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☆ A CEO quits and the BBC apologizes to Trump ally Nigel Farage. A banking scandal erupts in Britain
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-26 | by ( Elliot Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

Alison Rose, NatWest chief executive, (right) departs 10 Downing Street in London, after meeting with Chancellor Jeremy Hunt. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and several members of his Conservative government issued statements condemning the bank and characterizing the termination of Farage's account as an affront to free speech. Farage was offered an alternative account at regular main street bank NatWest, but declined. His critics maintain that although frequent references are made to Farage's political profile and controversial views, the reasons outlined for allowing the banking relationship to lapse were primarily commercial, and he was not "de-banked" as he claims. Without the mortgage, the bank indicated that Farage's account value would fall below its commercial criteria.

Persons: Jonathan Bachman, Alison Rose, Nigel, Coutts, Rose, Danni Hewson, AJ Bell, Farage, Coutts —, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, James Manning, Rishi Sunak, Nigel Farage, —, DANIEL LEAL, Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, Frances Coppola, Coppola, Dave Rushen Organizations: Getty, LONDON, NatWest, BBC, UBS, Conservative, Brexit Party, Independence Party Leader, U.K, Independence Party, UKIP, Sky News, NatWest Group, Company Locations: London, U.K, inclusivity, Leicester, British

☆ A Brexit Champion’s Feud With His Elite Bank Brings a C.E.O. Down
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-26 | by ( Mark Landler | More About Mark Landler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

When Nigel Farage campaigned for a fellow populist, Donald J. Trump, in Arizona in 2020, he seemed like a faded star seeking the spotlight abroad after it had swung past him at home. Having helped mobilize the pro-Brexit vote in 2016, Mr. Farage was marginalized in Britain, then consumed by the pandemic. No longer: For three weeks, Mr. Farage, has been back on the front pages of British papers, with an attention-grabbing claim that his exclusive private bank, Coutts, dropped him as a customer because of his polarizing politics. Early on Wednesday, after Mr. Farage’s allegations were largely vindicated, the chief executive of his bank’s parent, NatWest Group, resigned after she admitted improperly discussing his bank account with a BBC journalist. It was a striking turn of events for a political insurgent who became, for many, a reviled symbol of Brexit, and later, a culture warrior on right-wing television.

Persons: Nigel Farage, Donald J, Trump, Farage, Coutts, Alison Rose Organizations: NatWest Group, BBC Locations: Arizona, Britain

☆ NatWest CEO resigns after admitting to 'serious error' over Nigel Farage leak
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-26 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

NatWest CEO Alison Rose on Wednesday stepped down with immediate effect after she admitted a "serious error of judgment" in discussing former Brexit party leader Nigel Farage's relationship with the bank with a senior BBC journalist. The board appointed Paul Thwaite to helm NatWest for an initial period of 12 months, the company said in a statement. "The board and Alison Rose have agreed, by mutual consent, that she will step down as CEO of the NatWest Group," Howard Davies, chairman of the board, said. Coutts' website advises its clients should be able to borrow or invest at least 1 million pounds with the bank or hold 3 million pounds in savings. Britain's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said it had urged the NatWest board to review the matter independently and welcomed its statement.

Persons: Alison Rose, Nigel Farage's, Paul Thwaite, Howard Davies, Coutts, Rose, Farage, Peter Flavel, NatWest's Davies, Davies, Rose —, Simon Jack, Jack, Sheldon Mills, Andrew Griffith Organizations: NatWest, BBC, NatWest Group, BBC Business, Authority, Treasury, Reuters, Government Investments

☆ Farage makes fresh allegations against UK's Coutts over account closures
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Reuters previously reported that Coutts was closing Farage's accounts mainly for commercial reasons, citing a source familiar with the matter. The BBC previously reported Farage had fallen below the financial threshold required to be a customer of the private bank - something Farage said he had had no knowledge of. A Coutts spokesperson told Reuters that its ability to respond to Farage's fresh claims were restricted by obligations to protect client confidentiality. Farage told Reuters the issue "raises very broad questions about our banks and how deeply political they have become." Farage previously said he believed it was because he was deemed a "politically exposed person" (PEP), meaning banks have to apply additional scrutiny to accounts.

