Eight lenders in the UK will learn tomorrow whether they have passed Bank of England tests showing how they would cope with severe economic stress.

Nationwide Building Society, Britain’s biggest customer-owned lender, more than doubled its first-quarter profit, helped by improvements to its balance sheet, it said yesterday. 

Britain’s regulators have given the green light to five new banks since easing rules a year ago for new entrants to challenge the handful of dominant lenders.

Banks around the world, consumed with meeting more stringent capital regulations, will miss a deadline to upgrade outdated software for automated teller machines (ATMs) and face additional costs to Microsoft to keep them secure.

Royal Bank of Scotland is facing allegations of “unscrupulous” treatment of small businesses in a report claiming the lender drove firms to collapse to buy back their assets at rock-bottom prices.

Lending through the Bank of England’s flagship credit programme rose in the second quarter, led by Lloyds Banking Group and Nationwide Building Society, with banks expecting further expansion through the rest of 2013.

New Bank of England governor Mark Carney becomes one of the most powerful central bankers in the world today when he takes the reins at a crucial time for the economy.

Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne will name the next Governor of the Bank of England in a statement to the House of Commons today.

The Bank of England could name its new governor this week amid pressure to appoint a successor to Mervyn King before the Chancellor’s autumn statement.

Britain's Nationwide Building Society is considering making a bid for the 316 branches that Royal Bank of Scotland was due to sell to Santander, it was reported today.

Bank of Ireland and AIB have agreed to review their product selling practices in Britain, as part of a wide-reaching probe by Britain’s financial watchdog.

A further seven banks have agreed to review the sale of complex financial products to small businesses and compensate customers where evidence of mis-selling is uncovered, the City watchdog said today.

Lending by Britain's top five banks shrank every quarter last year, official figures revealed today, in an embarrassing blow to the British Chancellor's Project Merlin agreement.

The UK’s banks missed targets for lending to smaller businesses in 2011 by more than £1bn, according to figures released today.

THE credit ratings of two top British banks were cut yesterday due to the likelihood of less state support in a future crisis, as Britain sought to reassure investors its banks were well capitalised and able to cope with a European debt crisis.

Britain’s beleaguered banks and building societies were dealt another blow today after a debt agency said the decreased likelihood of Government backing made them less credit-worthy.

The planned flotation of Santander’s UK arm is set to be put back to at least 2013 because of uncertainty caused by bank ring-fencing, it was reported today.

Part-nationalised Royal Bank of Scotland today swung to a half-year loss as it took a £733m hit on its exposure to Greece’s debt-laden economy.

Banking giant Santander UK today said it had returned all its call centres in India to the UK following complaints from customers.

The UK’s top banks were today accused of failing to do enough to back small businesses after figures revealed lending targets agreed with the Government are set to be missed.

The UK's top banks face further public outrage today as the Bank of England reveals they are on course to miss crucial Project Merlin lending targets.

The London market fluctuated today ahead of a decision by the US Federal Reserve on how they intend to stimulate economic recovery.

Britain's biggest banks are planning to launch a multimillion-pound fund to bolster smaller businesses, it was reported today.

Spanish bank Santander is considering a plan to list its UK operations on the London stock market this autumn in a move that could raise as much as £3bn (€3.6bn) to fund growth, it was reported today.