Normal view

  • ✇The Guardian World news
  • Shares in buy-to-let mortgage lenders fall after report Reeves plans rent freeze Tom Knowles
    FTSE 250 firms Paragon and OSB Group, owner of Kent Reliance and Precise Mortgages, slide on London Stock ExchangeRachel Reeves considering rent freeze to limit Iran war falloutBusiness live – latest updatesShares 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, Rach
     

Shares in buy-to-let mortgage lenders fall after report Reeves plans rent freeze

28 April 2026 at 10:11

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

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.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Paul Maguire/Alamy

© Photograph: Paul Maguire/Alamy

© Photograph: Paul Maguire/Alamy

  • ✇The Guardian World news
  • Barclays cuts back risky lending after £228m hit from UK mortgage firm MFS Julia Kollewe
    Bank’s chief executive points to rising fraud as it sets aside a further £105m for motor finance compensationBusiness live – latest updatesBarclays 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 investigatio
     

Barclays cuts back risky lending after £228m hit from UK mortgage firm MFS

28 April 2026 at 09:27

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

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.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Sergio Pérez/Reuters

© Photograph: Sergio Pérez/Reuters

© Photograph: Sergio Pérez/Reuters

  • ✇The Guardian World news
  • HSBC ‘reviewing’ private school perk for bankers in Hong Kong Julia Kollewe
    Hundreds of senior staff in territory benefit from nearly £30,000-a-year grant per child not available to staff in group’s other hubsHSBC 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. Continue reading...
     

HSBC ‘reviewing’ private school perk for bankers in Hong Kong

27 April 2026 at 08:31

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.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Peter Parks/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Peter Parks/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Peter Parks/AFP/Getty Images

  • ✇The Guardian World news
  • TikTok and Visa launch debit card to speed payouts to UK creators Sundus Abdi
    Creator card is designed for people making money through TikTok Live, some of whom complain of payment delaysTikTok 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. Continue reading...
     

TikTok and Visa launch debit card to speed payouts to UK creators

24 April 2026 at 17:07

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.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Kiichiro Sato/AP

© Photograph: Kiichiro Sato/AP

© Photograph: Kiichiro Sato/AP

Revealed: UK oil refinery owner moved Russian loans to offshore subsidiary where sanctions did not apply

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.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Paul Ellis/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Paul Ellis/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Paul Ellis/AFP/Getty Images

City firms bank on ‘savvy squirrel’ advertising campaign to push Brits towards investing

23 April 2026 at 07:36

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

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.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: James Speakman/PA

© Photograph: James Speakman/PA

© Photograph: James Speakman/PA

Takeaway coffee sales plunge as fuel and living costs dent Australian spending. Is the economy next?

22 April 2026 at 00:00

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

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?

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

© Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

© Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

  • ✇The Guardian World news
  • Bank bosses called to meeting with Reeves over impact of Iran war on UK economy Rob Davies
    HSBC, Barclays, Lloyds, NatWest and Santander will this week discuss with chancellor how to limit effects of conflict Middle East crisis – live updatesThe 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 a
     

Bank bosses called to meeting with Reeves over impact of Iran war on UK economy

19 April 2026 at 12:06

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

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.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Leon Neal/Getty Images

© Photograph: Leon Neal/Getty Images

© Photograph: Leon Neal/Getty Images

Central bank bosses enlist for war game to gauge threat of Lehman-style bust

18 April 2026 at 09:00

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.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Michael M Santiago/Getty Images

© Photograph: Michael M Santiago/Getty Images

© Photograph: Michael M Santiago/Getty Images

Finance leaders warn over Mythos as UK banks prepare to use powerful Anthropic AI tool

17 April 2026 at 08:17

Release of new Claude model, so far limited to US firms, will expand to British institutions in coming days

British banks will be given access in the next week to a powerful AI tool that was deemed too dangerous to be released to the public, as a series of senior finance figures warned over its impact.

Anthropic, which has so far limited the release of the new model to a small clutch of primarily US businesses, including Amazon, Apple and Microsoft, said it would expand that to UK financial institutions.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: GK Images/Alamy

© Photograph: GK Images/Alamy

© Photograph: GK Images/Alamy

❌