proposed \u00a39.1bn compensation<\/a> scheme for car finance mis-selling.<\/p>\nThe South African lender said the industry-wide redress plan was \u201cdeeply flawed\u201d and no longer compatible with its risk appetite for UK consumer finance.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The FCA\u2019s scheme has forced FirstRand to raise provisions for potential claims to \u00a3750mn and cut its earnings outlook, with full-year \u201cnormalised earnings\u201d now expected to fall by up to 15 per cent.<\/p>\n
The move marks the first exit by a bank from the UK car finance sector in response to the regulator\u2019s plans.<\/p>\n
FirstRand said it would work to ensure an orderly sale, adding it was \u201ccognisant of protecting shareholder value and ensuring Aldermore\u2019s future success\u201d.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Close Brothers, another lender heavily exposed to the scandal, said in a statement on Wednesday it will face redress costs of \u00a3320mn, slightly up from its \u00a3290mn provision made in January.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Global markets surge on US-Iran ceasefire<\/p>\n
Oil prices fell and global equities rallied after the US and Iran agreed a temporary ceasefire easing fears over a long-term Iranian blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n
Brent crude dropped 15 per cent to below $95 a barrel after Tehran said it would allow vessels two weeks of \u201csafe passage\u201d through the key shipping route.<\/p>\n
Europe\u2019s Stoxx 600 rose nearly 4 per cent, with Germany\u2019s Dax up 5 per cent and London\u2019s FTSE 100 gaining 3 per cent, in early trading on Wednesday. Stock markets also rallied in Asia, with Japan\u2019s Nikkei gaining 5.5 per cent. S&P 500 futures were trading up 2.5 per cent.\u00a0<\/p>\n
US President Donald Trump said he would \u201csuspend the bombing and attack of Iran for a period of two weeks\u201d provided the strait was reopened.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Iran\u2019s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran will agree to the end in fighting \u201cif attacks against Iran are halted\u201d.<\/p>\n
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s office said that it supports the ceasefire, but clarified that it \u201cdoes not include Lebanon\u201d.<\/p>\n
Revolut picks Paris for western Europe HQ in \u20ac1bn regional push<\/p>\n
Revolut has announced the signing of a 10-year lease for its new western Europe headquarters in Paris, due to open in early 2027 and expected to serve as a base for the digital lender\u2019s regional operations covering more than 25mn customers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The move forms part of Revolut\u2019s \u20ac1bn investment in western Europe. The company also plans to hire more than 400 staff, building a workforce of more than 1,500 for its planned French banking arm and to acquire a banking licence in the country.<\/p>\n
Revolut currently has more than 7mn customers in France and aims to expand that number to 10mn by the end of 2027.<\/p>\n
Swiss lenders join forces to test first regulated franc stablecoin<\/p>\n
UBS, alongside a group of five Swiss financial institutions including PostFinance, Sygnum, Raiffeisen, Z\u00fcrcher Kantonalbank and BCV, have launched a joint sandbox to test a Swiss franc stablecoin, as part of efforts to bolster the country\u2019s digital finance ecosystem.<\/p>\n
The initiative, announced on Wednesday, will test use cases for a Swiss franc-pegged digital asset in a controlled live environment, with infrastructure provided by Swiss Stablecoin AG. There is currently no regulated Swiss franc stablecoin with broad domestic use.<\/p>\n
The lenders aim to assess how blockchain-based applications could be integrated with the Swiss franc while improving efficiency of payment and settlement processes and building operational expertise in digital payments.<\/p>\n
The sandbox will run through 2026 and is open to additional banks, companies and institutions interested in contributing to the development of a Swiss franc stablecoin.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Today\u2019s need-to-know storiesAldermore put on sale as UK car finance redress charges reach \u00a3750mn FirstRand is preparing to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":879896,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[748,393,4884,105364,1144,712,16,15,1764],"class_list":{"0":"post-879895","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uk","8":"category-united-kingdom","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-need-to-know","13":"tag-northern-ireland","14":"tag-scotland","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom","17":"tag-wales"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116368508652838408","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/879895","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=879895"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/879895\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/879896"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=879895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=879895"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=879895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}