Virgin Money share price falls after Barclays downgrade December 16, 2019 Shares in Virgin Money are down by more than five per cent today after Barclays downgraded its rating. Barclays analysts shifted Virgin Money’s stock from equal weight to underweight, signifying a pessimistic outlook, today. Read more: Virgin Money cancels dividend after £385m PPI hit The downgrade was made due to weak earnings, high growth in [...]
Canada grandees celebrate Conservative majority December 15, 2019 City heavyweights have lined up to express bullish excitement about the Square Mile’s prospects after the Conservatives’ landslide election win. Boris Johnson’s self-proclaimed “stonking” majority means the UKwill leave the EU by 31 January, which pundits say will provide desperately needed clarity for the financial sector. Read more: UK stocks surge after Conservative win ends [...]
Banking on the future: The boss of the Association of Foreign Banks speaks to CityA.M. December 12, 2019 Among the many services that the Association of Foreign Banks (AFB) provides to its global members is a guide on how to handle allegations of workplace harassment. Overseas banks with an office in the UK can pay their trade body a small fee for a 26-page report that highlights case studies of misconduct. It even [...]
Traders ready themselves for election all-nighter December 12, 2019 Armed with energy drinks, cigarettes (or vapes) and coffee, London’s financial traders are gearing up for a general election all-nighter. City workers will be glued to their terminals for the next 24 hours, preparing themselves for any swings in global financial markets as Britain’s voters head to the polling booths. Read more: Moody’s downgrades outlook [...]
Second law firm files multi-million foreign exchange class action against raft of banks December 11, 2019 A second law firm today launched a multi-million pound class action claim against a raft of banks which admitted rigging the foreign exchange markets. US litigation firm Hausfeld filed the claim in the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) today against Barclays, Citibank, the Royal Bank of Scotland, JP Morgan, UBS and MUFG Bank over their participation [...]
Credit Suisse cuts profit targets and pivots away from coal December 11, 2019 Credit Suisse faces missed targets and losses next year, after the bank cut its profitability target for 2020. The Swiss bank expects return on tangible equity – a profitability metric – to be over eight per cent, a drop from previous expectations of 10-11 per cent. Read more: Credit Suisse profit doubles amid rise in [...]
Moody’s downgrades outlook for European banks amid slowdown December 11, 2019 Credit ratings agency Moody’s has downgraded its outlook for European banks to negative, predicting that weak economic growth will cause loan quality and profitability to suffer over the coming year. The agency has already downgraded its outlook for the UK, German and global banking systems, again citing weak growth and a highly uncertain 2020. Read [...]
HSBC Swiss unit fined $192m over US tax evasion December 11, 2019 HSBC’s Swiss private banking arm will pay $192.4m (£146.7m) to resolve a US investigation into its role in helping wealthy Americans evade taxes using undeclared Swiss bank accounts. The US Department of Justice filed a charge of conspiracy to defraud the United States against HSBC Private Bank (Suisse), but agreed to drop the charges in [...]
Lloyds found to have failed customers hit by HBOS Reading branch fraudsters December 10, 2019 Lloyds Banking Group was found today to have failed in its compensation of customers who were hit by fraudsters in the Reading office of HBOS. A report by Sir Ross Cranston assessing the bank’s customer review, which was set up to compensate victims of the HBOS Reading fraud, found the review “did not achieve the [...]
Morgan Stanley fined €20m as French regulator accuses it of sovereign bond price manipulation December 10, 2019 Morgan Stanley has been issued a €20m (£16.8m) fine by French regulators after its London desk faced accusations of using “pump and dump” tactics to manipulate sovereign bond prices. France’s stock market regulator, the Autorite des Marches Financiers (AMF), said the bank manipulated prices on 14 French government bonds and eight Belgian bonds in June [...]