HMRC sets up secret unit to probe inheritance tax avoidance February 22, 2020 HM Revenue & Customs has implemented a secret unit to investigate the use of family investment companies (FIC) by the very wealthy to avoid paying inheritance tax. It puts family offices with a combined total of more than $1tn in assets within its sights. The tax authority set up the team in April last year [...]
JPMorgan Chase set to launch UK digital consumer bank this year February 22, 2020 JPMorgan Chase is close to launching a range of personal banking products in the UK. The world’s biggest lender by market capitalisation is set to introduce savings and loans products using the Chase brand in the next few months, according to Sky News. The New York-listed bank is due to hold an investor day next [...]
Wells Fargo agrees $3bn settlement in fake accounts investigation February 22, 2020 Wells Fargo has agreed to pay $3bn (£2.3bn) to settle an investigation by the US government into its fraudulent sales practices. The US bank admitted to opening millions of fake customer accounts as well as wrongly collecting millions of dollars in fees, misusing customer information and harming the credit rating of customers. It brings to [...]
Unicredit boss Mustier ‘a main contender’ to become HSBC chief February 21, 2020 Unicredit Spa boss Jean-Pierre Mustier is a leading contender to become HSBC’s new chief executive officer. Mustier has been credited with turning around the biggest bank in Italy over the past four years and is now one of the main external candidates being considered by HSBC, according to Bloomberg. He has been in discussion with [...]
Government looks to expand dormant assets scheme to help good causes February 21, 2020 The government today outlined plans to expand the dormant assets scheme in a move that could unlock hundreds of millions of pounds for good causes across the UK. Under the current scheme, banks and building societies can opt to donate funds to good causes from accounts that have been untouched for 15 years or more [...]
Barclays scraps Big Brother-style spyware on staff computers February 20, 2020 Barclays has scrapped the use of spyware software that tracked time employees spent at their desks, the day after Morning Wire revealed the banking giant was using the software at its London headquarters. The lender had been criticised by HR experts and privacy campaigners for its use of the technology, which was introduced in a pilot scheme [...]
HSBC courts the globally mobile with new $1.4 trillion wealth business February 20, 2020 Banking giant HSBC plans to invest heavily in its newly merged retail and private banking businesses, the unit’s chief executive has said, targeting internationally minded customers in markets including China and the US. Charlie Nunn, a former McKinsey consultant, took control of the new division, which has $1.4 trillion (£1.1 trillion) of client assets, following [...]
Moneysupermarket profit grows as CEO steps down February 20, 2020 Price comparison site Moneysupermarket has reported strong profit growth for 2019 despite slower growth in the second half of the year. The figures Profit before tax rose to £116m, an 8.5 per cent increase on 2018’s figure. Group revenue climbed nine per cent from £355.6m in 2018 to £388.4m while basic earnings per share increased [...]
Morgan Stanley to buy brokerage firm E-Trade in $13bn deal February 20, 2020 Morgan Stanley is to buy discount brokerage firm E-Trade in an all-share deal worth around $13bn (£10bn), the biggest deal by a major Wall Street bank since the financial crisis. The deal will help Morgan Stanley boost its wealth management division, which chief executive James Gorman is trying to grow in order to help the [...]
PPI, profit drop, and a mixed 2020: Five takeaways from Lloyds’ results February 20, 2020 Lloyds reported a 26 per cent drop in annual profit on Thursday, with Britain’s largest domestic lender hit by a rise in bad debts and billions of pounds of customer compensation payout. Chief executive Antonio Horta-Osorio said the results demonstrated a “solid financial performance in a challenging external market”, but analysts have described them as [...]