Bank earnings preview: What to expect in this week’s quarterly results April 26, 2021 While the banking sector has recovered somewhat in the past two months this week the issue of bad loans and customer defaults will be front of mind. The sector set aside billions in provisions for bad loans at the start of the pandemic, expecting a huge increase in defaults. However with thanks to government support [...]
Boost for first-time buyers as more ultra-low deposit mortgages hit the market April 24, 2021 In a further boost to first-time buyers, more lenders are bringing 5 per cent deposit mortgages onto the market. New deals announced by Metro Bank and Cambridge Building Society are not part of a new government-backed mortgage guarantee scheme which was launched this week to increase the availability of 5 per cent deposit loans. Major [...]
Money laundering: NatWest calls criminal charges ‘disappointing’ as case moves to court April 22, 2021 NatWest Group has insisted it is making financial crime detection a “key priority” as it faces criminal action by the City watchdog for alleged money-laundering failures. In a speech to shareholders, ahead of the bank’s annual meeting on 28 April, NatWest chairman Sir Howard Davies called last month’s announcement of the launched criminal case “disappointing.” [...]
Treasury Select Committee chair calls out UK banks for treatment of SMEs during Covid crisis April 20, 2021 Treasury Select Committee chair calls out UK banks for treatment of SME during Covid crisis
Nationwide to lend first-time buyers five times their income on long-term mortgage April 20, 2021 First-time buyers with deposits as low as 10 per cent will be able to borrow five and a half times their income when taking out a longer-term mortgage, the UK’s biggest building society said this morning. Nationwide Building Society said that under its “helping hand” initiative, first-time buyers across the UK will have the option [...]
UK banks launch new low-deposit mortgage scheme April 19, 2021 High street banks will today begin offering mortgages with a deposit of just five per cent under a new government-backed scheme. The scheme, first announced in the Budget, is designed to make home ownership more affordable for first-time buyers. Borrowers will be able to secure a mortgage with just a five per cent deposit on [...]
Eurostar secures lender support as it eyes government bailout April 18, 2021 Eurostar is said to have signed a deal with its lenders to refinance hundreds of millions of pounds of debt as it looks to secure financial support from the UK government. A group of banks, including Natwest, have agreed to refinance £400m of loans that were due to be repaid this summer, the Daily Telegraph [...]
Aviva brings executive committee to one-third women with new senior hire April 13, 2021 Aviva has added another c-suite female to its arsenal with the appointment of Cheryl Toner as chief customer and marketing officer. Toner will start at Aviva in May 2021, where she will join the group executive committee, a senior committee where women make up a third (33%) of its members. Aviva’s board, which Toner will [...]
Banks start process to claw back billions from Covid loans April 12, 2021 Some of Britain’s biggest lenders have begun sending letters to customers, warning them that repayments for crisis loans will soon be expected. HSBC, Barclays, NatWest and Lloyds have each begun sending letters to customers, the Mail on Sunday first revealed, with the first set repayments due to start in just two weeks. Banks handed out [...]
Hiring for bankers reaches three-year high March 31, 2021 Recruitment for bankers has hit a three-year high according to new data despite the double whammy of the pandemic and Brexit. Last month Britain’s top banks posted 1163 professional banking vacancies, according to research by Morgan McKinley and Vacancysoft, a 43.9 per cent rise on the same period last year. Overall vacancies in the sector [...]