Persons: Nigel Farage, Coutts, Farage, Donald Trump, Iain Withers, Sinead Cruise, David Evans Organizations: Brexit Party, NatWest Group, Twitter, Reuters, BBC, Farage, Britain's Daily Telegraph, Thomson Locations: Russia

☆ FTSE 100 edges higher as NatWest, StanChart shares rise
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( Johann M Cherian | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SummarySummary Companies Domestic house prices rise in MayUK lowers stake in NatWest, shares climbDechra Pharma down after profit warningUS debt ceiling talks to resume after impasseFTSE 100 0.3%, FTSE 250 flatMay 22 (Reuters) - UK's blue-chip index edged higher on Monday, with NatWest shares rising after it agreed to buy 1.3 billion pounds ($1.6 billion) worth of its shares back from the government, although lingering uncertainty over the U.S. debt ceiling impasse weighed on overall mood. The FTSE 100 (.FTSE) rose 0.3%, with bank stocks in the lead. Standard Chartered (STAN.L) rose 2.4% after Bank of America upgraded the stock to "buy" from "neutral". UK-listed stocks have traded in tight bands since late April as investors digested mixed corporate earnings, weakening outlook for commodity-linked stocks and standoff over the U.S. debt ceiling deal. ($1 = 0.7923 pounds)Reporting by Johann M Cherian in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-PhillipsOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Morning Bid: Wowed by tech, worried by banks
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

That makes investors wary of such provisions at the likes of HSBC (HSBA.L), Lloyds (LLOY.L) and NatWest Group (NWG.L), all of which are due to report earnings in the coming weeks. Across the Atlantic, First Republic Bank's (FRC.N) plunging deposits and tumbling shares are rippling through the U.S. regional banking sector. U.S. recession fears have also resurfaced after consumer confidence hit a nine-month low, alongside some weak earnings. In a week packed with tech sector earnings, the focus moves from artificial intelligence to advertising revenues as Facebook-parent Meta Platforms (META.O) and streaming device maker Roku Inc (ROKU.O) report. Key developments that could influence markets on Wednesday:U.S. durable goods orders, Germany and France consumer confidenceEarnings: Meta Platforms, Boeing, GSK, Deutsche Boerse, Roku IncEditing by Jacqueline WongOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

REUTERS/Brian Snyder/File PhotoLONDON, March 15 (Reuters) - Investment managers Bridgewater Associates, Millennium Management and Marshall Wace added to short positions on European banking shares after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank sparked contagion fears across global banks, according to data from Breakout Point. Short sellers had amassed bearish positions worth more than $15.7 billion against European banks by Tuesday, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence. Millennium Management, Citadel, Wellington Management, Capital Fund Management, Odey Asset Management and Marshall Wace declined to comment. Marshall Wace held the largest disclosed number of short positions against banks, public filings from Austria, Italy, Sweden, Britain, Spain and Poland analysed by Breakout Point showed. Its shares were up 18% at 1602 GMT, in a broader European banking index (.SX7P) up 1.4%In the week to Wednesday, some 120 billion euros had been wiped off the value of European bank shares.

Big hedge funds including Marshall Wace and Odey Asset Management added to short positions against Europe's banks, regulatory filings seen by Reuters and data from Breakout Point showed. Marshall Wace held the largest disclosed number of short positions against banks, public filings from Austria, Italy, Sweden, Britain, Spain and Poland analysed by Breakout Point showed. The banks included BAWAG (BAWG.VI), FinecoBank (FBK.MI), Handelsbanken (SHBa.ST), CaixaBank (CABK.MC), NatWest Group (NWG.L) and PKO Bank Polski (PKO.WA). BNP Paribas shares fell by as much as 12% on Wednesday before recovering to show a loss of 9%, while Deutsche Bank shares fell almost 9%. In the week to Wednesday, some 120 billion euros ($126 billion) had been wiped off the value of European bank shares.

☆ Britain to bolster the City after Silicon Valley Bank collapse
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Huw Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/2] A person walks over Millennium Bridge amidst early morning fog, as the sun rises beyond the City of London financial district in the background, in London, Britain, February 8, 2023. Following the collapse of its parent company in the United States, Silicon Valley Bank's UK arm was sold to HSBC over the weekend to avoid disrupting its customers in Britain. Hunt said he would make a statement in the autumn on how the UK financial system would be strengthened. City Minister Andrew Griffith has said that an accounting rule for pension funds has become a "performance penalty" which holds back investment in Britain. The financial sector has called for faster implementation of the proposals after Amsterdam overtook London as Europe's biggest share trading centre.

