What you need to know about the Bank of England’s stress test on Wednesday November 27, 2016 Wednesday will be judgement day for lenders across the UK, as the Bank of England is due to release its most recent set of stress test results. The annual stress test is designed to measure the financial health of the UK's seven major lenders – Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, Nationwide Building Society, the Royal Bank of [...]
Paying a dividend: Royal Bank of Scotland’s Irish subsidiary does what the UK group is still struggling to do November 25, 2016 Beleaguered lender Royal Bank of Scotland might not be able to make any money at a group level, but its Irish operations is raking in profits. In fact, Ulster Bank Ireland DAC (aka Ulster Bank) has made so much money, it said today it will pay a mammoth €1.5bn (£1.1bn) dividend to its loss-making UK parent. It [...]
There is a financial services-shaped hole in the government’s economic strategy November 24, 2016 Oscar Wilde famously wrote that “there is only one thing in life worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.” For anyone who works in the City, that seems a particularly pertinent quote right now. For Wednesday’s Autumn Statement – one of the biggest events in the economic policy calendar – [...]
EU pushes for banking rules to be brought in line with the rest of the world November 23, 2016 The European Commission has today unveiled a slew of potential reforms designed to keep the banking sector propped up in the event of an economic downturn and to bring the EU industry more in line with the rest of the world. Included among the proposals are tweaks to capital requirements to make them more sensitive to [...]
Things have changed but we’re doing well, says Paragon November 23, 2016 Challenger bank Paragon's shares jumped nearly four per cent in trading this morning after revealing increased profits over what the FTSE 250 lender called a "transitional year". The figures Underlying profit for the 12 months to 30 September rose by 9.1 per cent to £147m from £135m last year, while statutory profit before tax increased by 6.7 per cent to £143m. [...]
Goldman Sachs and Santander have left a major blockchain group November 22, 2016 Goldman Sachs and Santander have both exited one of tech's top blockchain consortiums which is backed by some of the world's biggest financial institutions. Both institutions have quit membership of the R3 group and will not be investing in its latest reported funding round. Santander did not comment on its decision to depart R3, however, it's understood it will [...]
The government has sold off more Lloyds shares November 22, 2016 The government has sold off more of its shares in Lloyds Bank bringing taxpayers' holding in the company below eight per cent. A further plan to sell shares to institutional investors was announced by the chancellor Phillip Hammond in October, ditching plans to offload them to retail investors. "Selling our shares in Lloyds Banking Group and [...]
They’re in the money: CYBG turns its first profit before tax in five years November 22, 2016 Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank Group (CYBG) has today revealed a full year profit before tax, its first in five years. The figures The banking group turned a full year profit before tax of £77m for the year ended September 2016, compared with a £285m loss the year before. However, the company was still making a loss once tax was taken [...]
Bank lobby boss Anthony Browne says it’s time to stop grieving over Brexit November 22, 2016 The head of the British Bankers' Association (BBA) last night declared “the time for grieving is over” in the wake of the Brexit vote. “We should stop looking back, roll up our sleeves and look to the future,” said Anthony Browne, speaking at the BBA’s annual dinner at Mansion House. Read more: Sir Martin Sorrell: Brexit [...]
“I wish we could find something”: Aberdeen Asset Management pulled out of bidding for Unicredit’s €3.5bn Pioneer fund unit November 21, 2016 Aberdeen Asset Management dropped a bid for Italian bank UniCredit’s Pioneer fund unit because the UK-listed firm could not afford the €3.5bn (£3bn) asking price. The fund manager made it through to the second round of bidding before withdrawing, chief executive Martin Gilbert revealed. Read more: Trading in Unicredit shares suspended as investors digest bank stress [...]