CMA banking review pushes up banks’ share prices August 9, 2016 Shares in the UK's largest lenders rose this morning, after the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) published its "shake up" of the UK's banking sector. Shares in Barclays were up two per cent at 160.6p in lunchtime trading, while RBS rose 1.9 per cent to 188.2p. Meanwhile, Lloyds and HSBC both edged up 0.5 per cent, to [...]
How the big high street banks responded to the CMA report August 9, 2016 There's been a lot of noise in the banking sector this morning, as people try to digest the recommendations laid out in the Competition and Markets Authority's (CMA) final report from its retail banking investigation. Among the most eye-catching announcements was that of the Open Banking programme, which will enable personal and small business customers to share [...]
Banking bazooka? CMA report great for fintech, costly for banks August 9, 2016 The competition watchdog has today handed fintech startups a bazooka for their mission of disrupting banks, with new rules for making data more open to improve customer choice. The so-called big four – HSBC, Lloyds, Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland – and other smaller high street banks will have to work together to create standards for sharing [...]
The Cambrian Explosion: What does the CMA report mean for alt fi? August 11, 2016 After a two-year investigation into retail and SME banking, this week the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) mandated the adoption of Open Banking by early 2018. Open Banking will be underpinned by secure authorised data gateways called application programming interfaces (APIs), the pipes of modern software technology. Just as our Android or Apple smartphones opened [...]
The CMA missed its opportunity to level the playing field for challengers and end the banking oligopoly August 9, 2016 To deal with a problem, first you need to recognise it. While yesterday’s final report from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) on UK retail and SME banking identifies the problems of the market, it has fallen short when it comes to making recommendations that will address the underlying issues. The report makes several constructive suggestions [...]
Four things you need to know about today’s CMA retail banking report August 9, 2016 The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has published its long-awaited final recommendations for the UK's banking sector. Since the probe first launched in July 2014, the competition watchdog has faced intense scrutiny from all sides, with smaller institutions hoping the CMA will break up the “Big Five” banks – RBS, Lloyds, HSBC, Santander and Barclays [...]
The CMA’s retail banking recommendations have been slammed by experts addressing parliament’s Treasury Select Committee June 7, 2016 The Competition and Markets Authority's (CMA) work on the retail banking market is a failed opportunity, MPs have been told. One challenger bank boss said that the concentration risk in the market will take “decades” to unwind, speaking at a Treasury Select Committee hearing earlier today. Meanwhile, a former Competition Commission member said that the provisional recommendations issued [...]
MPs sound alarm over CMA remedy for energy price comparison sites July 21, 2016 MPs have written to new business secretary Greg Clark, urging him not to implement a Competition and Markets Authority recommendation which would no longer require energy price comparison sites to show potential switchers the whole market. The energy and climate change committee warned that the move could undermine consumer trust in the energy market and strangle competition. [...]
How have bank share prices reacted to the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) retail banking investigation? August 9, 2016 Investors were decidedly nonplussed by the Competition and Market Authority (CMA)'s recommendations for an "open banking" revolution in the UK's retail banking sector this morning. Share prices at London-listed organisations moved in most directions, with the big lenders slightly outperforming the market, but challengers heading both up and down – suggesting traders aren't convinced the CMA's work [...]