Eurosceptic politicians form new post-Brexit City lobby group February 16, 2021 A group of Eurosceptic City figures and politicians have created a new UK financial services lobby group in a bid to trumpet the sector’s success post-Brexit. The body, launched yesterday, is called the CityUnited project and it aims to “combat and negate the EU’s actions” by “promoting bold new initiatives to exploit the UK’s expertise in [...]
UK to set up green finance research hubs in London and Leeds February 15, 2021 The UK government will set up a new green finance research centre based in London and Leeds to advise the private sector on sustainable investments. The £10m hubs will “provide world-class data and analytics to financial institutions and services such as banks, lenders, investors and insurers” to “better support their investment and business decisions by [...]
Canada’s biggest competition post-Brexit will not be EU, says Raab February 14, 2021 The UK’s financial services industry will face its biggest post-Brexit competition from Asia and the US, according to foreign secretary Dominic Raab. Raab said EU financial capitals may “nick a bit of business here and there from the City”, but that they will not challenge London’s status as Europe’s global financial capital. It comes as Amsterdam [...]
EU financial services chief warns of long road ahead for UK-EU equivalence deal February 12, 2021 The EU’s financial services chief has warned the UK that “there cannot be equivalence and wide divergence” in financial regulation as the battle over the City’s future relationship with the bloc heats up. Mairead McGuinness also confirmed fears held by many in the City that the EU would demand to know the UK’s future regulatory [...]
Bitcoin bounces as BNY Mellon embraces cryptocurrencies February 11, 2021 Bitcoin soared to a fresh high after validation from one of Wall Street’s oldest banks BNY Mellon. The cryptocurrency jumped past $48,000 and is now trading up nearly seven per cent to $47,746 following the latest mainstream acceptance of bitcoin. BNY Mellon said it will hold, transfer and issue cryptocurrencies on behalf of its asset [...]
HSBC suspected of greenwashing as lawyers urge bank to clean up February 11, 2021 Lawyers for an environmental charity have written to HSBC to remind it of its legal duties with regard to climate risk, as the banks mulls supporting a climate change resolution ahead of its next annual general meeting. The resolution, which was filed by ShareAction last month, called on the bank to take urgent action to [...]
Commerzbank embarks on revamp as loss deepens to record level February 11, 2021 Germany’s second biggest bank reported a record $3.3bn fourth-quarter loss on Thursday as it continued to absorb the fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic. Shares in Commerzbank fell nearly 6 per cent in mid-morning trade. Commerzbank said it would swiftly introduce plans to cut 10,000 jobs and close hundreds of branches in a bid to strive [...]
Exclusive: Brexit hit to London may top £9.5bn a year without EU financial services deal February 10, 2021 As the heart of the UK's service sector economy, London is in line to lose up to £9.9bn a year if a post-Brexit deal on financial services doesn't protect the City, new research out this morning finds.
Brexit: Restoration of common law principles gives financial services the tools to be innovative February 10, 2021 Now that the UK has left the EU, it is time that we re-set the legal framework of our financial services. This is not the emotional reaction of a Brexit optimist – although I do believe that there are many advantages to our leaving the European Union – but rather a pragmatic assessment based on [...]
Exclusive: ‘Normal’ bank lending to SMEs down 10 per cent in 2020 as emergency loan use explodes February 10, 2021 Non-emergency lending by banks to SMEs dropped 10 per cent in 2020, while emergency coronavirus funding ballooned. ‘Normal’ lending to SMEs fell from £168bn in December 2019 to £152bn a year later, research by debt specialist ACP Altenburg Advisory found. At the same time, emergency coronavirus funding via the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBLIS) [...]