Muddy Waters: Shortsellers are targeting Neil Woodford investments after Burford Capital August 8, 2019 The head of Muddy Waters has warned that shortsellers are attacking Neil Woodford investments a day after he shorted Burford Capital, burning almost £1.8bn off the value of the company. “Shortsellers do definitely look for where Neil Woodford is invested, especially when he’s invested outside of large cap value,” said Carson Block. Read more: Burford [...]
Co-op Bank narrows losses but warns over mortgage competition August 8, 2019 The UK’s Co-operative Bank cut its losses in the first half of the year but said “margin headwinds” due to mortgage competition were holding it back. Read more: Metro Bank share price plummets in wake of profit drop The figures Co-op Bank made a statutory pre-tax loss of £38.5m in the first half, its interim [...]
Banks, don’t forget about the human touch August 8, 2019 Technology is transforming how we all live our lives. This is true in every part of the country and in every sector, and banking is no different. But the challenge for banks is to harness the possibilities of rapidly-evolving technology for the benefit of our customers. New banking tech affects how we live our lives, [...]
Burford left reeling as shortseller takes aim at business August 8, 2019 Shares in London-listed litigation funder Burford Capital crashed 45 per cent yesterday following a scathing report from shortseller Muddy Waters. The incendiary document confirmed that Muddy Waters now holds a short position on Burford, which it described as “a poor business masquerading as a great one”. Read more: Shares crash as short seller Muddy Waters savages [...]
London Deutsche Bank trader charged in Germany for ‘VAT fraud’ August 7, 2019 A trader who worked at Deutsche Bank in London has been charged by German prosecutors for his suspected role in VAT fraud. A 48-year-old Austrian is “accused of having participated as a member of a gang in a VAT carousel” connected to €145m of evaded tax, a statement from the Frankfurt Attorney General’s office said. [...]
Unicredit cuts 2019 revenue guidance despite profit jump August 7, 2019 Unicredit slashed its revenue target for the full-year this morning, as interest rate headwinds and a global slowdown takes its toll on Italy’s largest bank. Revenue guidance for the year has been cut to €18.7bn (£17.2bn), falling from a previous estimate of €19.8bn. Read more: Commerzbank now warns its 2019 profit target looks ambitious UniCredit [...]
Burford Capital attacks short sellers as shares plunge 40 per cent August 7, 2019 Burford Capital has accused short sellers of spooking investors as its share price entered freefall for the second day in a row this morning. Shares in the litigation finance company dropped 20 per cent yesterday, and have continued their plunge today. Read more: Burford Capital snipes back at critical analysts Burford Capital’s share price was [...]
Commerzbank warns its 2019 profit target now looks ‘ambitious’ August 7, 2019 Germany’s second-biggest lender Commerzbank said its net profit was unchanged in the second quarter from a year earlier, as it described “a very challenging environment”. Commerzbank, which was set to merge with its bigger rival Deutsche Bank this year before the deal fell through, said its target of a slight year-on-year increase in net income [...]
HSBC worries mount after CEO exit August 5, 2019 | City Talk By Graeme Evans from interactive investor. Ousting CEO John Flint after 18 months highlights the pressures on HSBC, despite robust H1 results today. As if the current geopolitical and monetary policy concerns were not bad enough, HSBC (LSE:HSBA) investors now have succession risk to worry about after the bank’s surprise decision to part company with John Flint only 18 months [...]
Fintech darling Monzo urges 500,000 users to change PINs after security bug August 5, 2019 Digital challenger bank Monzo has urged users to change their PINs after admitting a data breach allowed members of staff to access security information. The fintech said around a fifth of customers were affected by the leak, which saw some PINs stored in encrypted log files that Monzo engineers had access to. Read more: Losses [...]