FRC begins hunt for new chair after its governance dubbed a ‘grave risk’ August 6, 2021 The government has launched its recruitment drive for a new chair and non-executive directors for the Financial Reporting Council, after its governance was criticised. Although the watchdog has started the search for a permanent chair and six new non-executive directors, it will still be without a chair when Skeoch steps down in October. Just two [...]
Pandemic support: Santander UK to rollout cash flow management app for SMEs August 4, 2021 Santander UK has begun rolling out an app that helps smaller companies track their cash flow and invoices, as lockdown gave way to a boom of new small businesses. The app, called CashFlow Manager, will let clients have a ‘single view’ of various account balances and transactions across their different banks. It also analyses each [...]
Credit Suisse to stand trial over ‘tuna bonds’ involvement August 3, 2021 Credit Suisse is set to face a 13-week trial in September 2023 over its involvement in the “tuna bonds” scandal, according to reports on Tuesday. Sources familiar with the matter said the Swiss bank will be scrutinised for its involvement in the scandal that saw funds raised through debt issuance spent on purchasing military equipment [...]
Goldman Sachs boosts junior bankers’ pay to over $110k after 95-hour work week complaints August 3, 2021 Goldman Sachs has become the last of the Wall Street banking giants to bump up pay for its junior investment bankers, after analysts at the bank sent a presentation to management revealing colossal workloads. First-year analysts at the bank will now make between $110,000 and $150,000. Upon their second year at the bank, analysts’ base [...]
Standard Chartered profits surge as loan-loss provisions fall sharply August 3, 2021 Standard Chartered posted a better-than-expected 57 per cent jump in first-half pre-tax profits as it followed fellow banking giants in releasing a wave of capital set aside in anticipation of a surge in Covid-related customer defaults. Pre-tax profit for Standard Chartered, which has a strong presence in Asia, Africa and the Middle East, rose to [...]
Mitigating litigation risk: The impact of corporate social performance factors August 3, 2021 | City Talk Much has been written on the merits of ESG investing strategies and their ability to deliver comparable, if not superior, performance to traditional benchmarks. A majority of institutional investors are motivated to employ ESG investing strategies because they believe ESG will improve risk adjusted returns1, yet the circumstances in which ESG leads to better outcomes [...]
Societe Generale returns to profit as retail banking recovers August 3, 2021 French bank Societe Generale swung back to profit in the second quarter of this year driven by a rebound in its retail banking arm. The lender registered net income of €1.4bn in the second quarter of 2021, up sharply from a €1.2bn loss in the same period the year before. Read more: Standard Chartered profits [...]
Credit Suisse mulls hiking junior staff salaries to $100,000 August 2, 2021 Credit Suisse has reportedly become the latest banking giant to hike junior staff salaries to $100,000 amid growing competition for fresh talent. According to Financial News, the lender will pay first year analysts $100,000 a year, with salaries to rise to $105,000 and $110,000 over the next two years. Morning Wire understands that the hike, [...]
Xavier Rolet hits back at junior bankers complaining about working hours August 2, 2021 The former boss of the London Stock Exchange Group, Xavier Rolet, has accused junior bankers who routinely work 100-hour weeks of moaning about conditions. A survey taken by 13 new recruits at Goldman Sachs revealed that surging workloads have taken a toll on mental health during the pandemic. Pleas by junior bankers to work just [...]
Woodford investors to wait until 2022 at earliest for last £124m August 2, 2021 Investors stuck in Neil Woodford’s collapsed flagship fund will have to wait at least until 2022 to claw back the £124m remaining in the fund, it was revealed today. In an update for shareholders, fund administrator Link said that it was “hoped that the sale of the remaining assets will be concluded in 2022”. Shareholders [...]