May’s team in row over press freedom after Cabinet leak threat July 14, 2019 Prime Minister Theresa May and her top officials have been dragged into a bitter row over the freedom of the press after the Metropolitan Police warned journalists could be prosecuted for publishing diplomatic leaks. The Cabinet Office last week called in Met Police assistant commissioner Neil Basu, who issued a warning to the media that [...]
Liberal Democrats announce plans to create UK’s first sovereign wealth fund September 16, 2018 Vince Cable, leader of the Liberal Democrats, has unveiled proposals to create the UK’s first-ever sovereign wealth fund, aiming to build up £100bn through tax reforms and asset sales. The fund would be built up over 10 years, through a combination of wealth taxes and by selling off the taxpayers’ £2.6bn stake in Royal Bank [...]
Liberal Democrats announce plans to create UK’s first sovereign wealth fund September 16, 2018 Vince Cable, leader of the Liberal Democrats, has unveiled proposals to create the UK’s first-ever sovereign wealth fund, aiming to build up £100bn through tax reforms and asset sales. The fund would be built up over 10 years, through a combination of wealth taxes and by selling off the taxpayers’ £2.6bn stake in Royal Bank [...]
Royal Bank of Scotland accused of fraud and forgery February 16, 2017 Royal Bank of Scotland has been accused of fraud and forgery by an ex-employee and former customers, according to a BBC report. A former employee of the lender told the BBC that two of his colleagues at RBS had fabricated complaints and alleged they were from five of his customers. Mark Wright, who worked at NatWest and [...]
RBS will cut lending to new oil and gas projects in order to shift focus to renewable energy May 29, 2018 The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has announced it will no longer be financing new oil and gas projects and will turn its focus towards renewable energy sources. The bank will not be funding new coal fired power stations, thermal coal mines, oil sands projects or Arctic oil projects. It will also be tightening restrictions [...]
Nationwide profits slip for second year running after planned mortgage retreat May 22, 2018 Nationwide, Britain’s biggest building society, today announced a slump in mortgage lending amid concerns of a “fiercely competitive market”. Net lending fell from £8.8bn to £5.8bn in the year to 4 April. Annual profit slipped seven per cent to £977m A planned retreat from the buy-to-let mortgage market was the driving force behind falling lending, [...]
City Moves – Monday 2 July. Who’s moving jobs at Kensington Mortgages, Lockton and Brilliant Basics July 2, 2018 Kensington Mortgages Kensington Mortgages hired Sharon Cochrane for the role of account development manager for Scotland, following Kensington’s full market launch earlier this year. Sharon will be responsible for new business growth and relationship management. Sharon brings over 19 years’ worth of experience in financial services to the role –15 of which were spent as [...]
The global financial crisis 10 years on: A timeline of the global events that shaped the crash from the credit crunch to the recession and beyond August 7, 2018 Ten years ago this week the credit crunch started to bite. Take a look back at the global events that shaped one of the biggest recessions in history. Early tremors: February to June 2007 Early signs of trouble build, but are mostly missed. The giant Freddie Mac, also know as the Federal Home Loan Mortgage [...]
MPs call for banks to pay for new tribunal system to settle disputes for small businesses | City A.M. July 12, 2018 A cross-party group of MPs has called for a new tribunal system for small firms to challenge big banks after a string of scandals of companies being driven to the wall by lenders. A new Financial Services Tribunal should be established to help resolve disputes between small firms and banks, a report published today by [...]
If the FCA won’t regulate bad behaviour by banks such as RBS, then who will? September 4, 2018 This summer, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) confirmed that it would take no disciplinary action against Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), despite its “widespread and systematic” mistreatment of SME customers at the hands of its restructuring arm GRG. This is disappointing, but it’s no surprise that the regulator is unable to do anything. The Senior [...]