London’s biggest banks will struggle to reach sustained profitability due to bad debts and regulatory fines, IMF and KPMG warn April 14, 2016 A toxic mix of bad debts and regulatory fines will see some of London’s biggest banks struggle to reach sustained profitability, according to two major new reports from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and KPMG. The hard-hitting reports have prompted city analysts to predict looming job cuts in the Square Mile and Canary Wharf, while [...]
Let Nicola Sturgeon have her referendum – and find out that a Hard Brexit is better than a Hard Independence October 17, 2016 It could not have been staged better. Like a general on the battlefield making a final appeal to her troops, Nicola Sturgeon’s use of the SNP’s annual conference to announce the publication of a draft bill to pave the way for Indy Ref Two could not be matched. The legions cheered, ready to go over the top [...]
Media giant Time Warner eyes office move to Battersea Power Station February 19, 2016 Media and entertainment giant Time Warner has lined up five major office schemes for its new London headquarters, including Battersea Power Station. The company, which currently operates out of several London offices including Turner House in Soho, has hired agents at CBRE to find new offices spanning at least 200,000 square feet. Battersea Power Station [...]
Challenger bank Secure Trust is weighing up a bid for RBS business Williams & Glyn January 31, 2016 Challenger bank Secure Trust is considering making a bid for Williams & Glyn, the banking business that Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is required to sell off by the end of next year. City A.M. understands that Secure Trust, an AIM-listed retail and commercial bank, is looking at Williams & Glyn, which RBS is getting [...]
Number of million-pound house sales on the rise November 5, 2016 The number of homes sold for £1m or more has jumped by 12 per cent this year – and nearly two thirds of them are bough in London. According to a report from Lloyds Bank, the sales of homes above £1m increased from 5,946 in the first half of 2015 to 6,684 during the first [...]
Budget 2016: Treasury confirms plans to offload Bradford and Bingley loans as part of state-owned assets sell-off March 16, 2016 George Osborne today confirmed plans to offload £16bn of Bradford and Bingley (B&B) loans. The Treasury's Budget 2016 document also laid out plans to sell off several other state-owned assets, including Lloyds Banking Group shares and its Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) holding. The chancellor expects to raise £25bn from RBS by the end of 2019-20. In addition, [...]
Mark Carney has just been accused by Brexiteer Daniel Hannan of behaving like a “rock star banker” October 31, 2016 Conservative MEP for South East England Daniel Hannan has criticised Mark Carney for acting like "a rock star banker" on BBC Radio 4. On the Today programme this morning, Hannan, who has been a long-term supporter of Brexit and a long-term critic of Carney (who warned of the consequences should Britain leave the EU) said: "If you do stay, [...]
Brexit will force Ireland to reconsider its own EU membership March 22, 2017 Despite the fact that Theresa May said she would trigger Article 50 before the end of March many months ago, the reality of it happening a week today will be a final wake-up call to governments across Europe – and no more so than in Dublin. The pressure for Ireland to reconsider its future in [...]
Scotland may be split on independence – but the future looks fixed in one direction September 22, 2016 As if Brexit wasn’t complicated enough, the Prime Minister also needs to keep an eye on developments north of the border, in Scotland. Many nationalists argue that the 2014 referendum was about being in a very different UK (i.e. inside the EU as well), and that, if the referendum was to be repeated now, the vote [...]
Banks like Lloyds, Barclays and HSBC told to give up stakes in the UK’s payment systems to increase competition and innovation February 25, 2016 Britain's biggest banks have been told to ditch their stake in the core system which govern how the majority of payments in the UK, from salaries to bank transfers, are made in order to increase competition in the market. Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds, HSBC and Santander are among 18 banks which collectively own Vocalink, the system underpinning [...]