Banks

Pound Sterling – With UK markets closed for a national holiday it was a slow start to the week for the Pound. Although Sterling went on to weaken against the US Dollar as UK retail sales dropped to a 16-month low, it was able to recoup losses as separate reports showed a surge in British house […]

State-supported bank seeks to focus on UK interests. Lloyds Banking Group, which is 39% owned by the UK state, has announced the proposed sale of its International Private Banking business to Union Bancaire Privée (‘UBP’). The deal will include the business of the Group’s Geneva-based Private Bank, its branches based in Geneva, Zurich, Monaco and […]

The Royal Bank of Scotland (LSE:RBS) captured headlines over the weekend with two major stories.  It was just three days ago, on 24 May, we reported that RBS had yet another service issue, this time with it’s mobile banking app.  Of course it wasn’t especially ‘news’ to some two million who tried to access the […]

Deal to cost bank nearly 38m euros. Santander has been authorized by the Chinese Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) to proceed with the acquisition of 20% of the Bank of Beijing Consumer Finance Company (BoBCFC). Santander will invest RMB 306 million, or about EUR 38 million, to acquire new shares of BoBCFC in a capital increase […]

A roller-coaster ride for markets this week and a perfect example of how important central bank communication (read US Federal Reserve) has become and how markets can move indiscriminately on changes in sentiment regarding the future of the highly accommodative monetary policy  (read Fed’s QE3), something that has supported the global rally and recovery hopes […]

You know RBS (LSE:RBS).  People used to think that the acronym stood for the Royal Bank of Scotland.  Lately, UK citizens, all of whom collectively own 81% of the bank, are beginning to recognize that RBS better describes Really Bad Service, especially those poor blokes and ‘blokettes’ who are customers of the bank. As if […]

Pound Sterling – The Pound started the week looking upwards after it made gains against the US Dollar after an industry report showed that UK home sellers raised their asking prices for a fifth consecutive month in May. As a result of the data, Sterling climbed from its lowest level in six-weeks against the US currency. […]

While the investment world focuses on Japan today, the news at JP Morgan has failed to make the make the headlines it would have on any almost other day.  The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has levied a fine of £3,076,200 “for systems and control failings related to its provision of retail investment advice and portfolio investment services” […]

With exquisite timing, both Lloyds Banking Group (LSE:LLOY) and Royal Bank of Scotland (LSE:RBS) issued updates regarding their capital positions this morning in advance of today’s visit by representatives of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) with Chancellor George Osborne.  As expected, the IMF urged Osborne to divest the taxpayers’ stake in both banks as quickly […]

This week’s hurdle proved more resilient, the FTSE100 index struggling to gain traction above 6,700, but we have made much progress. The move up from 6,600 was faster than expected, however, limited gains above 6710/15 for much of the week, all the while with support just 45pts below, suggests we may have had the sideways […]