Exclusive: Barclays warns business owners’ mental health is in decline after getting into debt February 2, 2022 Barclays is launching 600 new so-called ‘business health masterclasses’ as the bank noticed that the mental health of thousands of business owners across the UK has taken a hit since they the have taken on debt, the bank’s head of business banking told Morning Wire this morning. Hannah Bernard said that her team had found [...]
Turnaround for Santander as bank takes home over €8bn in 2021 February 2, 2022 Spanish bank Santander took home over €8.1bn (£6.7bn) in 2021 profits, after enjoying its most profitable quarter for 12 years.
Global ESG ranking of the world’s biggest banks: Which financial giants have the best credentials? February 1, 2022 Banks are increasingly vying to establish their ESG credentials in a very competitive marketplace, in the wake of last year’s COP26 climate talks and as they look to differentiate in the year ahead. For the first time, a full list of banks’ credentials has been compiled, carried out by East & Partners. The report found that BNP [...]
UBS posts best profits since before financial crisis at £5.6bn February 1, 2022 Swiss lender UBS has registered its best profits since before the financial crisis. The bank, which specialises in managing the money of the world’s richest, booked a $7.5bn (£5.6bn) for the whole of 2022, its best take since 2006, it announced today. UBS’s global wealth management was the bank’s bright spot, generating $563m (£419m) in [...]
Former Which? boss in line for top FCA job February 1, 2022 The former boss of consumer group Which? is in line to take over as interim chairman of the Financial Conduct Authority in a sign that a permanent appointment is still some way off.
Downing street launches charm offensive to woo Klarna into London listing February 1, 2022 Downing Street is attempting to woo buy-now pay-later giant Klarna into a London-listing over fears that high-growth firms may snub the city for New York, according to reports.
Pension savers may lose thousands of pounds if they do not move ‘older pots’ February 1, 2022 If pension savers do not move older pots into ones offering better value for money, they could be thousands of pounds worse off, the Institute for Fiscal Studies warned this morning. Many working-age people have pension pots that they are no longer actively contributing to – and there are concerns that these pots could provide [...]
Virgin Money reports steady growth despite mortgage and business lending slowdown February 1, 2022 Virgin Money has reported steady growth in the first three months of its financial year as both lending activity and deposits from existing customers saw an uptick. Deposits from existing customers rose 1.2 per cent to hit £31bn, despite overall deposits sliding two per cent to £65bn in the quarter. Unsecured lending from the group [...]
Editorial: The activists are a welcome sign of faith in the City’s future January 31, 2022 The City is not always portrayed well in the wider media, but a certain kind of Square Mile institution was rather effectively deployed at the beginning of Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life. The Crimson Permanent Assurance, a “once proud family firm fallen on hard times,” fights back against its new ownership by the Very [...]
Even at seven times their income, single homebuyers are priced out of the market by £24,000 January 31, 2022 Despite many lenders relaxing their loan to income criteria, the average UK homebuyer is still priced out of the market unless purchasing with a partner. The current average loan to value, or the multiple of salary that a lender will loan to a buyer, has increased from 3.87 to 4.12 in the last ten years [...]