Prudential hit with £23.8m fine for annuity mis-selling September 30, 2019 Prudential has been fined £23.8m for failures related to non-advised sales of annuities, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said today. The company has also offered customers approximately £110m in compensation for its breaches. The City watchdog said Prudential’s non-advised annuity business focused on selling annuities directly to existing Prudential pensions holders. Read more: City watchdog [...]
Lloyds shareholders lose £385m HBOS High Court case November 15, 2019 Lloyds shareholders today lost a £385m High Court case against the bank’s acquisition of HBOS at the height of the financial crisis. England’s highest court rejected a claim from a group of 5,803 investors that they were “mugged” when the bank recommended the 2009 deal without revealing the state of HBOS’ finances. Read more: First [...]
Online-only banks set for growth spurt but questions over profit linger September 3, 2019 The UK’s digital-only banks are set to treble their sales in the year ahead, as they ramp up their efforts to challenge high street rivals and disrupt the retail lending market. Despite widespread concerns over their long-term profitability, fast-growing online lenders are on track to amass 35m new customers globally over the next 12 months, [...]
Santander profits dive 18 per cent as UK mortgage margins squeezed July 23, 2019 Santander posted an 18 per cent plunge in second quarter profits due to one-off acquisition costs and rising pressure on mortgage margins in the UK. Read more: Santander ‘offered Andrea Orcel 52m euros’ in botched CEO plan The figures Profit before tax fell 18 per cent year on year to €1.39bn (£1.25bn) between April and [...]
Banks can’t ignore the disruptors any longer September 17, 2019 Inside one of the City of London’s oldest buildings, bankers are discussing the future. Amid trade war turmoil, Brexit uncertainty and climate change concerns, there is one issue above all that dominates the agenda; digitalisation. It is a topic at the heart of the 23rd World Conference of Banking Institutes held at the City’s Guildhall, [...]
Xperia 1 review: Sony’s new flagship is a tower of power June 19, 2019 Look at this incredibly tall lad. Sony’s new flagship, the Xperia 1 is a monolith, a towering glass slab that looks just as likely to trigger the next stage of human evolution as it is to book you an Uber. Take this thing outside and you’d need to let air traffic control know ahead of [...]
FCA’s guidelines are undervaluing consumers’ PPI claims by billions of pounds, barristers allege | City A.M. April 27, 2018 Barristers from St John’s Buildings are claiming that consumers could be underpaid by billions of pounds if banks follow the financial regulator’s guidance on Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) payouts. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is ignoring legal cases which mean consumers may be owed around £14bn more than under its own guidelines, the barristers have [...]
Death of the deposit: A new type of rental model is emerging, but could it be the next PPI scandal in the making? April 10, 2018 Most renters will be familiar with the drama that surrounds deposits. The average deposit in London is an eye-watering £1,765, according to the Tenancy Deposit Scheme. But saving up hundreds of pounds is only half of the battle. Recouping all of your cash at the end of your tenancy is often a huge headache, and [...]
Lloyds Bank profits jump despite increased PPI bill February 21, 2018 Lloyds Bank annual profits leapt by almost a quarter despite a jump in PPI payouts. The figures Net interest income rose eight per cent to £12.3bn while operating costs were one per cent higher at £8.2bn. Lloyds’ provision for PPI rose from £1bn to £1.7bn. Profit before tax was £5.3bn, up 24 per cent. Dividends [...]
Barclays boosts first-half profit 82 per cent to £3bn August 1, 2019 Barclays today posted first-half profit before tax of £3bn, an 82 per cent increase on the same period last year. Total income fell one per cent to £10.8bn. Return on tangible equity was 9.4 per cent, down from 11.6 per cent in the first half of 2018. The bank said it was targeting return of [...]