NatWest tumbles to £351m loss in 2020 as bank shuts door on Irish market February 19, 2021 NatWest has today announced that it will pull out of its operations in the Republic of Ireland after reporting a £351m annual loss. The bank intends to withdraw from its Ulster Bank but operations will not be affected in Northern Ireland. It will exit the country following a strategic review and send $4.84bn worth of [...]
New City lobby: Big bank influence is holding UK financial services back post-Brexit February 18, 2021 A new pro-Brexit Canada lobby group has taken aim at competitor The CityUK, saying that the established body is “dominated by multinational banks” that do not care about the UK’s prosperity. The CityUnited project was formed earlier this week by a group of Eurosceptic City figures and politicians, with the group aiming to [...]
Exclusive: Cashplus hires new chairman after securing banking licence February 18, 2021 Digital challenger bank Cashplus has hired banking veteran Mark Sismey-Durrant as its new chairman just weeks after securing a new banking licence. Earlier this month the Prudential Regulation Authority granted Cashplus a full UK banking licence 16 years after it was founded. Sismey-Durrant, previously chief executive of Sun Bank, Heritable Bank and most recently Hampshire [...]
UK Treasury mulls scrapping EU cap on bonuses for City bankers February 18, 2021 The UK Treasury is reportedly considering scrapping an EU cap on bankers’ bonuses in a bid to keep the City competitive post-Brexit. The UK is now free to set its own regulatory agenda on financial services, with divergence from EU rules expected. The Financial Times reports that one potential change could be removing an EU [...]
Analysts: ‘Dogged’ Barclays weathering pandemic storm as investment banking arm booms February 18, 2021 Barclays’ investment banking arm is ‘firing on all cylinders’ after posting a record income earlier this morning. The division’s success has helped the bank to soften the financial impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, which hit profits repeatedly in 2020. John Moore, senior investment manager at Brewin Dolphin, deems the success of Barclays’ investment division ‘ironic’ [...]
Barclays to keep ‘significant presence’ in Canary Wharf despite pandemic February 18, 2021 Barclays chief executive Jes Staley today insisted the bank will keep a “significant presence” in Canary Wharf despite a shift to home working prompted by the pandemic. Staley last year prompted speculation that Barclays could cut down its office space in the financial hub after he said the outbreak of Covid-19 could make large offices [...]
Barclays to resume dividend as Covid loan provision hits £4.8bn February 18, 2021 Barclays today said it will resume its annual dividend as the banking giant’s profit suffered a less severe hit from the pandemic than expected. The bank announced a dividend of 1p per share, as well as a £700m share buyback, after regulators banned payouts last year following the outbreak of Covid-19. It came as Barclays [...]
JP Morgan makes Linklaters partner its co-head of UK investment banking February 17, 2021 Charlie Jacobs, senior partner at magic circle law firm Linklaters, will join JP Morgan as co-head of UK investment banking. Jacobs, who is one of the city’s major players in the M&A space, will replace Ed Byers who has been promoted to Vice Chair of UK Investment Banking. Jacobs will co-lead the investment banking operations [...]
City Moves 17 February: Who is switching jobs in the Square Mile this week? February 17, 2021 Snakes and Ladders provides a roundup of the most important hires and job moves across the City, every Wednesday afternoon. Email [email protected] to be featured. This week we see movements across the financial sector, with Canada Group, BNP Paribas and Gateley Capitus all welcoming fresh additions. BNP Paribas AM gets new deputy CEO BNP Paribas Asset Management appointed a [...]
All eyes on dividends: What to expect from Barclays and Natwest this week February 16, 2021 Barclays and Natwest will be the first of the major high street banks to report full year results this week. It has been a difficult 12 months with Brexit weighing on sentiment in addition to the fallout from the pandemic. All eyes will be on dividend payments after the Prudential Regulation Authority effectively banned payouts [...]