Lawrence White

Shares in British banks rose on Wednesday as finance minister Rachel Reeves spared them from fresh targeted taxes, following months of speculation she might increase a levy on the sector to help plug the gap in public finances.

Britain's Nationwide Building Society reported on Thursday a 46% rise in income for the first half of its financial year, as it increased lending and deposits while integrating Virgin Money, which it took over last year.

HSBC has appointed former Morgan Stanley Asia dealmaker Wei Sun Christianson as an independent non-executive director to its board, the bank said late on Monday, as a search continues for its next chairperson following the departure of Mark Tucker.

HSBC on Thursday issued a set of new, softer near-term climate targets for sectors such as oil and gas in response to the slow pace of change in the real economy.

Starling Group has signed a 10-year agreement to upgrade core software at Tangerine, a Canadian digital bank owned by Bank of Nova Scotia , as the British-based bank continues its global expansion, Starling said on Tuesday.

Standard Chartered (StanChart) said it would hit a key profitability target a year earlier than expected after posting a 3% increase in third-quarter earnings on the back of strong revenue in its wealth, global banking and markets businesses.

Barclays will buy U.S. personal loan originator Best Egg for $800 million, the British bank said on Tuesday, as it tries to add scale in its personal banking business in the United States.

Lloyds Banking Group's third-quarter profit fell by 36%, it said on Thursday, and it downgraded its performance guidance for the year to reflect an 800-million-pound ($1 billion) charge it had announced after a motor finance scandal.

Barclays announced a surprise share buyback and upgraded a key profitability target for the year, as confidence in its income and cost-cutting progress outweighed fresh provisions and underperformance in its investment bank.

NatWest's profit for the first half of the year rose a slightly better-than-expected 18% as it grew loans and deposits, it said on Friday, allowing the British lender to announce a fresh share buyback worth 750 million pounds ($1.01 billion).