Transparency concerns as FCA makes short sellers anonymous October 28, 2025 Firms short-selling UK-quoted companies will no longer have to reveal their identities in the latest deregulation drive by the UK’s financial watchdog. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is consulting on a rule change to suspend disclosures of the companies that hold a short position in listed businesses, instead only publishing the total short positions in [...]
Labour’s payments regulation overhaul more ‘reshuffle than reform’ October 28, 2025 The Labour government’s plan for a payments system revolution has fallen flat, a top trade body has warned, despite the Treasury’s promise of an “ambitious rethink” of regulatory structure. Chancellor Rachel Reeves unveiled her National Payments Vision (NPV) in her 2024 Mansion House address where she said the plan would include “decisive action to progress [...]
Motor finance: Where do the banks, regulator and Treasury stand? October 24, 2025 The UK banking sector had hoped the Supreme Court’s motor finance ruling would finally switch off the hazard lights and allow lenders to return to business as usual. The industry was handed a lukewarm win by the highest court in the land, who ruled in favour of the banks on two out of three cases. [...]
Lloyds finance boss refuses to rule out motor finance legal challenge October 23, 2025 The finance boss of Lloyds Banking Group has refused to rule out a legal challenge to the financial watchdog’s motor finance redress scheme after the bank’s provision for payouts under the scheme dealt a blow to its bottom line. William Chalmers, the chief financial officer of Lloyds, said the FTSE 100 giant was “concerned” about [...]
Lloyds profit slides 36 per cent after hiking motor finance provisions October 23, 2025 Lloyds Banking Group recorded a major hit to profit in the third quarter after the group was forced to nearly-double its provisions for the motor finance scandal. The bank posted a third-quarter profit before tax of £1.2bn, falling 36 per cent from the £1.8bn recorded in 2024. For the year-to-date the FTSE 100 titan has [...]
Barclays near-quadruples provisions for motor finance scandal October 22, 2025 Barclays has followed suit with its banking peers with a major hike to its motor finance provisions after the financial watchdog launched its industry redress scheme. The FTSE 100 titan set aside an extra £235m for the car mis-selling scandal, taking total provisions to £325m. Barclays operated in the motor finance market under Clydesdale Financial [...]
Lloyds boss: Motor finance redress wipes 20-year profit off industry October 21, 2025 The boss of Lloyds Banking Group has warned the financial watchdog’s motor finance redress scheme could knock two decades of profitability off the car finance industry. Charlie Nunn, the bank’s chief, has doubled down on the lender’s previous warning shots, adding he didn’t think the scheme was “proportionate”. The FTSE 100 titan has pulled no [...]
Analysts dampen outlook for FTSE 100 banks as tax clouds gather October 21, 2025 The UK’s top banks are gearing up for a third-quarter reporting season where all eyes will be on the Labour government’s second Autumn Budget. Speculation of a bank tax hike has dominated chatter around the sector in recent months and elevated fears across the City. It also comes alongside flaring tensions between the lending industry [...]
FCA’s diversity requirements go ‘far beyond remit’, report warns October 21, 2025 The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and other public sector diversity initiatives go “far beyond” remits set by legal requirements, a report has warned, prompting Reform UK to vow to reset systems to reward “talent and merit alone”. Analysis in a paper by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) has suggested that diversity policies advanced by [...]
Secure Trust Bank, Bank of Ireland up motor finance provisions October 20, 2025 Secure Trust Bank and the Bank of Ireland have added themselves to a growing list of businesses upping their provisions ahead of a flurry of claims expected in connection with the motor finance scandal. Following the publication of the UK finance watchdog’s review into the saga, Secure Trust Bank said it had more than tripled [...]