Draper Esprit and Barclays back London fintech Form3 in $13m funding round November 20, 2018 Payments technology fintech startup Form3 will today reveal the close of a $13m (£10.1m) series B fundraising round, led by Graze and Perkbox-backer Draper Esprit. Existing investors Barclays Bank, Angel Cofund and several other individual backers also participated in the round. Established in 2016, the Monument-based startup builds payments-processing technology for banks and fintech firms [...]
Societe Generale to pay $1.3bn fine for US sanctions violations November 19, 2018 French bank Societe Generale has agreed to pay US authorities $1.3bn (£1bn) to resolve allegations it violated US sanctions on Cuba, Iran and other countries. US authorities said the bank processed billions of dollars in illegal transactions to parties in countries under US sanction, including Iran, Sudan, Cuba and Libya. Societe Generale said the penalties would [...]
Danske Bank whistleblower says he was offered hush money November 19, 2018 The whistleblower at the heart of a widening money-laundering scandal centred on Danske Bank has claimed the Danish bank tried to pay him to keep silent, and implicated a major European lender, reported to be Deutsche Bank, and two US banks in having handled suspect funds. Howard Wilkinson – head of Danske Bank’s trading unit [...]
Deutsche Bank announces €1bn bond buyback November 19, 2018 German lender Deutsche Bank today said it would buy back €1bn (£890m) of bonds as it aims to lower its expensive liquidity reserve. The bank said in a statement that it is announcing a public tender offer with a target acceptance volume of €1bn of Euro-denominated securities. Deutsche said the deal is aimed at helping [...]
CYBG operations chief Debbie Crosbie becomes the new CEO of TSB after the bank’s IT meltdown November 19, 2018 TSB has hired a banking veteran as its new chief executive, bringing its months-long search for the role to a close. Debbie Crosbie will join the challenger bank from Clydesdale Yorkshire Banking Group (CYBG), ending her tenure of 20 years at the financial services firm where she currently resides as chief operating officer. Rumoured candidates for the [...]
Competition and Markets Authority launches probe into bond market November 18, 2018 The UK’s competition watchdog has launched an investigation into a suspected financial services cartel in the bond market. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said on Friday that it had launched a probe into alleged anti-competitive activity under Chapter One of the Competition Act 1998, which addresses price fixing and attempts to control markets. The [...]
Former London Stock Exchange chief Xavier Rolet close to City return with hedge fund CQS November 17, 2018 Former London Stock Exchange (LSE) chief executive Xavier Rolet is in advanced talks to become a co-chief executive at leading hedge fund manager CQS. The Frenchman left his job at the LSE Group in contentious circumstances last year, after being asked to step down by the board a year earlier than planned in a bid to end [...]
CMA launches investigation into suspected financial services cartel November 16, 2018 The UK’s competition watchdog has launched an investigation into a possible financial services cartel, it announced today. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said its probe into the alleged anti-competitive activity was launched under Chapter One of the Competition Act 1998, which addresses price fixing and attempts to control markets. The statement gave little detail [...]
RBS and Nordea dropped from the list of the world’s most important banks November 16, 2018 The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Nordic bank Nordea have been removed from a list of the world's most important banks by the Financial Stability Board (FSB). The FSB's list is a compilation of all banks required to hold extra capital equivalent to at least one per cent of its risk-weight assets, due to their size and impact [...]
Kleinman: Beat Barxit? Jes he can – for now November 16, 2018 Come again? The fawning of business leaders who dialled into a conference call with the chancellor and business secretary after Theresa May’s Brexit deal announcement on Tuesday was stunning in its obsequiousness. Particularly odd was Sir Gerry Grimstone who – sitting alongside fellow Barclays board members John McFarlane and Sir Ian Cheshire – took it [...]