With assets of around 5.5 billion pounds and deposits of around 6.7 billion pounds, SVB UK is a minnow compared to HSBC. The situation was urgent because SVB UK had lost almost half of its deposits in the 48 hours leading up to its rescue, the source said. Officials from the Bank of England and Treasury along with board members from SVB UK were then locked in talks. HSBC also plans to inject 2 billion pounds of liquidity into SVB UK, a spokesperson for HSBC said. Advisory firm Rothschild, which advised SVB UK according to sources, also declined to comment.

[1/2] A notice hangs on the door of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) located in San Francisco, California, U.S. March 10, 2023. "Silicon Valley Bank cannot be allowed to fail given the vital community it serves," Bank of London co-founder and CEO Anthony Watson said. But an executive at a major UK bank said it was unlikely a high street lender would buy SVB UK because its credit products would not be a good fit for a mainstream bank. EXISTENTIAL THREATMore than 250 UK tech firm executives signed a letter addressed to Hunt on Saturday calling for government intervention and warned of an "existential threat" to the UK tech sector, a copy seen by Reuters shows. Sunak has said he wants to turn Britain into the "next Silicon Valley".

☆ UK races to minimise SVB fallout amid reports of potential buyers
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-12 | by ( Andrew Macaskill | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

[1/2] A notice hangs on the door of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) located in San Francisco, California, U.S. March 10, 2023. SoftBank-owned lender OakNorth Bank is weighing a bid to buy Silicon Valley Bank UK Ltd, a person with knowledge of the talks told Reuters, confirming a Sky News report. EXISTENTIAL THREATMore than 250 UK tech firm executives signed a letter addressed to Hunt on Saturday calling for government intervention and warned of an "existential threat" to the UK tech sector, a copy seen by Reuters shows. Hunt reiterated comments by the BoE that overall, Silicon Valley Bank had a limited presence in Britain and did not perform functions critical to the financial system. Sunak has said he wants to turn Britain into the "next Silicon Valley".

UK banks (.FTNMX301010) dropped to an eight-week low, spooked by a brutal rout in U.S. bank SVB Financial (SIVB.O) following a share sale. The FTSE 100 (.FTSE) slipped 1.9% to a five week low, while the more domestically focused mid-cap index (.FTMC) gave up 2.1% to hit a two-month low. The FTSE 100 is set to the end the week down about 2.8% in what could be its worst week since September, as worries around hawkish central banks sapped risk appetite. Next week, investors will be watching for UK Chancellor Jeremy Hunt's spring budget. Reporting by Susan Mathew in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza and Saumyadeb ChakrabartyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

LONDON, March 2 (Reuters) - Britain's Nationwide Building Society has restricted customers' ability to buy cryptocurrencies, the lender said in an email to its members on Thursday. Nationwide said it will not allow payments to crypto exchanges using credit cards and will limit adult current accounts to 5,000 pounds ($5,995) of purchases per day. The building society said the move was in response to regulatory concern over the risks of buying digital currencies. Cryptocurrency prices surged in 2020 and 2021 before sharp declines last year as rising interest rates prompted investors to ditch riskier assets. In November, as part of measures to protect customers from scams, Santander (SAN.MC) introduced limits on the amount customers could transfer to cryptocurrency exchanges and said it would soon block UK customers from sending any real-time payments to cryptocurrency exchanges.

☆ These high-dividend stocks are expected to rally, with analysts giving one 60% upside
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Weizhen Tan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

High-yielding stocks are back in the spotlight as volatility persists, inflation remains hot and Treasury yields continue to rise. Canadian firm Pembina Pipeline Corporation , as well as EOG Resources, offered high dividend yields at nearly 7% and almost 6% respectively. Both are also expected to have high earnings growth ahead, with forecasts of 146% for Pembina and 62% for EOG. Analysts also give EOG average potential upside of nearly 32%. Hong Kong-listed shipping logistics firm SITC International Holdings also had a notably high dividend yield of 8.5% and nearly 60% potential upside.

☆ UK unemployment is still 'unbelievably low,' says NatWest Group's CFO
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailUK unemployment is still 'unbelievably low,' says NatWest Group's CFOKatie Murray, CFO of NatWest Group, says one of the things she looks out for "more than anything" is the unemployment rate.

