Watchdog blocks Lloyds’ unfair treatment of Covid-hit firms September 8, 2020 The competition watchdog has stopped Lloyds Bank from forcing small business customers to open business current accounts when taking out bounce back loans. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has accused Lloyds of “bundling” loans and business current accounts for small companies. Bundling is where a bank requires small business customers to open a current [...]
Deutsche Bank asks 20 per cent of staff to return to London office September 7, 2020 Deutsche Bank is the latest City firm to ask employees to return to the office, as it invites some of its London-based staff back to its headquarters. The German bank has asked around 20 per cent of its employees to come back to its Great Winchester Street headquarters this week, according to Financial News. This [...]
Amigo seeks to calm nerves as battle for future hots up September 7, 2020 Subprime loan firm Amigo has sought to pour cold water on rising interest in the potential return of founder James Benamor to the embattled business ahead of its upcoming general meeting. Over the weekend Benamor shared extracts of an irrevocable bid to buy 29 per cent of the company at 20p per share on social [...]
Malaysia drops charges against Goldman Sachs over 1MDB scandal September 4, 2020 Malaysian prosecutors today dropped criminal charges against three Goldman Sachs units accused of misleading investors over $6.5bn (£4.9bn) in bond sales they helped organise for scandal-hit state fund 1MDB. The move comes after Goldman Sachs agreed to pay $3.9bn to Malaysia to settle a probe into its alleged role in the scandal involving the fund, [...]
Bank of England: UK economy ‘likely’ to need further stimulus September 4, 2020 Bank of England interest rate-setter Michael Saunders said today that it was “quite likely” that more stimulus will be needed for Britain’s Covid-hit economy in a downbeat speech on the outlook. “I consider it quite likely that additional monetary easing will be appropriate in order to achieve a sustained return of inflation to the two [...]
Treasury set to reject City coronavirus loan refinance plan September 4, 2020 The Treasury is reportedly set to reject a Canada plan for a new state-owned organisation that would refinance the billions of pounds of emergency coronavirus loans lent to UK companies. Chancellor Rishi Sunak is set to rebuff plans put forward by a group led by trade body The City UK and audit firm [...]
HSBC’s looming pensions crisis: will the bank win the battle but lose the war? September 4, 2020 A business of any reasonable size should have members of its team scanning the horizon for potential problems, like Frederick Fleet in the crow’s nest of RMS Titanic. The most dangerous crises, though, are those which fall on a company from an apparently cloudless sky: those which hit unprepared, and leave a business scrabbling for [...]
HSBC pulls low-deposit mortgages after surge in demand September 2, 2020 HSBC UK today said it was restricting its low-deposit mortgages to those switching rates after a surge in demand. The bank said it is “temporarily reserving its mortgages over 85 per cent Loan to Value (LTV) for those customers switching rates.” HSBC was the only High Street bank to continue to offer 90 per cent [...]
Swiss regulator starts action against Credit Suisse over spying claims September 2, 2020 Switzerland’s financial supervisor has opened enforcement proceedings against Credit Suisse over a spying scandal that led to the ousting of former chief executive Tidjane Thiam and tarnished its reputation. The move by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) intensifies the regulatory pressure on Credit Suisse and follows the completion of a review of the [...]
German parliament launches investigation into Wirecard collapse September 1, 2020 German politicians will open a full inquiry into the collapse of Wirecard, forcing the government to address questions over its failure to avert one of the country’s biggest corporate frauds. Wirecard collapsed into insolvency in June and there have been growing questions over the failure of German authorities to pick up on numerous red flags. [...]