UK fintechs send rallying cry as industry slips in global ranking September 25, 2025 UK fintech leaders have sent a rallying call to policymakers after the sector slipped in global rankings. A host of industry bigwigs have told City PM the government must be bolder in growth-orientated reforms to bolster the sector’s standing against rivals. It comes after Z/Yen’s 38th Global Financial Centres Index showed the UK’s fintech sector [...]
High street banks’ SME lending comeback inches forward September 11, 2025 High street banks’ return to small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME) inched onwards in the second quarter. The big banks have turned back to the area as the government clamps down on smaller firms’ difficulty accessing finance. Top bosses were summoned earlier this year for talks with ministers covering how to improve lending to SMEs. In [...]
Starling Bank eyes £4bn valuation in secondary share sale September 10, 2025 UK fintech Starling is eyeing a valuation of £4bn in a new secondary share sale. The digital lender is in talks with Morgan Stanley and Rothschild to run the sale process, which the firm is hoping could help it net a valuation between £3.5bn and £4bn. The sale – the first since the group’s valuation [...]
The spectre of 2008 haunts banks’ push into private credit September 2, 2025 Britain’s biggest banks are trying to grab a slice of the rapidly expanding private credit market, but as they look to grow, memories of the financial crisis are coming back to haunt the lenders. The global private credit market notched $2 trillion (£1.5 trillion) assets under management in 2024 and is expected to grow to $2.8 trillion [...]
Budget 2025: Lloyds, Natwest and Barclays brace for a tax raid? September 1, 2025 Ahead of the 2024 Autumn Budget, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer warned Labour’s first fiscal event was “going to be painful”. He added those with the broadest shoulders “should bear the heavier burden” as Chancellor Rachel Reeves battled against an alleged ‘£22bn black hole’ inherited from the Conservative government. After lobbying efforts, banks were spared [...]
Standard Chartered shares struggle to rebound after US lawmaker triggered $3bn sell-off August 18, 2025 Shares in Standard Chartered inched higher on Monday, but failed to fully recover from a dramatic sell-off at the end of last week that was triggered by a United States congresswoman. The bank’s stock nudged up by one percent as markets opened, reaching 1,319.50. But, this remained far below the 1,407 price point prior to [...]
S&U shares jump as bank predicts profit ‘resurgence’ August 12, 2025 Shares in specialist lender S&U rallied as markets opened on Tuesday after the bank said its “resurgence in profitability” had begun to materialise. The London-listed firm’s stock was up over three per cent in early trading to 1,940. The jump came after the lender provided an upbeat trading update, anticipating building momentum for the second [...]
Vanquis swings to profit with recovery ‘on track’ August 7, 2025 Bradford-based lender Vanquis swung back into profitability for the first half of the year following on from a bruising period in the last 12 months. The bank recorded a profit before tax of £6.2m, compared to a £91.9m loss for the second half of 2024. Net interest income remained stable with one per cent growth [...]
Nationwide wins big in mass switch from FTSE 100 banks July 30, 2025 Nationwide has raided the customer base of Britain’s banking titans as current account switchers flocked away from legacy firms. The building society welcomed nearly 73,000 switchers in the first three months of the year, compared to 17,000 outflows, according to Pay.uk data. This comes after the mutual returned billions to customers in 2024, whilst the [...]
HSBC shares sink as impairment charge triggers 29 per cent profit hit July 30, 2025 Europe’s biggest lender HSBC suffered a 29 per cent annual hit to profit in the second quarter of the year after a hefty impairment charge related to business in China. The FTSE 100 juggernaut posted a $6.3bn (£4.72bn) pre-tax profit, missing analyst expectations of $6.99bn. This came as the lender recorded a $2.1bn write-down for [...]
