HSBC bonus pot swells to 14-year record despite profit hit February 25, 2026 HSBC announced its bonus pot had swelled to an over decade high on Wednesday despite the bank recording a hit in annual profit as hefty impairment charges helped offset a boom in the bank’s wealth management operations. The FTSE 100 banking titan recorded a seven per cent drop in pre-tax profit for the annual year, [...]
Natwest and Lloyds shares lead FTSE 100 rally after bruising week February 16, 2026 Natwest led a rally across Britain’s banking giants on Monday morning as lenders patched their wounds after a bruising week on the stock market. The bank topped the FTSE 100’s risers at the starting bell, gaining over four per cent in early trading to 603.60p. Barclays was shortly behind, advancing over 2.5 per cent to [...]
Why Natwest splashed the cash for a slice of the wealth management pie February 10, 2026 Natwest has opened its wallet for its biggest deal since the financial crisis, as the bank revives its appetite for acquisitions after the remaining government-owned shares in the business were finally sold. But after the FTSE 100 firm watched its share price sink into the red on Monday, will there be a sense of buyer’s [...]
Santander takes jab at City watchdog as motor finance bill balloons February 4, 2026 Santander has took another major swipe at the City watchdog after the banking giant hiked its provisions for the motor finance scandal. As it reported full-year results, the bank said its bill for the car mis-selling saga had reached £461m, building on a previous £295m provision. It follows the bank’s UK arm missing its third-quarter [...]
Exclusive: Starling’s top investor withdraws support for London IPO February 4, 2026 Starling’s elusive billionaire backer has gone cold on his ambition for the digital bank to list in London, Morning Wire can reveal, in a move that will heighten fears of the fintech heading to New York for its highly-anticipated IPO. Harald McPike had lobbied for the group to launch its initial public offering in London [...]
Lloyds shares rally after profit boost and £1.8bn buyback January 29, 2026 Shares in Lloyds Banking Group jumped on Thursday as the bank launched a £1.8bn share buyback after breezing past profit expectations in the 2025 financial year. The FTSE 100 banking giant recorded a 12 per cent jump to pre-tax profit in the full-year netting £6.7bn and easily surpassing the £6.4bn pencilled in by internal analysts. [...]
Nationwide reigns supreme in bank switch war as Santander falters January 29, 2026 Nationwide maintained its top spot in the tussle for current account switchers in the third quarter of 2025 as the mutual sweetened its offer for new joiners. The building society – which was slapped with a £44m fine in December for failing to flag Covid fraud – secured a net gain of 41,450 switchers after [...]
Nato and Europe must be ‘stronger,’ JP Morgan’s Dimon tells Davos January 21, 2026 The world’s most influential banker has said the world is “simply not safe” and called for a stronger Nato and Europe in a chilling warning to the economic elite at Davos. Speaking at the World Economic Forum, JP Morgan’s top boss Jamie Dimon said the eyes of the world “woke up” after Russia’s invasion of [...]
EU banking rules could ‘choke investment’ from booming City January 14, 2026 The European Union threatens derailing its economic growth through changes to banking regulation after London beefed up its lending capacity following a Brexit boom. The 27-state bloc is set to bring in new legislation which will effectively ban non-EU banks from providing core banking services – such as lending and taking deposits – without establishing [...]
Starling revs up Engine with City hiring spree December 16, 2025 Starling is motoring into 2026 with its foot firmly on the pedal, injecting a fresh pump of gas into the group’s technology arm. The UK fintech veteran is planning to shift its software-as-a-service (Saas) banking platform into top gear with a major hiring spree across London. The platform, known as Engine, is a subsidiary of [...]