Goldman Sachs reportedly in talks to admit guilt and pay $2bn to settle 1MDB probe December 19, 2019 Goldman Sachs is in talks with the US government to pay a $2bn (£1.5bn) fine and admit guilt to resolve a criminal investigation into its role in the Malaysian 1MDB corruption scandal, according to the Wall Street Journal. The bank and US officials have discussed a deal under which a Goldman subsidiary in Asia would [...]
RBS clears out senior leadership at Natwest Markets investment bank December 19, 2019 The chief executive and chief financial officer of Royal Bank of Scotland’s (RBS) underperforming investment bank have stepped down, as new chief executive Alison Rose launches a shakeup of the executive team. The departure of Natwest Markets’ chief executive Chris Marks and chief financial officer Richard Place was announced in a statement on Thursday morning. [...]
Why the Bank of England should hold interest rates December 18, 2019 The Bank of England should vote to hold interest rates at their current level until there is more clarity over the economy’s direction in the New Year, some of the City’s top economists have argued. Ahead of the Bank’s key meeting tomorrow, Morning Wire’s shadow monetary policy committee has taken a wait-and-see approach by overwhelmingly [...]
Co-op owners sound out potential buyers December 18, 2019 The hedge fund owners of the Co-op Bank are reportedly on the hunt for potential buyers. Two-and-a-half years after the lender was rescued from collapse, the US investors which took control of the Co-op have started holding talks with possible bidders, according to Sky News. The broadcaster cited sources as saying that several British retail [...]
Bank of England to set up climate change stress tests December 18, 2019 The UK’s top banks and insurers may be tested together in 2021 for the financial impact of climate change, according to a new Bank of England paper. The tests would include three different scenarios and would assess how firms would deal with more frequent weather events and mass sell-offs of “brown assets” – those considered [...]
FCA overdraft rules: What they mean and which banks have hiked fees December 18, 2019 Millions of people may see changes to their available bank balances today as new overdraft rules from the financial watchdog covering how overdrafts are displayed come into effect. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has ordered UK banks to stop including overdrafts in funds marked as “available” to customers, in a move designed to make it [...]
European dealmakers top global M&A rankings for second consecutive year December 17, 2019 Europe was the only region to enjoy a positive M&A performance in 2019 amid a global downturn that will continue into 2020, according to new analysis. European dealmakers marginally outperformed their regional index by 0.6 percentage points over the last year despite a poor performance from UK buyers, according to research by insurer Willis Towers [...]
Bank of England governor vacancy gets 650 applications on Linkedin December 17, 2019 The role of the governor of the Bank of England has piqued the interest of Linkedin users as one of the most viewed jobs in 2019. Current incumbent Mark Carney is leaving the role on 31 January, with big names like Financial Conduct Authority boss Andrew Bailey and City grandee Helena Morrissey in the running [...]
No-deal Brexit fears trigger sell-off of Barclays, Lloyds and RBS shares December 17, 2019 Shares in Barclays, Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) all slumped in early trading after Boris Johnson brought back the spectre of a no-deal Brexit today. The trio failed to impress in yesterday’s Bank of England stress tests, where analysts warned that a strategy to double a 100-basis point capital buffer designed to protect [...]
Metro Bank launches cash delivery service to woo smaller firms December 16, 2019 Struggling high-street lender Metro Bank has launched a new on-demand cash collection and delivery service in a bid to attract the UK’s small and medium-sized businesses. The challenger bank has today started accepting registrations for the service, called MCash, that it said could help the 4.2m smaller UK firms that rely on physical money. Read [...]