Lloyds Banking Group hires Professor Russel Griggs to oversee its HBOS Reading scandal review March 20, 2017 Lloyds Banking Group has appointed Professor Russel Griggs to oversee the independent review into the HBOS Reading scandal. Two ex-HBOS bankers were among six people jailed back in February for their roles in a ruse to drive small businesses into the ground for personal gain, running up nearly £250m in losses for the bank which had to [...]
UBS Group to stand trial in France facing accusations of assisting clients in avoiding tax March 20, 2017 UBS Group will stand trial in France facing accusations of assisting clients in avoiding tax. According to judicial sources, UBS may face a fine as high as $5.3bn (£4.3bn) amid allegations that it assisted clients throughout Europe in tax avoidance. In 2014, UBS settled a similar case in Germany for an estimated €300m (£260m). Shares in the [...]
Shareholder uprising: Santander, UFJ, Sumitomo and a number of other banks are at risk March 20, 2017 A number of banks have been marked as likely targets of a shareholder uprising, including UFJ, Sumitomo and Santander. More than half, or 58 per cent, of banks are located in countries facing potential governance shifts, according to new research by MSCI. Of those, 17 per cent, or nearly one in five, are at risk of [...]
House of Fraser owner Sanpower pulls investment in digital challenger bank Tandem March 20, 2017 Sanpower, the Chinese conglomerate which owns House of Fraser, has been forced to pull back on a multimillion pound investment in digital challenger bank Tandem, City PM can reveal. A £29m tranche of cash due to bolster the startup's capital requirements for launching as a full bank has been halted over concerns that Chinese authorities are [...]
Deutsche Bank announces it has slashed bonus pool by 77 per cent after reporting losses of €1.4bn for 2016 March 20, 2017 Deutsche Bank announced this morning it has sliced 77 per cent from its bonus pool. The Frankfurt-headquartered bank released its annual report for 2016, which revealed the firm had cut its variable pay pot to €500m (£433.1m) for the year, down from €2.4bn. The bank, which had already announced it made a €1.4bn net loss for 2016, also [...]
London’s Islamic finance boom shows that flexibility and innovation are in the City’s DNA March 20, 2017 In recent years, the UK has stepped up its game in Islamic finance. In 2014, for example, it became the first country outside the Islamic world to issue a sovereign sukuk, the Islamic equivalent of a bond. With such significant developments taking place here in the UK, I was very much looking forward to a trip [...]
Secure Trust Bank launches into UK mortgage market, focusing on those working in the gig economy March 20, 2017 Secure Trust Bank is today launching a UK mortgage offering focusing on those individuals who might struggle to bag a loan from a high street lender. The Solihull-headquartered challenger is honing in on the self-employed and the gig economy. Those people working in these fashions might struggle to prove their income to a bank and therefore [...]
Revealed: Hampshire Trust Bank more than doubles new lending in 2016, after it launches commercial mortgages business March 19, 2017 Hampshire Trust Bank more than doubled the value of the new loans it wrote in 2016, City PM can reveal. The challenger bank racked up loan originations of £393m in its 2016 financial year, up 132 per cent compared with £169m at the end of 2015. The boost is partly thanks to the lender launching a commercial mortgages [...]
Bank of England steps up to push along Co-op Bank rescue plans, amid worries buyers might be shying away from the struggling lender March 19, 2017 The Bank of England's regulatory team has begun making plans of its own for Co-op Bank, as they become increasingly impatient with the troubled lender's sale. The Co-op Bank, which is currently 20 per cent owned by the wider Co-operative Group, revealed last month it was looking for a buyer for the whole of the business. [...]
Deutsche Bank kicks off its €8bn rights issue on Tuesday as German lender attempts to bolster its capital March 19, 2017 Deutsche Bank announced today it is due to press go on its €8bn (£6.9bn) rights issue on Tuesday, as the German banking giant tries to shore up its capital. The Frankfurt-headquartered lender announced a slew of plans to improve its capital position earlier this month, including, in addition to the rights issue, holding onto its Postbank division, streamlining [...]
