What you need to know before the open – 14/01 January 14, 2014 Europe is expected lower this morning after a late sell-off in the US. A slide in Asia saw the Nikkei fell 3.1 per cent – a one-month low – with the yen rising abruptly in trading today. The focus is on UK inflation numbers this morning. The expectation is for CPI to stay at the [...]
Lloyds returns to profit and ups bonus pool 8pc February 13, 2014 Lloyds Banking Group has reported it returned to profit in 2013 – the first time since its bailout six years ago. Statutory profit before tax stood at £415m for the year – an 140 per cent increase from the £606m loss it made in 2012. The results, said boss Antonio Horta-Osorio, confirm the 33 per [...]
Head regulator says that financial services are moving away from simplistic rewards structures October 17, 2013 Chief regulator Martin Wheatley told an audience that he has seen signs of improvement in the UK's financial services industry. The financial conduct authority (FCA) chief executive said early analysis suggested "three of the biggest UK banks have removed the direct link to sales in incentive arrangements for front line staff in retail branches, and [...]
Watchdog says bank scandals are nearing end October 17, 2013 TOP CITY watchdog Martin Wheatley yesterday hinted that banking scandals could be coming to an end as lenders scrap the controversial sales incentives that led to crises like the PPI scandal. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) boss said the biggest banks have taken all of the right steps to end the culture of over-selling to customers who should [...]
Lloyds hopes for a 2013 dividend October 29, 2013 LLOYDS hopes to pay a dividend for this year after returning to profit, chief executive Antonio Horta Osorio revealed yesterday. The bailed out bank began its privatisation last month when the government sold a £3.2bn stake in the lender, and resuming dividend payments would be another key step on the return to normality for Lloyds. [...]
Mutual to own just 30 per cent of Co-op Bank after rescue plan October 21, 2013 The Co-operative Bank will cease to be majority owned by its mutual parent after a drastic rescue plan is finalised, according to reports by Sky News City editor Mark Kleinman. After revealing a £1.5bn capital black hole in June the troubled bank has looked for investment to plug the gap. This morning it announced that [...]
Barclays profit up as bank says it’s cooperating over Euribor October 30, 2013 Barclays has reported pretax profit of £2.851bn in the nine months to 30 September, up from £962m for the same period last year. The figure, says the bank, reflects a reduced own credit charge of £125m, from £4.019bn last year. (Release) But the lender did see adjusted profit before tax fall 20 per cent to [...]
Financial services complaints fall by 500,000 in six months as Barclays receives over 370,000 October 16, 2013 Consumer complaints to the financial conduct authority (FCA) have dropped by 500,000 between the second half of 2012 and the first half of 2013. Ian McConnell, financial services partner at PwC, says that the fall is "encouraging" and shows "that the issues faced by the financial services industry are being dealt with." McConnell says the [...]
UK banks under threat from onslaught of conduct red tape October 24, 2013 BRITAIN’S banks’ credit ratings are at risk because of the tide of conduct regulation, fines and costs coming from the new watchdog, Standard and Poor’s analysts said yesterday. The industry as a whole has a negative rating against it in part because of the threat of fines and compensation which is most well known from the [...]
HSBC earnings soar as one-off expenses drop November 4, 2013 HSBC said yesterday that growth in Hong Kong and lower costs had helped push underlying profits 10 per cent higher to $5.06bn in the third quarter of the year, as the bank revealed it is being investigated in the worldwide foreign exchange probe. The bank said reported profits were up 30 per cent at $4.5bn [...]