Warm reception for HSBC boosts chance it will move to Hong Kong April 27, 2015 HSBC’S bosses received a substantially warmer welcome from investors in Hong Kong than at its annual general meeting (AGM) in London on Friday, City A.M. understands. It comes at a crucial time for the UK-based banking giant as it considers moving its headquarters out of the UK, in response to the rising tide of regulation [...]
Week ahead: Brexit expected to knock GDP and earnings April 25, 2016 Concerns over Britain leaving the European Union are expected to have weighed on gross domestic product (GDP) over the first quarter of 2016. Economists are expecting to see growth cooled to 0.4 per cent in the last three months, when the latest numbers are released on Wednesday. In the fourth quarter of last year the [...]
Letting agent in Kent puts too much faith in City commuters, after claiming it only takes 25 minutes to get to London March 23, 2016 A letting agent in Kent has raised City worker's eyebrows, underestimating the commute from Sevenoaks to the financial district as it plugs a new block of flats up for sale. The agent claims that you can get from its latest new-build to London Bridge in less than half an hour, but City commuters say that's not physically possible. [...]
Bilderberg meets today: Here’s the full guestlist June 9, 2016 It may not be quite the shady organisation of conspiracy theorists' fevered imaginations – but the traditionally secretive Bilderberg conference nevertheless courts a certain amount of intrigue. This year, presumably in an effort to increase transparency, the conference's organisers have published a list of everyone attending (lizard people notwithstanding). The list, according to Bilderberg, is about [...]
Financial services have prospered inside the EU: Brexit would only see the City shrink June 21, 2016 How we vote on Thursday will have an impact on the whole country, but on Britain’s financial services industry in particular. There will, of course, be an immediate reaction in the markets. But Thursday’s decision will also help determine the future size and shape of our financial sector. Financial services are important because they are Britain’s single [...]
Why the mortgage market is due to be shaken up by the tech revolution June 3, 2016 Scaling the housing ladder can feel like climbing Everest and nowhere more so than in the capital. From saving every penny for a first deposit, to scouring the tube map for the next undiscovered, reasonably priced gem, the affordability challenges are well documented. But there are other unnecessary challenges driven by an outdated industry that [...]
Number of people worried they’ll never be able to afford to retire increases January 27, 2016 We talk a lot about the amount of pressure the younger generation are under – but those nearing retirement age have it just as hard, it turns out. A new report suggests that the number of people who said they're worried they may never be able to completely retire has risen to 12 per cent of [...]
High street banks plan to help Treasury offload £17bn of Bradford and Bingley loans March 1, 2016 Britain’s largest high street banks are planning to help the Treasury offload £17bn of Bradford and Bingley (B&B) loans. The proposal would see Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, Royal Bank of Scotland, Nationwide and Santander guarantee around £17bn of financing to the purchasers of the loans. It emerged at the beginning of this year that a sizeable part [...]
Bye-bye HSBC? The British bank is eyeing a move abroad April 20, 2015 HSBC will look into upping sticks and moving its headquarters out of London once the regulatory environment becomes clearer, its chairman said today. "We are beginning to see the final shape of regulation, the final shape of structural reform and as soon as that mist lifts sufficiently we will once again start to look at [...]
This London startup claims it’s launched the first ever working blockchain platform for financial institutions June 1, 2016 A London startup which boasts the former chairman of Barclays bank on its board has launched a new blockchain platform for financial institutions which it claims is the first of its kind. Several organisations are in the race to build a distributed ledger platform with blockchain technology, which can be used across the industry for processing transactions more quickly and [...]