HSBC shares sink to bottom of FTSE 100 despite profits topping City forecasts October 25, 2022 HSBC’s profits slid over 40 per cent in the third quarter of the year as it was hit by rising loan losses and hefty charges relating to the sale of its French retail business.
Office market booms as Tfl passenger numbers climb again January 28, 2022 Take up of Central London office space soared at the end of last year, in a major boost for the City’s revival this winter. Tenants took up 3.2m sq ft of London office space in the final quarter, exclusive data from real estate firm CBRE revealed. This was the strongest take-up since the end of [...]
Only transparency about emissions will stop the angry shouts of climate protesters May 10, 2022 What do ABBA, top hats and champagne all have in common? For starters, they all made an appearance at HSBC’s recent annual general meeting of shareholders. A vocal group of climate activists upended the global bank’s proceedings when they descended on Southbank’s Queen Elizabeth Hall wearing top hats, sipping from champagne flutes and even breaking [...]
There’s nothing wrong with plain speaking… January 10, 2022 ONE COMPLAINT of business journalists is that some chief executives, drilled to within an inch of their life by a phalanx of corporate communications professionals, have on occasion been known to not perhaps be the most interesting interview subjects. It’s understandable: one doesn’t get to the top of corporate behemoths, as a rule, by shooting [...]
Culture of silence: One in four women in financial services want to leave work due to menopause October 18, 2021 Pervasive taboos, a “culture of silence” in the workplace, and the impact of the physical symptoms of the menopause are all contributing to a blockage in the retention and leadership pipeline of women in financial services, according to new research. For a quarter (25 per cent) of women working in the UK’s financial services industry [...]
British Business Bank chief Louis Taylor on risk: ‘Even if the worst happens, you learn’ July 20, 2023 For a man running a bank that has found itself at the centre of a fraud storm over the past two years, Louis Taylor talks warmly about the concept of risk. The state-owned British Business Bank he now runs shot to household-name status through the pandemic and enjoyed a moment in the sun as the [...]
Barclays freezes ex-boss Staley’s bonus until Epstein dispute resolution February 23, 2022 Barclays has frozen all scheduled bonus payments to its former boss Jes Staley until a dispute between he and Britain’s financial regulators over the way he characterised his relationship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein is resolved. The high street lender said today all bonus payments, which amount to around 70 per cent of Staley’s total [...]
More banker bonuses on the way this week February 21, 2022 Big banker bonuses are back on the table amid a robust rebound in lenders’ profits, annual results are expected to reveal this week. The City is expecting Barclays, which publishes finals on Wednesday, to register a £8.1bn profit haul, up sharply from £3.1bn in 2020 when the pandemic sent the banking sector spiralling. Investors will [...]
Will digital currencies wane or flourish as banks adopt ISO 20022? November 11, 2022 Jonny Fry takes a look at the adoption of ISO 20022 by banks next year, and how its introduction will affect cryptocurrency.
Higher interest rates and rebounding loan demand to boost UK banks February 10, 2022 A higher interest rate environment and a rebound in loan demand is set to boost Britain’s biggest lenders. UK banks’ net interest margins will widen on the Bank of England and the world’s biggest central banks launching a rate hike cycle this year to tame inflation, analysts are betting. Final quarter earnings for UK banks [...]