Barclays bank

Barclays Sets Aside £3.7bn for Coronavirus Aid

Major bank Barclays have revealed the true extent of how coronavirus has impacted their business. The bank revealed that they set aside £3.7 billion in the first half of the year in order to cover loan losses as the pandemic impacted customers and businesses across the country. Barclay’s diversified its business model as a key…

bad bank

Bank of Greece Considers Setting up “Bad Bank”

The Bank of Greece, the central bank for the country, is considering setting up a “bad bank” in order to deal with sour loans that are weighing down the country’s banking industry. Thanks to the coronavirus pandemic the country has seen the number of non-performing loans (NPLs) surge at such a rate that the Bank…

mortgage

The Post-Lockdown Mortgage Market

There’s no denying that mortgages have taken a hit thanks to the coronavirus pandemic. The UK government has introduced steps such as temporarily removing stamp duty on houses up to £500,000 but unless borrowers have a large deposit, they’re likely still to struggle to get the mortgage they want. Lockdown saw many major lenders pull…

commercial property

Commercial market insights | Covid-19 easing

Looking again at the market sectors in and around the UK in light of Covid 19, this week we look at the commercial markets. Pretty much everything about the current economic contraction is unprecedented — but one very familiar phenomenon could be emerging that will extend and deepen the crisis. The health of the commercial…

business loans

UK Banks to Produce a Code of Conduct for Covid-19 Business Loans

Banks across the UK are putting together an official, industry-wide ‘code of conduct’ for pursuing businesses repaying the taxpayer-backed coronavirus business loans.  Industry lobby group UK Finance and the British Business Bank have started talks with commercial lenders in order to ensure that industry-wide standards will be in place ahead of the debt-collection period. Loans…

Wirecard scandal

Wirecard continues to crumble after falling into administration

German firm Wirecard continues its spiral into administration after its offices in Munich and Austria were raided by German prosecutors. The German fintech is under investigation over a missing €1.9 billion from its accounts with the company’s former chief Markus Braun and three of the firm’s executive board members under individual investigation. The payment processing…