Bank of England asks UK banks about readiness for negative rates October 12, 2020 The Bank of England has asked UK banks for information about their readiness for zero or negative interest rates, following its announcement last month that it was considering taking rates negative if needed. In a letter today, deputy BoE governor Sam Woods told lenders: “we are requesting specific information about your firm’s current readiness to [...]
London-based digital lender for the wealthy gets UK banking licence October 8, 2020 A London-based digital lender targeting Britain’s affluent savings market, has received a restricted banking licence from UK regulators. Monument, which is targeting professionals, entrepreneurs and investors with a net worth of £250,000 to £5m, received an “authorisation with restriction” licence this week. The fintech, which is planning to launch in 2021, said it will offer [...]
UK and EU should reach trade deal, says BoE governor Andrew Bailey October 8, 2020 Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey said he believed the UK and European Union should be able to reach a trade deal. “I do think it is in the interests of both sides – let’s be blunt – to get an agreement,” he said. Read more: BoE’s Andy Haldane warns against ‘Chicken Licken’ economic pessimism [...]
Bank of England’s Haskel keeps door open to negative rates October 5, 2020 Bank of England (BoE) rate-setter Jonathan Haskel sees some possible benefits from cutting interest rates below zero, though it was too soon to reach a firm conclusion on this. The BoE, which cut interest rates to a record-low 0.1% in March, is now looking at whether it is technically feasible to cut its main interest [...]
BoE’s Andy Haldane warns against ‘Chicken Licken’ economic pessimism September 30, 2020 The Bank of England’s chief economist said there was a risk that overly pessimistic “Chicken Licken” views about the impact of Covid-19 would hold back Britain’s economic recovery from the pandemic. In a speech given today, Andy Haldane said that authorities such as the BoE have a “public responsibility to avoid economic catastrophizing” during the [...]
Evidence on negative rates ‘encouraging’, says Bank of England policymaker September 27, 2020 The Bank of England has seen “encouraging” evidence that negative interest rates could help the British economy during the downturn triggered by the coronavirus, a policymaker has said. Silvana Tenreyro, who sits on the Bank’s monetary policy committee (MPC), said the committee has been discussing what options it has in its toolkit, including “how effective [...]
The corporate bond market is set for a record year — but also a dangerous and dysfunctional one August 26, 2020 2020 is going to be a record year for the corporate bonds market. New issue investment grade volume in the first half of the year exceeded $2.5 trillion. Records are also being broken in high-yield junk debt, despite a rising corporate default rate. Last week, the US primary market broke through $1.3 trillion of new [...]
Former BoE governor Sir Mervyn King warns that increasing QE would be ‘premature’ August 3, 2020 The former Governor of the Bank of England has warned that it would be premature for the UK’s central bank to expand the quantitative easing scheme too early, saying such a step would be premature. Speaking to the Coronanomics podcast, King, who held the top job at the Old Lady of Threadneedle Street during the [...]
RBS chairman calls on Bank of England to lift dividend curbs July 3, 2020 The chairman of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has called on the Bank of England to lift curbs on dividends by the autumn to make lenders more attractive to investors. The BoE had told lenders in March to scrap buybacks and dividends until the end of 2020 to bolster their finances in the face of [...]
UK High Court rules against Nicolas Maduro in Venezuelan gold case July 2, 2020 The High Court has ruled against Venezuela’s government in a legal battle over who controls $1bn (£799m) of gold reserves stored in the Bank of England. The Court ruled that the UK had “unequivocally recognised opposition leader Juan Guaido as president”, rather than Nicolas Maduro, in a severe blow to Maduro’s cash-strapped administration. The case [...]