By: Samuel Norman

Senior City Reporter Samuel is a Senior City Reporter covering banking and fintech as well as stories on capital markets and economics. He also leads on CityAM's morning liveblog from 7am everyday. He has previously written for the Daily Mail and The i Paper and worked for Sky News as an election stringer. He enjoys writing in-depth analysis of major blue-chip firms and start-ups and also industry trends. He can be contacted at [email protected] and posts on LinkedIn and X at x.com/samnormanwrites.

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Klarna set for US IPO in snub to London markets

March 6, 2025

Swedish fintech Klarna is looking to raise a minimum of $1bn (£777m) in a US initial public offering (IPO), sources told Bloomberg. Klarna’s US filing, which could come as soon as next week, will see the firm target a valuation of more than $15bn in the New York Stock Exchange, according to people familiar with [...]
UK construction output plummets to five-year low

March 6, 2025

The UK’s construction output hit a five-year low in February as its fastest downturn since May 2020 continued. S&P Global’s UK Construction Purchasing Managers Index dropped to 44.6 in February, down from 48.1 in January. The latest figure indicated a steep decline in overall construction activity was propelled by a sluggish performance in residential buildings, [...]
Natwest, Barclays, HSBC lead months worth of online banking outages

March 6, 2025

Nine of the UK’s biggest banks and building societies were down for over 803 hours – the equivalent of 33 days – over the last two years. Fresh data from the Treasury Committee shows a minimum of 158 IT failure incidents at banks had affected millions of consumers in the period between January 2023 and [...]
UK’s payments regulator slams Mastercard and Visa for hiking fees

March 6, 2025

The UK’s payments regulator has said the card market “isn’t working well” following a review into the fess charged by industry giants Mastercard and Visa. The Payment System Regulator (PSR) said on Thursday that the firms have raised core scheme processing fees 25 per cent since 2017, costing UK businesses an extra £170m a year. [...]
Government told to improve education for young entrepreneurs

March 5, 2025

A new report has exposed the education system’s failure to boost business knowledge among aspiring entrepreneurs. The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) and Simply Business have called on the Government to incorporate business education into the national curriculum, in a bid to unlock “a gold mine of enterprise potential”. The study revealed just a third [...]
Dollar risks losing safe haven status, says Deutsche Bank

March 4, 2025

The dollar is at risk of losing its traditional status as a safe haven for global investors following a tariff backlash, a European banking giant has warned. German-based Deutsche Bank said: “This needs to be acknowledged as a possibility” after the speed and scale of geopolitical uncertainty accelerated the dollar’s turmoil. The concerns were shared [...]
HSBC’s ‘never had it so good’ say Barclays analysts

March 4, 2025

Barclays analysts have said HSBC “never had it so good” as they predicted further growth and upsides for the FTSE 100 lender. Following the lender’s strong full-year performance, the analysts upgraded HSBC’s share price target by 28 per cent to 1,200p. The lender pocketed a pre-tax profit of £25.6bn in 2024, up from £24bn in [...]
HSBC searches for new UK boss following reshuffle

March 4, 2025

Europe’s biggest lender HSBC is searching for a new UK boss following current chief executive Ian Stuart’s departure to a new role. Stuart led its UK business for eight years and is set to move to the bank’s operating committee. Following his successor’s appointment, Stuart will take the newly created title of group customer and [...]
Lloyds shares worth 70p say analysts

March 4, 2025

Peel Hunt analysts have raised their price target on Lloyds shares by 17 per cent to 70p and slapped a ‘Hold’ rating on the FTSE 100 lender. The analysts cited strengthening income trends and reduced sensitivity to interest rates as the top factors driving the bank’s “top-line performance.” The banking giant‘s full-year profits fell 20 per [...]
Abrdn changes name back to Aberdeen and swings back to profit

March 4, 2025

Abrdn has rounded out a bumper year with a return to profit and a total revamp of its brand. The company announced it will change its name back to Aberdeen as it begins the search for its next chairman, who will succeed Sir Douglas Flint. Group chief executive Jason Windsor said: “We are changing our [...]

Nationwide fires starting gun on mortgage deals ahead of interest rate decision

Children as young as 14 are being targeted by unregulated gambling firms on social media

Old Pulteney releases 50-year-old whisky for 200th anniversary

By: Samuel Norman

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