Banking Times feed

Nottingham Building Society has announced that it is enhancing its customer service provision by utilising a high-speed network from Virgin Media Business. The building society chose an Internet Protocol Virtual Private Network (IPVPN) which allows for rapid and safe information exchange across branch and office locations in Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Lincolnshire and South Yorkshire. The agreement will [...]

International specialist payments partner VocaLink is to provide new high street bank Metro Bank with a comprehensive solution for all its payment needs. Metro Bank’s ATM estate, domestic and international payments and debit card processing needs will be handled by VocaLink under the agreement between the two firms. The VocaLink Service Bureau will provide the bank with [...]

Citigroup has become the second US bank in a fortnight to settle allegations of fraud, by paying a fine to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The bank’s $75 million penalty relates to a charge of misleading investors over the company’s exposure to sub-prime mortgage-related assets. The SEC states: “Between July and mid-October 2007, Citigroup represented that [...]

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand has elected to increase the nation’s Official Cash Rate (OCR) by 25 basis points, to 3%. Governor Alan Bollard has said that trading partner growth has improved more than expected, but that future prospects were now weaker than earlier forecasts suggested. It is the second recent increase in the New Zealand [...]

Banco Santander has released its financial results for the first six months and second quarter of 2010. In the first six months the Spanish banking giant made net income of €4.45bn, down 1.6% from the same period last year, with pre-tax profits recorded at €6.3bn. However, in Q2 Santander enjoyed net profits of €2.23bn, the largest quarterly [...]

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) is updating its Remuneration Code to take on board the demands of the Capital Requirements Directive and the Financial Services Act 2010. The current Code applies to the UK’s largest banks, building societies and broker dealers but the Directive will bring over 2,500 firms within its scope. For senior banking staff, [...]

New research from Which? claims that the number “tied” financial products is on the rise, with the proportion of tied mortgages and regular savings products having doubled since the beginning of the year, to 18%. According to the consumer group, some tied products offer poor value for money and the trend could discourage consumers from shopping [...]

John Wriglesworth, Moneyexpert and Immediate Financial, has commented on the launch of Metro Bank’s first branch, which opens today in Central London (Holborn). Wriglesworth has described the launch of the new bank as excellent news for the retail financial services sector. He went on to welcome the increased range of choice and the extra competitiveness the new [...]

Mobile banking is having a transformative effect in both developed and emerging economies, according to Richard Johnson, group strategy director of payments service provider, Monitise plc. Mr Johnson is therefore urging banks, payments networks and mobile network operators to come together to revolutionise the way people manage their money worldwide. Addressing banking and telecoms leaders in Mumbai, [...]

Lazard Ltd has released its financial performance results for the second quarter and first half of 2010. In Q2 the firm saw its fully exchanged net income increase by 23% to $53m, equivalent to $0.39 per diluted share, up from $43.1m ($0.34 per diluted share) in the same quarter last year. This is, however, down on Q1 [...]

Oxygen Finance has declared its strong backing for the Supply Chain Finance Working Group (SCFWG) report which considers Buyer Driven Payables Programmes to be vital to improving funding in the UK. The report has found that buyer driven programmes are a cut above traditional invoice discounting in terms of efficiency and that Buyer Driven Payables programmes [...]

Customer insight and database marketing specialist KDB had conducted research which reveals that most financial institutions in the UK need to improve their marketing and communications to capitalise upon opportunities, such as the resilient investment sector. The firm surveyed 1,000 Britons, of which 71% stated they invest directly or through an advisor and 65% indicated they [...]

Islamic Bank of Britain (IBB) is to gain £20m of capital from Qatar International Islamic Bank (QIIB), a founding shareholder, when QIIB increases its stake in IBB to 80%. The capital injection, which is subject to regulatory and shareholder approvals, will allow IBB to enhance its sales of key products, including the IBB Home Purchase Plan, [...]

Lloyds Banking Group has ceased offering payment protection insurance (PPI) to borrowers across all its brands, although existing policyholders will not be affected by the decision. PPI is intended to cover repayments on unsecured loans if the borrower loses their job or becomes too ill to work. However, the insurance has become notorious for incidents of mis-selling, [...]

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has fined a former finance director of Northern Rock £320,000 and prohibited him from performing any function in relation to any regulated activity. In January 2007, David Jones, along with bank’s former deputy chief executive, David Baker, sanctioned the use of false mortgage arrears figures for use in Northern Rock’s 2006 [...]

German banking giant Deutsche Bank has reported its financial results for the second quarter and first half of 2010. In Q2 the bank earnt net profits of €1.2bn, up from €1.1bn in the same quarter last year, with diluted earnings per share rising from €1.64 to €1.75. Income before taxes for the quarter rose from €1.3bn to [...]

Swiss investment bank UBS has announced its financial results for the second quarter of 2010, including a net profit of CHF2bn. This is CHF200m lower than the net profit achieved in the preceding quarter, but hugely improved on the loss of CHF1.4bn incurred during the same time in 2009. The firm’s Investment Bank performance saw 10% growth, [...]

The British Bankers’ Association (BBA) has indicated its strong support for reformation of the country’s regulatory institutions to protect against the worst effects of future downturns and financial crises. The Coalition Government’s plans for a new regulatory structure that takes into account the global economic picture and government policy was welcomed by the BBA, which added [...]

This month marks the one year anniversary of the Direct Corporate Access (DCA) to the Faster Payments Service (FPS). More corporates are contemplating using the FPS to replace the more traditional payment system. Experian Payments Product Manager Norman Taylor has stated that large British corporates are already planning for the end of cheque clearing in 2018, at [...]

Global investment bank Nomura has announced the appointment of Guy Cornelius and Raffaele Ricci as co-heads of Fixed Income Sales for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). Cornelius leaves behind the role of Head of Fixed Income for Evolution Securities to join Nomura, brining with him more than two decades of experience. Ricci also brings decades [...]