Accounting watchdog set to announce verdict of probe into KPMG’s HBOS audit June 26, 2016 The accounting watchdog is set to announce the verdict of its probe into KPMG’s audit of collapsed bank HBOS on Monday. The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) met last week to consider the outcome of preliminary enquiries. Read more: FCA confirms it will investigate former HBOS bosses The body said on Thursday that its conduct committee [...]
Unauthorised overdraft charges can cost consumers more than payday loans, according to research from an online current account specialist August 10, 2016 Overdraft fees can cost as much as five times more than a pay-day loan according to figures from digital current account provider Ffrees. Borrowing £100 for a month on a short term loan can incur charges of as much as £20, but taking the same amount from an unauthorised overdraft could see consumers stung for £100, [...]
City Moves for 9 August 2016 | Who’s switching jobs August 9, 2016 Metamako Metamako, a specialist in deterministic network devices for the world’s financial institutions, has appointed Kevin Covington as CEO. With a long career in the fintech industry, Kevin has many years’ experience of growing and developing financial technology companies. He was one of the creators of the concept of co-location. In his previous position as [...]
Moody’s slashes outlook for eight UK banks to negative after Brexit June 28, 2016 Moody’s has dropped its outlook for eight UK banks and building societies after last week’s Brexit vote. The ratings agency has also changed its outlook for the UK banking system from stable to negative. Moody’s expects the result of the EU referendum to “reduce the profitability” of the banks. Read more: S&P and Fitch downgrade UK after [...]
Challengers lambast competition watchdog’s report for focussing on technology and ignoring red tape issues August 10, 2016 Challenger banks have lambasted the competition watchdog for squandering a rare opportunity for change in a sector dominated by larger players. Many of the UK’s up-and-coming lenders were disappointed that yesterday’s final report from the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) retail banking investigation focused more on using technology to disrupt the sector than on tearing down some of the [...]
Andrew Tyrie blasts banks as they come clean on overdraft fees September 6, 2016 Influential Tory backbencher Andrew Tyrie has blasted UK banks for their bewildering array of overdraft fees and charges and called for customers to be given more information about their accounts. Tyrie, who chairs the Treasury Select Committee (TSC), also criticised recent proposals from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to encourage customers to switch bank accounts. [...]
RBS mulls sale of Williams & Glyn and NatWest May 15, 2016 Royal Bank of Scotland's advisers are reportedly weighing a shock move to divest both Williams & Glyn and NatWest, as the bank seeks to accelerate sell-off plans. According to the Sunday Telegraph, RBS advisers, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Robey Warshaw, are weighing the NatWest move in a bid to ease tech problems behind the Williams [...]
These are the UK’s most-hated banks April 27, 2016 Banker-bashing may have become something of a national sport in recent years – but what about bank-bashing? A new survey has revealed UK banking customers' most-hated lenders. The so-called Big Four make up the top of the list, with Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) scoring just 49.3 on a reputation scale of 0-100, while Lloyds follows, [...]
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 [...]
TSB, RBS and Sage chiefs challenge employees to beat the boss, but are some taking it too far? September 6, 2015 Of course, City A.M. has nothing but praise for brave bosses who abseil, run and cycle alongside their staff for charitable causes, but are some getting too into the competition? The Capitalist has had growing concerns in recent weeks, after seeing three separate bosses goading employees into beating their fun run times. First [...]