Theresa May steps down today: What happens next? June 7, 2019 Theresa May will officially step down as leader of the Conservative party today as the race to be her successor intensifies. May, who announced her resignation two weeks ago in an emotional speech outside 10 Downing Street, will remain Prime Minister until a new leader is announced next month. What happens next? Eleven Tory MPs [...]
Ofgem urged to extend prepayment price cap due to smart meter delays June 7, 2019 The competition watchdog has urged Ofgem to extend protection for prepayment consumers beyond the end of 2020 due to the delayed roll-out of smart meters. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) implemented a temporary prepayment price cap in 2017 in a bid to reduce customers’ bills by around £300m a year. Read more: Ofgem won’t [...]
Banking union raises concerns over TSB plan to cut more than 100 jobs June 6, 2019 A banking union has raised concerns over TSB’s plans to cut around 125 jobs as part of a major restructuring. In an email to TSB members, banking union Accord said the restructuring would result in 124 job losses with 366 members of staff facing the consultation process. Read more: TSB unveils raft of leadership changes [...]
French bank Credit Agricole raises profit target to €5bn by 2022 June 6, 2019 French bank Credit Agricole has increased its profit target to €5bn (£4.34bn) by 2022 after reaching this year’s goal ahead of schedule. The bank reached its 2019 targets a year early and has unveiled higher profit targets for the next three years. Read more: European Central Bank fines Credit Agricole for reporting errors Its new [...]
Challenger bank PCF posts profit surge and adds new business June 5, 2019 AIM-listed UK bank PCF posted a 57 per cent profit surge as its lending portfolio continued to grow rapidly in the first half of the year. The specialist lender said profit rose to £10.1m in the six months to the end of March. Read more: Challenger banks struggle to compete with big five on cash [...]
Bank of England calls ‘last orders’ on Libor as regulators push 2021 transition June 5, 2019 The Bank of England has called “last orders” on the scandal-hit Libor interest rates as regulators push for financial institutions to transition away from the benchmark by 2021. Deputy governor Dave Ramsden said good progress was being made and that getting on with the switch to alternative benchmark Sterling Overnight Index Average (Sonia) could be [...]
Competition watchdog to probe £1.6bn One Savings Bank and Charter Court merger June 5, 2019 The competition watchdog has announced it is investigating the potential £1.6bn merger between One Savings Bank and Charter Court. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it would assess whether the deal would lead to a “substantial lessening of competition” in the market. Read more: One Savings Bank and Charter Court announce terms of £1.6bn [...]
HSBC to hire Morgan Stanley after cutting broking ties with Goldman Sachs June 4, 2019 Banking giant HSBC is set to hire Morgan Stanley as joint corporate brokers to replace rivals Goldman Sachs. Europe’s largest lender has cut ties with Goldman Sachs in favour of rival US investment bank Morgan Stanley following a review by new chief financial officer Ewen Stevenson, Sky News reported. Goldman Sachs steered Europe’s largest lender [...]
Global markets in tailspin after Trump threatens huge China tariff rise May 7, 2019 US President Donald Trump’s latest threat to ramp up tariffs on Chinese goods rattled global markets yesterday at the start of a crunch week of negotiations between the White House and Beijing. Trump tweeted over the weekend that tariffs on $200bn (£153bn) worth of goods from China would be cranked up to 25 per cent [...]
Global markets in tailspin after Trump threatens huge China tariff rise May 7, 2019 US President Donald Trump’s latest threat to ramp up tariffs on Chinese goods rattled global markets yesterday at the start of a crunch week of negotiations between the White House and Beijing. Trump tweeted over the weekend that tariffs on $200bn (£153bn) worth of goods from China would be cranked up to 25 per cent [...]