☆ FTSE 100 slips from record high as upbeat data stokes Fed rate jitters
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Sruthi Shankar | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The blue-chip FTSE 100 (.FTSE) fell 0.6% after hitting a record high of 7,906.58 in the previous session. Attractive valuation levels compared to overseas peers and the large divergence in performance between different parts of the market "create good opportunities for attractive returns from UK stocks in the next 3-5 years", he added. The domestically-focussed FTSE 250 (.FTMC) fell 0.8%, after climbing an eight-month peak last week. Online trading platform Plus500 Ltd (PLUSP.L) jumped 4.2% after it got licence to expand in the UAE. Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Rashmi AichOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

The SEC's whistleblower program was created as part of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, a law passed in response to the 2008 financial crisis. Under the law, eligible whistleblowers can receive a cash award of between 10% and 30% of any monetary sanctions collected above $1 million. Hong provided further documentary evidence, helping FHFA and the U.S. Justice Department secure settlements with RBS for $5.5 billion and $4.9 billion, respectively. Hong sought an award under the SEC's whistleblower program but the commission declared him ineligible because the action against RBS was not taken by the commission itself. Hong's lawyers appealed to the Supreme Court, contending that the SEC is undermining the aim of Congress to incentivize and award whistleblowers by "coordinating enforcement efforts with other agencies and then refusing to pay an award."

From Nov. 15 this year, the bank will join other UK retail banks in limiting customer transfers to cryptocurrency exchanges. Santander customers will face limits of 1,000 pounds ($1,123) per transaction and 3,000 pounds in total in any rolling 30-day period, for transfers to crypto exchanges via mobile and online banking. Customers will still be able to receive payouts from crypto exchanges into their accounts. Santander has seen a "large increase" in UK customers becoming victims of cryptocurrency fraud in recent months, a notice on its website said. Faster Payments is the infrastructure which facilitates real-time bank transfers for most UK bank accounts.

☆ NatWest Group CFO: Loan impairments remain 'extremely low'
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailNatWest Group CFO: Loan impairments remain 'extremely low'Katie Murray, CFO of NatWest Group, says that reflects the health of its customer base.

☆ Cost of insuring UK debt against default drops as Sunak becomes PM
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, Oct 24 (Reuters) - The cost of insuring Britain's debt against default fell to its lowest since last month's "mini budget", according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence on Monday, after Rishi Sunak won the race to become Britain's next prime minister. Five-year sovereign credit default swaps (CDS) on UK government debt fell to 30 basis points, from 35 bps at Friday's close. This was their lowest since Sept. 23, when outgoing Prime Minister Liz Truss and her then-finance minister Kwasi Kwarteng unveiled a fiscal plan that contained billions of pounds in unfunded tax cuts. Sunak, who served as finance minster under Boris Johnson, said on Monday Britain faced serious economic challenges and needed stability and unity. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Amanda Cooper; Editing by Karin StroheckerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ FTSE 100 extends gains, UK inflation back at 40-year high
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SummarySummary Companies FTSE 100 up 0.1%, FTSE 250 down 0.2%Oct 19 (Reuters) - UK's blue-chip index edged higher on Wednesday after a strong Wall Street session driven by earnings optimism, although data showed UK inflation hit a 40-year high again, highlighting persistent price pressures that have hurt consumer spending. The FTSE 100 index of top UK companies (.FTSE) rose 0.1% by 0714 GMT, entering its fifth day of gains, aided by a historic reversal of the new government's failed fiscal plan that had battered the bond markets. Meanwhile, futures signalled a strong start for U.S. stocks after Netflix Inc (NFLX.O) projected more growth ahead. The wider banking index (.FTNMX301010) was down 0.4%, while the investment banking & brokerages index (.FTNMX302020) dropped 0.7%. The domestically exposed FTSE 250 index (.FTMC) slipped 0.2% after a four-day winning run.

Royal Bank of Scotland signs are seen at a branch of the bank, in London, Britain December 1, 2017. RBS agreed to settle Justice Department and FHFA investigations over its sales of residential mortgage-backed securities in the run-up to the financial crisis. The SEC did not pursue its own action against RBS in this instance. The petition Hong filed on Monday asks the Supreme Court to consider what constitutes an "action" within the SEC's whistleblower incentive program. "The better a whistleblower's information, the larger the sanctions, the larger the whistleblower award, and the greater the self-interested motivation for the SEC to take enforcement actions that it has conveniently placed outside of Dodd-Frank's reach," it added.

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