Moody’s: Conduct litigation charges for Lloyds, HSBC, Barclays, RBS and Santander UK rose 40 per cent to £15bn last year March 22, 2016 Legal fees and remediation costs for conduct issues will continue to pose downside risks for Britain's biggest banks, Moody's Investors Service is warning today. In a new report out this morning, the credit rating giant said conduct charges are on the rise – and will continue to constrain profitability at the UK's five largest lenders for years [...]
The Kindle Oasis is a masterful showcase in usability and design, but can Amazon’s e-reader justify the price tag? May 18, 2016 Like sensible shoes, boxes of staples, and that plastic bag in your kitchen that’s filled with other plastic bags, it’s really difficult to get excited about e-readers. They’re functional and mundane. Unsexy grey slates that can’t load Candy Crush. The worst ones stand in the way of your efforts to read, but the best ones [...]
Clydesdale Bank PPI woes to cost a further £420m August 11, 2015 A further £500m is being made available to Clydesdale Bank by parent company NAB to cover compensation for payment protection insurance (PPI) mis-selling and interest rate hedging products mis-sold to business customers. The combined figure of £500m is the parent company’s top estimate for the final amount Clydesdale will require to facilitate the payout of [...]
PPI mis-selling claims deadline: Britain’s biggest banking scandal could soon be coming to an end September 24, 2015 The end of the £25bn payment protection insurance (PPI) mis-selling scandal could be in sight, with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) set to meet today to discuss potentially imposing a deadline for claims. The regulator’s management will discuss the possibility of a ‘time-bar exercise’ during a board meeting today, according to Sky News. Banks will [...]
Argos’ financial services profits wiped out by compensation payments June 9, 2016 In its quarter trading update today the owner of Argos, Home Retail Group, said it is shelling out £30m to compensate customers of its financial services arm. The company has launched a review after finding out that is charged customers on the "buy now, pay later" scheme late payment fees by mistake, affecting up to 10 per [...]
All aboard! The banking rollercoaster ride is here April 27, 2016 The UK’s banks have been on a rollercoaster ride since the dark days of the credit crunch in 2008, from PPI mis-selling to Libor and the Forex scandal. Recent woes include market volatility, capital buffers and low interest rates depressing margins. As first quarter reporting season kicks off with Barclays today, some good news at [...]
Top banks could face millions in new PPI claims over commission August 10, 2015 Britain’s top banks are facing further fall out from the mis-selling of payment protection insurance (PPI). The latest potential threat comes from a case brought by lecturer Susan Plevin, over a loan and PPI policy taken out in 2006. She was unaware that more than 70 per cent of the commission she paid on the [...]
RBS and other UK banks facing first quarter earnings woe after US lenders posted a sharp drop in profit April 25, 2016 British banks are set to post first quarter profits this week that are weighed down by the rising risk of Brexit, bad debt, and poor investment banking performance. The difficult period has already dragged down profits at some the biggest US banks, though they largely managed to beat low estimates. Citibank, Goldman Sachs, Bank of [...]
Before the bell: What you need to know before the US market open July 14, 2016 The Bank of England has kept interest rates on hold, stunning the market and sending the pound sharply upwards. Here's what you need to know ahead of the US market open at 2:30pm London time. US futures are pointing higher, signalling what could be another day of broken all-time-highs for indices. The S&P is up [...]
With Lloyds’ PPI bill topping £13bn, should regulators institute a time limit for claims? August 2, 2015 David Buik, a market commentator at Panmure Gordon, says Yes. Lloyds Bank’s decision to buy HBOS when it was drowning in toxic debt, and at an ultimate cost of £25bn to the taxpayer due to its bailout, was injudicious. But the “Black Horse” has recovered remarkably quickly. Though it is not involved in investment banking, [...]