Dirty money in the City: NatWest pleads guilty to money laundering charges as CEO apologises October 7, 2021 NatWest pleaded guilty this morning at Westminster Magistrates’ Court to three counts of failing to comply with anti-money laundering legislation. The bank admitted failing to comply with laws over “large cash deposits” into a sole customer’s accounts. The firm pleaded guilty at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Thursday to three counts under regulation 45(1) of the [...]
NatWest snaps up children’s pocket money app RoosterMoney October 6, 2021 NatWest has acquired children’s pocket money app RoosterMoney. The bank plans to offer Rooster as part of its existing products and services in the coming months and said the acquisition is part of its strategy to help families and young people manage their cash more easily. The app currently has more than 130,000 UK users [...]
Natwest chairman Sir Howard Davies on the ‘pandexit’ to China, levelling-up and crypto September 30, 2021 Sir Howard Davies is as near as the UK gets to the continental ideal of a polymath who is equally at home in the worlds of arts, industry, finance and politics. While currently serving as the chairman of banking giant Natwest, he is a former director of the LSE, a professor at Sciences Po in [...]
L&G and NatWest to build green retirement homes in £500m joint venture August 4, 2021 Legal & General and NatWest Pension Trustee Limited (NWPTL) have announced a 15-year joint venture to deliver 5,100 zero carbon retirement homes. The £500 million deal will support Inspired Villages, L&G’s later living business, to create a portfolio of specialist, later-living properties across 34 sites with an estimated Gross Development Value of £4bn. Robert Waugh, [...]
UK banks bolster debt collection teams ahead of first Covid loan repayments July 6, 2021 The UK’s leading banks are bolstering their debt collection teams as the first repayments of emergency Covid loans fall due. Britain’s four largest banks have hired over 750 workers in their debt collection units in an effort to manage a wave of potential defaults. NatWest has taken on 150 extra staff to handle chasing Covid [...]
NatWest limits transfers to Binance and other crypto exchanges June 29, 2021 Concerns over investment scams and fraud has prompted NatWest to cap the daily amount customers can transfer to cryptocurrency exchanges, including Binance. The measure is intended to target several exchanges and digital asset firms. The maximum threshold differs depending on the platform and is around the thousands of pounds, NatWest said. The news was first reported [...]
NatWest’s Ulster Bank to sell €4.2bn worth of commercial lending to AIB June 28, 2021 The NatWest group and Ulster Bank in the Republic of Ireland (UBIDAC) have agreed with Allied Irish Banks (AIB) to sell the majority of its commercial lending for around €4.2bn. Around 280 workers will transfer from UBIDAC to AIB, one of Ireland’s largest banks, as part of the agreement, with the final number of roles [...]
UK banks’ profits slashed by more than half June 28, 2021 Big UK banks’ profits have slid by more than half over the last year, according to a ranking of the world’s largest lenders published today. UK lenders included in The Banker’s top 1,000 World Banks 2021 experienced a 53 per cent drop in profits. Losses were attributed to the severe damage the pandemic has inflicted [...]
Watchdog warns Monzo and NatWest over banking transaction history breaches June 22, 2021 Britain’s competition watchdog has issued a warning to banks including Monzo and NatWest over breaching rules requiring them to send banking transaction histories to former account holders. Nearly 150,000 customers were not provided with the necessary information quickly enough, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said today. Monzo was responsible for the largest portion of [...]
Brexit post-mortem for the City: London’s ‘Golden Age’ is over, warns NatWest chair Howard Davies May 18, 2021 Canada’s will remain a global financial centre but may not see the ‘golden age’ again, according to NatWest bank chairman Howard Davies. “Almost five years after the Brexit referendum, and five months after Britain’s exit from the European Union, the future of London as a global financial centre seems secure,” the City [...]