RBS chairman calls on Bank of England to lift dividend curbs July 3, 2020 The chairman of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has called on the Bank of England to lift curbs on dividends by the autumn to make lenders more attractive to investors. The BoE had told lenders in March to scrap buybacks and dividends until the end of 2020 to bolster their finances in the face of [...]
Brexit: UK vows to complete Canada assessments in two weeks July 2, 2020 The government has vowed to hand over paperwork to ensure Canada maintains post-Brexit EU access within the next two weeks, after missing the initial deadline. The UK was supposed to hand over 28 regulatory equivalence assessments by Monday for the EU to assess if it would allow access to Britain’s financial services [...]
EU banks take on Visa and Mastercard with ‘truly European’ payments system July 2, 2020 Some 16 banks from across the EU have said that they expect to have a “truly European” payments system up and running in 2022, to help digitise a region in which half of all retail payments are made in cash. European Union policymakers and central bankers have long sought to develop a home grown rival [...]
Downing Street still upbeat about gaining post-Brexit EU access for Canada July 1, 2020 Downing Street is still confident it can secure post-Brexit access to EU markets for Canada as it blames Brussels for missing a key deadline in negotiations. The UK missed yesterday’s deadline to hand in 28 regulatory equivalency assessments to the EU relating to Britain’s financial services industry. Brussels must use these documents [...]
Don’t sacrifice Hong Kong for bankers’ bonuses, Raab tells HSBC July 1, 2020 Foreign secretary Dominic Raab today criticised HSBC and other British banks for supporting China’s controversial new security law in Hong Kong, saying the rights of its citizens should not be sacrificed for bankers’ bonuses. HSBC and fellow Asia-focused lender Standard Chartered have come under fire from politicians in the UK and US after the banks [...]
Bank of England to review climate impact of corporate bond-buying after crisis July 1, 2020 The Bank of England will look at introducing climate change considerations when deciding which corporate bonds it buys, governor Andrew Bailey said today. The central bank had been targeted by climate change protesters who have been calling and emailing it this week to demand a change in the way it helps companies survive the Covid-19 [...]
FCA extends credit card payment freeze until October July 1, 2020 A credit card payments freeze could be extended for another three months for customers still suffering from the economic impact of coronavirus, the financial watchdog said today. After imposing a three-month pause on repayments for those struggling amid the fallout of the pandemic on the economy, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has said firms must [...]
FCA puts UK banks on notice on overdrafts but will not open formal inquiry July 1, 2020 The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) will not open a formal inquiry into overdraft charges by UK banks, but said there would be a full evaluation of lenders’ pricing next year. In January, the financial watchdog gave banks just two weeks to explain changes to their overdraft rates which would leave around eight million consumers worse [...]
Cerberus wants ‘far more’ than 7,000 redundancies at Commerzbank June 30, 2020 Activist investor Cerberus reportedly wants Commerzbank to cut far more than the 7,000 jobs it is said to be mulling as part of cost-cutting plans, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters. Earlier today it was reported that the German lender’s supervisory board was set to discuss the possibility of another 7,000 job cuts, [...]
Bank of England tells lenders to push ahead with climate risk analysis June 29, 2020 The Bank of England and UK financial regulator today told banks and insurers to press ahead with analysing the impact of climate change on their operations. The Climate Financial Risk Forum (CFRF) — established by the BoE and Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) last year — published a guide setting out how financial firms can analyse [...]