Monetary policy is no job for the politicians March 22, 2019 At a time of such sweeping uncertainty, anything predictable is reassuring. This week, that reassurance came from the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee, which yesterday voted unanimously to keep interest rates on hold. This had been widely expected, but that doesn’t mean that central bank decisions should be taken for granted. Across the Atlantic, the [...]
Deutsche Bank drops down investment bank table while Barclays gains ground March 21, 2019 Deutsche Bank has fallen below its US rivals in a ranking of investment banks in Europe, adding to the under-fire German lender’s woes. Citigroup and Goldman Sachs both jumped above Deutsche Bank in a ranking of the world’s investment banks at the end of last year. JP Morgan maintained the top spot in both the [...]
Data breaches drive losses from fraud up to £1.2bn March 21, 2019 The theft of personal information following data breaches drove an increase in money stolen through fraud to £1.2bn last year. A number of well known companies suffered high profile data breaches in 2018, including Facebook, Google, and British Airways. Read more: Fraud office launches investigation into London Capital & Finance Unauthorised fraud, where the account [...]
Challenger banks Oaknorth and Monzo team up to launch savings accounts March 21, 2019 Fintech banks Oaknorth and Monzo have launched a partnership that will allow Monzo users access to a high-interest savings account for the first time. The challenger bank tie-up will allow customers to open a range of savings accounts, with rates of up to 1.55 per cent, within minutes in the Monzo app. An easy-access cash [...]
Fintech unicorn Oaknorth more than trebles profits continuing rapid growth March 20, 2019 London fintech unicorn Oaknorth more than trebled profits last year and grew its loan facilities to £2.2bn as the challenger bank’s rapid growth continued. The digital bank, which provides loans for fast-growing British businesses, has now lent more than £2.5bn since its launch in September 2015. Read more: UK fintech unicorn Oaknorth to nail $440m round [...]
City Moves for 20 March – who’s switching jobs at Crowell & Moring, Delta Capita and DWF? March 20, 2019 Who’s switching jobs today? Crowell & Moring Andrew Knight is joining Crowell & Moring’s London office as a partner in its corporate and financial services practices to strengthen the firm’s ability to advise clients on debt finance and asset-based lending.His practice focuses on international financial law in the context of asset-based lending, syndications, restructurings, loan [...]
CYBG raises business banking fees to ‘stay competitive’ just weeks after RBS competition fund snub March 19, 2019 Clydesdale and Yorkshire bank owner CYBG has increased its business banking fees to remain “competitive” just weeks after missing out on a share of a £425m RBS competition fund. CYBG was snubbed in favour of three challenger banks, Metro, Starling and ClearBank last month despite investing heavily in its bid. Read more: Three challenger banks [...]
Barclays rallies shareholders to vote down Ed Bramson’s ‘destructive and destabilising’ board bid March 19, 2019 Barclays has issued a plea to shareholders to reject Ed Bramson’s bid for a seat on the board, warning his presence would be “destabilising and destructive” to the bank. The bank published a comprehensive 1,500 words explanation as to why shareholders should fend off the activist investor’s advances at its AGM in May. Bramson, whose [...]
UBS fined £27.6m by City watchdog for transaction reporting failures March 19, 2019 UBS has been fined £27.59m by the City watchdog for misreporting 135.8m transactions. The Swiss investment bank failed to provide complete and accurate information in relation to 86.6m reportable transactions, and also wrongly reported 49.1m transactions over a period of nine years and six months, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said. Read more: Former graduate [...]
Standard Life Aberdeen wins dispute with Lloyds over management of £100bn assets March 19, 2019 Standard Life Aberdeen has won its legal dispute with Lloyds Banking Group over the management of £100bn in assets. An arbitral tribunal has ruled that Lloyds was not entitled to give notice in February last year to terminate its investment management contract with Standard Life Aberdeen. Read more: Standard Life Aberdeen scraps co-chief executive structure The [...]