Unions group wants rate returned from 3% to 8% after big four UK lenders reveal £14bn total profit in first quarter

An increased windfall tax should be imposed on the UK’s largest banks according to trade union leaders, after the big four lenders reported almost £14bn in first-quarter profits, partly fuelled by market turbulence caused by the Iran war.

The Trades Union Congress (TUC) renewed its call for an increase in the current bank surcharge, which was reduced from 8% to 3% of profits above £100m by the Conservative government in 2023, as banks benefit from the high interest rate environment.

London-headquartered bank’s shares slide as it sets aside an extra $300m to cover effects of Middle East conflict

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HSBC has taken a $1.3bn (£961m) hit to profits, fuelled by the fallout from the US-Israel war on Iran and fraud in the troubled private credit sector.

The London-headquartered bank said profits fell 4% in the first three months of the year, dropping $100m to $9.4bn, compared with the same period in 2025. Revenue increased 6% to $18.6bn.

KUALA LUMPUR, May 5 — Bank Muamalat Malaysia Berhad has launched ATLAS, a Shariah-compliant digital banking platform, as it accelerates its transition into a digital-first Islamic financial institution.

“ATLAS goes beyond a digital banking application. It represents our commitment to reimagine Islamic banking as a seamless, everyday companion that integrates financial management with lifestyle and values,” said Bank Muamalat’s president and chief executive officer Datuk Khairul Kamarudin.

He said the platform is guided by the principle of Amanah, focusing on delivering services with integrity, transparency and responsibility while safeguarding customers’ long-term interests.

He added that ATLAS is also aimed at supporting Malaysia’s digital economy by expanding access to inclusive and secure financial services.

The bank said the platform has recorded early traction, with rising downloads and active users since its rollout.

Essentially, ATLAS offers a Shariah-compliant savings account with a savings pouch feature providing profit rates of up to 2.25 per cent per annum.

It also integrates lifestyle features such as prayer times, daily supplications, Al-Quran access, kiblat direction and mosque locators, with additional services including aqiqah and qurban in development.

Bank Muamalat said it plans to roll out financing and investment solutions within the year as it builds ATLAS into a broader digital financial ecosystem.

FTSE 250 firms Paragon and OSB Group, owner of Kent Reliance and Precise Mortgages, slide on London Stock Exchange

• Rachel Reeves considering rent freeze to limit Iran war fallout

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Shares in some of the UK’s biggest buy-to-let lenders such as Paragon and One Savings Bank have fallen after it emerged that the chancellor may make private landlords commit to a one-year rent freeze.

In an effort to protect households from rising living costs as a result of the Iran war, Rachel Reeves is considering whether to ban landlords in England from increasing rents for a limited period of time, the Guardian revealed on Monday night.

Bank’s chief executive points to rising fraud as it sets aside a further £105m for motor finance compensation

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Barclays is pulling back from lending to risky borrowers, as its chief executive warned of increasing numbers of fraud cases and the bank took a £228m hit from the failure of a mortgage lender.

The mortgage lender Market Financial Solutions (MFS) collapsed in February amid allegations of fraud and the UK’s financial regulator has since launched an investigation into the scandal.

Hundreds of senior staff in territory benefit from nearly £30,000-a-year grant per child not available to staff in group’s other hubs

HSBC is reportedly reviewing a perk that covers school fees for bankers in Hong Kong as part of a big overhaul of the bank under its chief executive, Georges Elhedery.

Europe’s largest bank is considering whether to scrap the perk for new employees or make changes to total compensation, Bloomberg News reported. No decisions have been made yet.

Creator card is designed for people making money through TikTok Live, some of whom complain of payment delays

TikTok and Visa have launched a debit card for content creators in the UK which they say will allow people to quickly access their earnings from the platform.

The creator card is designed for the growing numbers of people making money through TikTok Live, a livestreaming feature where creators receive virtual gifts from viewers that are later converted into cash.

MPs call for investigation into Essar Energy, owner of Stanlow refinery, which shifted loans from ‘Putin’s piggy bank’ VTB to Mauritius

Days after the first wave of Russian tanks surged over the border into Ukraine in March 2022, dockers at a port in northern England took a stand.

Appalled by Vladimir Putin’s brutality, workers at Ellesmere Port in Cheshire vowed never to unload any Russian oil destined for the nearby Stanlow refinery, a major hub for UK fuel supplies.

The campaign is part of government initiative to boost financial risk taking, amid fears UK growth is being stymied

• Nils Pratley: the ‘Savvy Squirrel looks a hit too tame’

City firms are pinning their hopes on a government-endorsed advertising blitz fronted by a finance “savvy” CGI squirrel to encourage cautious British savers to shift out of cash and start investing.

The long-awaited retail investment campaign, which will cost up to £50m, is part of the chancellor Rachel Reeves’ nationwide push to encourage more financial risk taking, amid fears risk-averse consumers are losing out and ultimately stymying UK growth.

The trend has been accelerated by the US-Israel war on Iran, leaving households – and cafe owners – glum, surveys suggest

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For many coffee drinkers, takeaway orders are changing from a habitual purchase to an occasional treat, as elevated petrol prices and other living costs leave households feeling glum.

This rapid shift in behaviour has disappointed cafe owners and surprised economists, raising an uneasy question: if takeaway coffee sales are falling, is the economy next?

HSBC, Barclays, Lloyds, NatWest and Santander will this week discuss with chancellor how to limit effects of conflict

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The bosses of Britain’s “big five” retail banks have been summoned to a meeting with the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, this week to discuss how to limit the economic impact of the crisis in the Middle East triggered by the US and Israel’s attacks on Iran.

The chief executives of HSBC, Barclays, Lloyds, NatWest and Santander have been asked to attend an emergency summit on Wednesday, amid increasing acceptance that a major economic hit from the Iran war is unavoidable.

Finance chiefs to join exercise in Washington designed to assess how they would handle collapse of significant bank

The bosses of the central banks and treasuries of the UK, US and EU are to take part in a war game in Washington on Saturday to test how they would handle the collapse of a globally significant bank.

Amid growing unease over the risks to global financial stability, the most senior officials from the US Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank and the Bank of England – including its governor, Andrew Bailey – are expected to take part.