European Central Bank hikes interest rates for seventh time in a row and Lagarde signals more rises May 4, 2023 The European Central Bank (ECB) today hiked interest rates for the seventh time in a row and slowed the pace of its aggressive campaign to tame inflation, though its chief Christine Lagarde signalled more rises are coming. She and the rest of the governing council sent borrowing costs among the 20 countries using the euro [...]
Regional banks in US continue slide as crisis deepens May 4, 2023 Shares in regional banks fell further today as the crisis among regional banks in the US continues. Western Alliance was one of the worst hit, trading nearly 40 per cent lower. It vehemently denied a report from the Financial Times that it was considering a sale of all or parts of its business. The Arizona-based [...]
Brits yank record £4.8bn from banks after Credit Suisse and SVB failures May 4, 2023 Brits yanked a record amount of cash out of banks in March, sparked by concerns over the health of the global financial system following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Credit Suisse, official figures out today reveal. Household deposits at UK banks shrunk £4.8bn in March, the highest monthly fall since the Bank [...]
Pacwest explores potential sale as US banking turmoil looks set to roll on May 4, 2023 After its share price tanked 50 per cent yesterday, Pacwest confirmed late last night that it was exploring "all options to maximise shareholder value" following reports that it was looking at a potential sale.
Virgin Money shares slide as profit falls by a quarter on higher provisions for bad loans May 4, 2023 Virgin Money’s pretax profit slipped by a quarter in the six months to March as the bank set aside more funds to cope with expected impairment losses. Richard Branson’s challenger bank recorded £144m in provisions for bad loans compared to just £21m in the same period last year. Its shares were trading over five per cent [...]
Allica Bank’s Richard Davies on navigating crises and plans for business banking domination May 4, 2023 Amid a crowded field of UK challenger banks, Allica's function-over-fashion approach is serving it well, says CEO Richard Davies
Editorial: Pay CEOs more? What a jolly good idea May 4, 2023 Shareholders and the board should decide whether a CEO is worth their paycheque, but competing with US salaries is vital for the London
Ex-Barclays boss: New tech and social media have power to ‘turbocharge’ bank runs May 4, 2023 New technologies and social media have the power to “turbocharge” bank runs, former Barclays boss Antony Jenkins has said, commenting on the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB). Speaking to Morning Wire, Jenkins said “technology is a wonderful thing” that has drastically improved the experience for financial services customers in many different ways. But while [...]
Calm for now: US regional banks make small gains ahead of Fed rate decision May 3, 2023 Regional banks in the US notched small gains on Wednesday as the sector seemed to calm down following yesterday’s sell-off. Pacwest was trading 3.3 per cent higher while Western Alliance was up 2.1 per cent. The KBW Regional Bank index was up 1.2 per cent. Larger lenders were more mixed. JP Morgan was down 1.1 [...]
Barclays’ AGM disrupted by climate activists furious over bank’s fossil fuel investments May 3, 2023 Environmental protesters have disrupted banking giant Barclays’ annual meeting for shareholders in central London. A few minutes into the meeting, chairman Nigel Higgins was interrupted by a chorus of singers causing several minutes of disruption. Singing a version of the Spice Girls’ Thank You Very Much, the group sang: “Stop right now, no more oil [...]