Britain’s banks all avoided bills for more capital in annual stress tests for the first time since 2014, but the Bank of England warned of pain ahead if there is no Brexit deal and said the country’s current account deficit posed a big risk.

The country’s financial institutions are getting a good kicking — perhaps deservedly so.

Santander has become the first bank in the UK to enable customers to make payments using their voice.

Royal Bank of Scotland will have to raise around £2 billion to boost its financial strength after failing the Bank of England's annual health check of the sector.

A former bank employee has been jailed in England for two years after stealing more than £50,000 from the accounts of elderly and vulnerable people.

Royal Bank of Scotland has reported a £2.04bn (€2.42bn) loss for the first half of the year after taking into account £1.3bn (€1.54bn) worth of PPI and other legal costs.

Banco Santander has made an offer to take over Royal Bank of Scotland’s Williams & Glyn business, according to sources, as part of a long-standing plan to grow its market share in Britain.

A technology glitch centred around six branches in Scotland is hampering Royal Bank of Scotland’s (RBS) plan to offload its Williams & Glyn retail banking unit and resume dividend payments to shareholders.

Lloyds Banking Group has insisted it delivered a "robust" performance in the first three months of the year despite posting falling profits.

An EU directive aiming to boost protections and opening up choice in buying a mortgage outside national boundaries has been transposed into Irish law, the Department of Finance said yesterday.

The corporate and financial elite have ended their annual love fest in Davos, the Swiss ski resort.

Royal Bank of Scotland — the parent of Ulster Bank — will sound out potential buyers for Williams & Glyn after receiving a number of approaches while continuing preparations for an initial public offering of the consumer bank.

Santander UK is reportedly considering a surprise bid for 300 Royal Bank of Scotland branches in the UK after pulling out of the same deal three years ago.

A team of Spanish police experts flew to the French island of Corsica to retrieve a masterpiece by Pablo Picasso which was smuggled out of Spain.

Herve Falciani, a former HSBC employee who leaked information on the bank’s clients and tax situation, has told Spanish newspaper El Mundo he had knowledge of other cases and could act again, adding his “work was not done”.

All the major European equity markets finished in negative territory yesterday. Markets opened down following an announcement late on Thursday by Spanish bank Santander that it had raised €7.5bn in a share sale and that it is to cut its dividend. The stock was down 14% at the close yesterday.

Royal Bank of Scotland is cutting lending faster than other banks are making loans, UK business secretary Vince Cable said.

Ireland’s fortunes could hardly have been more mixed in the two Laser single-handed classes on the opening day of the ISAF Sailing World Championships in Santander yesterday, as the hunt for a place at Rio 2016 heats up.

Spanish banking magnate Emilio Botin, who built the country’s Banco Santander into a global financial giant, has died of a heart attack aged 79.

The decision by Britain’s biggest mortgage lender to clamp down on high-value lending has prompted expectations that some others may follow suit.

Banco Santander has offered €4.7bn in shares for a 25% stake in its Brazil unit, in a bid to complete a buyback of the South American business.

People’s spending using contactless “tap and go” card payments has topped £100m in a month for the first time, industry figures show.

State-backed Royal Bank of Scotland has agreed to pay £1.5bn to the British taxpayer in a complex deal ultimately enabling it to resume future dividend payouts and which it hopes will accelerate its tortuous return to the private sector.

High street lender Santander has been fined £12.4 million after the City of London watchdog uncovered “serious failings” in investment advice provided by the bank.

Racing Santander’s Copa del Rey clash with Real Sociedad was suspended last night after the home players refused to play, having not been paid for several months.

Fit-again Cristiano Ronaldo says he will be available for Real Madrid’s next match as he looks to resume what he believes is possibly his best-ever start to a season.

Spain’s Banco Santander posted a third-quarter profit of €1.06bn today – a near nine-fold increase from last year, when the government had forced it to take major provisions to cover soured real estate loans.

Golf star Rory McIlroy is to be hit with a counter claim when he takes legal action against his former sports agent, a court has been told.

Consumer campaigners in the UK are urging stronger action to “clean up” the credit market after finding that going overdrawn with a bank can be as expensive as using a payday lender.

Superstar golfer Rory McIlroy is facing his biggest challenge to date — but in the courts, not on the course.

The Treasury in England will rule on whether to split Royal Bank of Scotland into a “good” and “bad” bank shortly after the Conservative Party conference, according to a report.

A man described by police as the “Mr Big” of UK cyber crime is believed to be among plotters who stole £1.3m (€1.5m) from a bank branch by taking control of its computer system.

Britain's biggest banks have appointed former CBI business lobby group boss Richard Lambert to set up and lead a new independent body to raise standards in the industry.

Lending under a flagship state scheme in the UK increased between April and June, but small firms remain starved of credit, new figures have revealed.

One of the bidders vying to buy 315 branches from Royal Bank of Scotland today insisted its £1.5bn (€1.75bn) plan will pave the way for a “strong challenger bank”.

Bad loans as a proportion of total lending in Spain rose to a record in June as the country’s weak economy spurred a jump in missed payments.

The Co-op defended its banking business today after a ratings agency said it may need “external support” to maintain regulatory capital levels.

First quarter figures from Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland come amid intense scrutiny on the taxpayer-backed players after Lloyds revealed the collapse of its planned sale of 632 branches.

Spain’s Banco Santander has said net profit for the first quarter fell 26% compared with the same period a year earlier owing to slower economic growth in Brazil and Britain as well as a recession at home.