RBS drawing up contingency plans for Williams & Glyn as sale stalls December 18, 2016 Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is having to rethink plans to offload its 314-branch strong Williams & Glyn unit as it struggles with the European Commission’s deadline for a sale. The bank, which is still 73 per cent owned by the taxpayer, is supposed to announce a buyer for its Williams & Glyn network by [...]
Deutsche Bank mulls axing bonuses to pay loans fine December 18, 2016 Deutsche Bank could axe bonuses for some of its senior staff as scrambles to shore up cash to pay a potentially massive fine over toxic US loans. The bank, which has spooked investors in recent months with warnings over lower for longer interest rates and red tape pushing up costs, will not make a decision [...]
Monte dei Paschi di Siena extends share offer in last-ditch attempt to secure private-sector bailout December 18, 2016 Struggling Italian lender Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS) has until Thursday to secure a last-ditch private-sector bail-out before its end-of-year deadline. MPS announced the extension of its share offer period until Wednesday for retail investors, and Thursday for institutional investors, after repeatedly failing to find €5bn (around £4.2bn) in funding to help recapitalise the [...]
Japanese banks threaten to leave UK unless given clarity on Brexit December 17, 2016 Japanese banks have told the UK government they will start moving out of London in the next six months unless they receive more information on the UK's Brexit plans. Investment banks Nomura and Daiwa Capital Markets met UK City minister Simon Kirby and the international trade minister for financial services, Mark Garnier, in a meeting [...]
Christmas with JPMorgan: the bank picks books, sites and music for the holiday season December 16, 2016 There's still time to get a last minute gift for the banker in your life! JPMorgan's annual holiday reading list has been given an upgrade for 2016, and to mark the 10-year anniversary of the reading list, the US bank added on a few cultural and musical recommendations. The bank is actually calling the list #nextlist2017, and [...]
Payments regulator sets out vision for industry-wide approach to protect consumers December 16, 2016 Financial regulators have promised to stamp out payment scams which have cost Britons hundreds of millions of pounds. The Payment Systems Regulator (PSR), a special branch of the Financial Conduct Authority that focuses on banking payments, said today the financial services sector needs to do more to protect consumers. "In a short space of time [...]
These are the average London banker bonuses in 2016 (they’re not happy) December 16, 2016 The average London-based senior M&A banker landed a bonus of £80,000 this year, according to new research. But only 40 per cent were happy with their sweetener. And no wonder – the average was down 20 per cent from £100,000 in 2015. However, it was a different story for those working at the big banks. [...]
Monte dei Paschi formally approves its €5bn rescue package December 15, 2016 Shareholders in troubled Italian bank Monte dei Paschi had a lukewarm reaction after reports suggested it had formally approved a multi-billion euro rescue package. Shares were up more than two per cent in afternoon trading, at €20.48 – although they started to fall on the news. The lender's shares have suffered in recent weeks after the departure of Prime [...]
Two heads are better than one: Goldman Sachs announces two new presidents to replace Cohn December 14, 2016 Goldman Sachs announced today it was promoting two long-serving staff members to the role of president and operating co-chiefs to replace Gary Cohn. David Solomon, currently co-head of the investment banking division, and Harvey Schwartz, currently finance chief, will fill the gap left by Cohn, who is off to join President-elect Donald Trump as director of the National [...]
It’s not easy being green: Mark Carney welcomes new recommendations for environmental disclosures from firms December 14, 2016 Mark Carney has today welcomed new guidelines for companies to disclose what impact their business is having on climate change in a bid to help investors make more environmentally informed decisions. Carney, who was speaking as the chairman of the Financial Stability Board (FSB), hailed the recommendations from the FSB Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures, which [...]
