‘Fake news’: Deutsche Bank denies merger with UBS and Commerzbank September 26, 2018 Deutsche Bank has dismissed reports that it is considering a merger with UBS or Commerzbank as “fictions of the press”. Discussions about a tie-up with UBS had taken place in a strategy meeting with the supervisory board earlier in September, Handelsblatt, the German business daily, reported, citing unnamed sources. The sources reported that Deutsche Bank [...]
Barclays apologises for giving customers wrong PPI information September 26, 2018 Barclays has apologised for giving customers seeking compensation for mis-sold payment protection insurance (PPI) false information. The bank told a number of customers using claims management firms that they did not hold PPI policies when they did. Read more: PPI scandal turning Brits into 'fraudsters', Barclays boss claims A "very small percentage of customers" were [...]
Danske Bank’s British money laundering whistleblower reveals himself September 26, 2018 The internal whistleblower who helped raise the lid on the bank’s Estonian money laundering scandal has revealed himself to a Danish newspaper. Brit Howard Wilkinson, who was the Baltic head of Danske Markets, the bank’s investment arm, said he filed four reports to directors in Copenhagen warning them of unethical practices in Estonia. Read more: [...]
Debate: Are British high street banks a good opportunity for investors at the moment? September 26, 2018 Debate: Are British high street banks a good opportunity for investors at the moment? Yes – Richard Buxton is chief executive and a fund manager at Old Mutual Global Investors. As a long-term investor in UK banks, the most recent reporting season came as a welcome relief. The litany of conduct charges and regulatory [...]
Poll: Brexit won’t lead to financial services brain drain September 26, 2018 Just 630 UK finance jobs have moved abroad since the Brexit vote, a Reuters poll found today. It contrasts fears voiced immediately after the vote that leaving the EU could badly damage the UK’s financial services sector. Read more: Brexit: Rees-Mogg tells businesses to accept customs delays Reuters’ poll of 134 financial giants found [...]
Banco Santander appoints UBS’ Orcel as new chief executive September 25, 2018 Spain's largest bank today announced UBS' investment banking head Andrea Orcel would takeover as its chief executive from Jose Antonio Alvarez in early 2019. Alvarez will move to become the vice-chairman of Banco Santander, and the executive chairman of its Spanish division. Santander chairman Ana Botin said Orcel had been working with the bank [...]
Brits lost £500m to fraudsters in first half of 2018 September 25, 2018 Criminals lied and tricked their way to stealing £500m from the UK public in the first half of the year, new figures today reveal. While the finance industry managed to protect £2 in every £3 targeted by fraudsters, they managed to steal £503.4m, using it to fund terrorism, people smuggling and drug trafficking, according to trade association UK [...]
Q&A: Adam Tooze on the financial crisis, Trump and Canada after Brexit September 25, 2018 Ten years after the start of the financial crisis, Columbia University historian Adam Tooze’s epic work of economic history, Crashed, describes a world still coming to terms with its aftermath. He spoke to Morning Wire about the US, Canada, and where the next crash could come from. Why write this book [...]
Tesco Bank to face City watchdog’s largest ever cyber security fine September 24, 2018 The banking arm of supermarket chain Tesco could be facing a fine of more than £30m from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), over its role in a cyber hack on its systems in which numerous customer accounts were compromised. Tesco Bank is thought to be contesting the fine in active negotiations with the regulator, which could be reduced [...]
Euro zone banks led by Germany in hoarding more cash, European Central Bank says September 24, 2018 Banks in the euro zone, led by Germany, have been storing more and more money to avoid European Central Bank (ECB) charges. In a research bulletin, the ECB said the amount of vault cash held by Europe's major banks had increased by €21.1bn – to between March 2016 and December 2017, having been at €50.1bn [...]