slash costs at the state-owned lender. One of the measures being [...]
