$BCS

The UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) will review the access to cash regime in late 2026, assessing its impact on 14 major banks and building societies. The 12 banks affected include Barclays, NatWest, Lloyds, Santander, and HSBC. The review aims to evaluate the effectiveness of the rules, which took effect in September 2024, in maintaining reasonable cash access services for consumers and businesses.

Barclays (BCS) and Deutsche Bank (DB) are integrating Ant International's FalconTST 2.0 AI model to improve cash-flow forecasting and FX liquidity management. The model, achieving a 0.666 MASE score and 93% accuracy, is also used by Citi and Standard Chartered. It aims to reduce FX hedging costs by over 60% and enhance decision-making in cross-border transactions.

Ant International launched its AI forex tool, Falcon 2.0, with Citi, HSBC, Deutsche Bank, Standard Chartered, and Barclays as partners. The model aims to reduce foreign exchange hedging costs by over 60%, according to the company. Ant International recently raised $1.2 billion to support expansion.

Banks report increased trade loan demand, with HSBC's trade revenue up 12% to $1.54B and loan balances up 30% to $120B. Standard Chartered saw a 2% drop in trade income but a 4% Q2 uptick. European banks like Deutsche Bank and Natixis also reported growth. African banks like Afreximbank and Ecobank showed gains in trade finance. Middle Eastern banks saw mixed results due to regional disruptions.

Barclays will appoint Mike Joo and Adeel Khan as Co-CEOs of its Investment Bank in 2027, pending regulatory approval. Joo joins from Bank of America, while Khan is currently a senior executive at Barclays. The move aims to strengthen the bank's integrated service offering, according to the Group CEO.

Global stocks slipped as Middle East tensions and upcoming UK and US economic data weighed on sentiment. In Ireland, ISEQ All-Share fell 0.46% and Irish Continental Group edged down to €7.86 after a €1.2bn bid was confirmed as final. In London, FTSE 100 fell 0.28% with Lloyds and Barclays lower. In Europe, BP slipped 0.63%. US indexes were mixed; Anthropic shares boosted Nasdaq.

Barclays said it will appoint Mike Joo and Adeel Khan as Co-CEOs of its Investment Bank effective February 2027, pending regulatory approval. Joo would join from Bank of America, where he was Co-Head of Global Investment Banking. Khan has led Global Markets and has been Co-Head of the Investment Bank since 2021. Both will join the Group Executive Committee.

Barclays is reshuffling investment bank leadership again, according to an internal memo seen by the Financial Times and confirmed by Barclays. Mike Joo, currently Bank of America’s co-head of global investment banking, will become co-CEO of Barclays’ investment bank in February, pending regulatory approval. Adeel Khan will be promoted to co-CEO for global markets.

UBS reiterated an “overweight” view on European banks after a strong Q2 earnings season. According to UBS, 40 lenders it tracks posted pre-tax profit about 6% above consensus, with impairments around 6% below and loan defaults steady at 1.9%. UBS raised EPS forecasts ~2% for 2026 and 1% for 2027, expects sector earnings growth of 12% (2026) to 10% (2028), and lists Barclays, ABN Amro and others as top picks.

Barclays PLC said it bought back and will cancel 3,388,050 to 2,679,555 of its 25p ordinary shares on 10-14 Aug 2026, with highest prices of 518.4p and lowest of 513.1p, and volume weighted average prices ranging 516.5212p to 522.4748p. The company reported 36,479,076 shares bought since 29 Jul 2026 at a VWAP of 515.1450p.