FStech

JPMorgan Chase (JPMC) will appoint Kunal Malani as its new head of Chase UK in coming months subject to regulatory approval, according to an internal memo seen by FStech. Malani will join from UK neobank Monzo, where he currently serves as chief banking officer and group general manager. He joined Monzo in 2020 following a one-year stint at challenger bank Tandem, and previously held senior positions at HSBC, Barclays and General Electric.

The Bank of England (BoE) has received approval from US regulators to implement a new mechanism to simplify the process of rescuing failed banks without spending taxpayer money. In a statement on Monday, the BoE said it had updated its guidance on its “bail-in” procedure, which facilitates the rescue of collapsed UK lenders by fully exposing shareholders and unsecured creditors of the firm to losses.

The US Federal Reserve has asked major banks in the country to detail their exposure to private credit, according to a report from Bloomberg. The inquiries aim to assess the level of stress in the industry and its potential to spill over into the rest of the financial system, people with knowledge of the matter told the outlet.

JPMorgan Chase is set to build Canary Wharf’s tallest tower after reaching an agreement with London City Airport over height concerns, according to a report by the Financial Times. The tower will stand at 265 metres, making it one of the tallest office buildings in Europe, people familiar with the matter told the Financial Times. The US-based bank first announced plans to build the tower in November, but did not announce its height due to ongoing discussions with the Airport.

British neobank Monzo will immediately stop onboarding new US customers and will close all existing accounts by June, according to a statement. The bank launched in the US in 2020, offering an app-based account and a debit card. Shortly afterwards, it sought to acquire a bank charter in the country, but withdrew its application less than a year later.

Swiss lawmakers are likely to compromise on the most contentious part of their new capital requirement rules in a victory for UBS, the Financial Times has reported. UBS – the country’s largest bank by a wide margin – has aggressively lobbied the Swiss government over regulation that could increase the banks’ capital requirements by up to $26 billion.

Lloyds Banking Group has announced a four-year partnership with the University of Glasgow to explore how agentic AI could support the work of the group’s software and data engineers. Each quarter, Lloyds engineers will be given a different type of task to complete in collaboration with AI, and the results will be analysed to understand its impact on quality and speed of delivery.

FinTech clearing house the Bank of London has agreed to pause taking on new clients while it enhances its controls against financial crime, the Financial Times has reported. The restriction, noted on the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) website, has been formally in effect since 18 March, but the bank says on its website that it voluntarily ceased taking on new clients in August of last year.

Egan-Jones, a US-based family-owned credit ratings agency, has written a letter defending its practice after a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) order published earlier this week. The order called into question the agency’s ability to “consistently produce credit ratings with integrity” given its current “financial and managerial resources”. Egan-Jones’ outside counsel argued that this “unfair and demonstrably harmful allegation” has caused reputational and financial damage to the firm.

The Bank of London (TBOL), a UK FinTech founded by a former Barclays executive, has been fined £2 million for misleading regulators regarding its capital position. The firm, founded in 2021 by Anthony Watson, was found by the Prudential Regulatory Authority (PRA) to have breached over a dozen rules. The regulator fined the company for “failing to conduct its business with integrity”, marking the first time such a charge has resulted in a financial penalty.