Banking

Stay informed with free updatesSimply sign up to the UK interest rates myFT Digest -- delivered directly to your inbox.The Bank of England has kept interest rates on hold at 5.25 per cent in a “finely balanced” decision that dented Conservative hopes of a boost to personal finances just two weeks before the UK’s July 4 election.But the BoE signalled a reduction was possible as soon as its next meeting in August, prompting traders to increase their bets on a summer rate cut.Thursday’s seven-to-two decision by the Monetary Policy Committee...

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.NatWest is to buy most of Sainsbury’s banking business in the first significant deal by new chief executive Paul Thwaite and one that accelerates the supermarket sector’s exit after a failed push into financial services.The state-backed bank said on Thursday it had agreed to buy £2.5bn of assets, including unsecured loans and credit card deposits and £2.6bn of liabilities, from the supermarket chain.The deal does not include Sainsbury’s Bank’s cash machine, insurance...

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Booking Holdings has refused to rule out leaving the EU over “dumb” regulatory burdens that its chief executive says are putting the online travel group at a “competitive disadvantage”.Glenn Fogel attacked new EU digital rules that have forced it to allow hotel companies to offer lower prices on their own websites than on Booking.com, the US group’s Amsterdam-based subsidiary.“If regulations are not smart regulations then you’re at a competitive disadvantage,” he said...