Digital finance technology is wonderful, but we must design it with consumers’ best interests at heart January 10, 2019 Every morning, I browse my phone as I commute to work. I check my emails, the news, Twitter, and increasingly I open my various finance apps. I recently logged into my investment platform app and made a new investment – £1,000 in a startup Swedish retailer. Once the money was invested, I was applauded with [...]
Mifid II launched one year ago and financial brokers are embracing the opportunity January 10, 2019 A year ago, the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II, commonly referred to as Mifid II, came into force. Arguably the most ambitious and wide-sweeping regulatory reform of the financial services industry in the last decade, it was touted as the death knell of sell-side equity research. Mifid II’s aim was to enhance transparency and [...]
TSB backs Met with £200,000 fund to fight fraud in London after last year’s IT chaos January 9, 2019 Bank TSB has invested £200,000 in a partnership with the Metropolitan Police to fight fraud and cybercrime. The bank, which suffered a string of IT outages last year that led to the exit of its chief executive Paul Pester, said the scheme was aimed at fraud prevention and enforcement. TSB was hit by extreme levels [...]
Virgin Money and Aberdeen Standard Investments sign agreement for investment and pensions joint venture January 9, 2019 Virgin Money and Aberdeen Standard Investments (ASI) have signed an agreement for a new investment and pensions joint venture. ASI will acquire 50 per cent of Virgin Money Unit Trust Managers Limited for at least £40m, the companies announced today, and take over the management of its £3.7bn retail assets. The deal, which is designed [...]
Instability is the new norm, and banks must learn to weather it January 9, 2019 Global financial markets stumbled into 2019, having endured their worst December since 1931. Both the Dow Jones and the S&P 500 indices fell by nearly nine per cent over the Christmas month. For the financial sector, this has refocused attention on the worsening political and economic backdrop for 2019. Politically, instability is becoming the new [...]
Deutsche Bank to cut bonuses after tough year for Germany’s biggest bank January 8, 2019 Deutsche Bank is set to slash its bonus pool by around 10 per cent after a torrid year for Germany’s biggest bank. The bank’s board could also be more selective in its bonus pay in a bid to keep its highest earners, Bloomberg first reported. In 2017 the German lender dished out €2.2bn (£2bn) but [...]
Fintech unicorn Monzo to appoint former Northern Rock boss to banking board January 8, 2019 Digital bank Monzo has appointed the former head of failed bank Northern Rock to its board, as the startup aims for growth in 2019. The fintech firm is to announce Gary Hoffman as its non-executive chairman tomorrow, as first reported by Sky News, replacing Baroness Kingsmill who has chaired Monzo since 2015. Hoffman will bring [...]
HSBC slammed over controversial ‘anti-Brexit’ ad campaign January 8, 2019 HSBC is facing criticism over an advertising campaign stating the UK is “not an island” amid complaints it is anti-Brexit. The bank’s new campaign, launched last week, highlights the influence of other cultures on life in the UK. The posters and accompanying video celebrate Britons’ penchant for foreign imports, such as Columbian coffee, American films [...]
Barclays activist investor calls for vote on boardroom shake-up January 7, 2019 Edward Bramson’s ongoing feud with Barclays escalated this evening after the activist investor said he would seek shareholder approval for a bid to make changes on the board of Britain’s third biggest bank. In a letter to investors through his Sherborne investment arm, which controls a 5.5 per cent stake in the bank, Bramson said [...]
World Bank President Jim Yong Kim in shock resignation January 7, 2019 The global development community was left stunned this evening after World Bank President Jim Yong Kim unexpectedly resigned. The abrupt announcement means that Kim, who was not due to leave the role until 2022, will be leaving his post at the start of next month for a role in the private sector. In a statement [...]