Tailed in Zurich: How the Credit Suisse spy drama unfolded October 1, 2019 Not many employees start their first day in the new job with a spying scandal hanging over their head. But so it is for Iqbal Khan, the star banker who began life at UBS today against a backdrop of car chases, cocktail party bust-ups and private investigations. While it may read like the plot of [...]
Credit Suisse operating chief resigns after botched spying investigation October 1, 2019 A top executive at Credit Suisse has resigned today following a botched spying scandal that has rocked the world of Swiss banking. Chief operating officer Pierre-Olivier Bouee has stepped down after an internal probe found that he alone initiated surveillance of the bank’s former head of wealth management. Read more: Activists circling Metro Bank Tidjane [...]
City minister John Glen warns against turning away from EU rules post-Brexit September 30, 2019 City minister John Glen has warned that the UK must think carefully about its regulation options post-Brexit, arguing that EU rules had been the “hallmark of our credibility”. The economic secretary to the Treasury struck a cautious tone while discussing regulation for financial services sector, saying that while it was important that the UK “maximised” [...]
Whitbread share price tumbles on Barclays downgrade September 30, 2019 Whitbread suffered a fall in its share price this morning after Barclays downgraded the UK’s biggest hospitality company. The Premier Inn owner’s share price has tumbled five per cent during trading today after its rating was cut by Barclays, which moved its recommendation from ‘Overweight’ to ‘Equal Weight’. Read more: Markets mixed on US-China trade [...]
UK consumer credit growth slows to five-year low September 30, 2019 British customers increased their borrowing at the slowest rate since 2014 in August, official statistics showed today, in a sign that Brexit uncertainty is weighing on consumer confidence. Read more: Pound staggers as Bank of England hints at interest rate cut The annual growth rate of lending to British consumers continued to slow in August, [...]
Activist investors circling Metro Bank September 29, 2019 Activist investors are eyeing up Metro Bank after a failed bond offering and contemplating taking a stake or buying up parts of the business that could be profitable. Read more: Metro Bank shares plummet to record low after scrapping of bond issue US raider Elliott Advisors is one of a group of investors circling the [...]
Funding Circle investors face four month wait to withdraw cash September 28, 2019 Funding Circle is conducting an internal review after it was revealed investors are having to wait more than 16 weeks to withdraw cash. The peer-to-peer platform told The Times it was “exploring a range of options” to tackle the problem delaying investors from selling their loans in its secondary market. Funding Circle has around 80,000 [...]
Former Estonian regulator: Danish authorities did not take Danske Bank concerns seriously September 27, 2019 The former head of Estonia’s financial regulator has hit out at Danish authorities for not taking concerns about Danske Bank seriously, ahead of what is thought to be history’s biggest ever money-laundering scandal. Raul Malmstein criticised his counterparts in Denmark for not spotting the extent of the problem. Authorities have since identified around €200bn (£178bn) [...]
Bank of England could cut interest rates if Brexit uncertainty persists, says MPC member September 27, 2019 The Bank of England may need to cut interest rates even if a no-deal Brexit is avoided, according to a member of the monetary policy committee (MPC), which sets the rates. Michael Saunders has said that the Bank may have to cut rates if the “slow puncture” effect on the economy from Brexit uncertainty persists. [...]
How can online-only banks win over cautious consumers? September 27, 2019 The direction of travel for banking is clear – we’re moving away from highstreets and onto smartphones. But tech should not outpace consumer confidence, and lessons on how to do that can be drawn from the payments industry. This week Which? reported that a third of UK bank branches have closed in the last five [...]