UK Finance : Who Makes The Money

As you would expect from a country which has so much influence around the world, the US leads the way in worldwide finance, but do you know how strong the UK financial Sector is? The mover and shakers? The big money earners?

While the UK finance sector has seen many high profile big money takeovers, the leading banking groups have a massive presence on the high street and abroad, and they are worth hundreds of billions between them.

While not all of their operations are UK based, many have chosen the UK as their base, e.g. HSBC and Standard Chartered, which probably have the largest worldwide presence of all of the UK banks. Compare that with for example the Alliance & Leicester which is 100% UK based, and you start to get a feel for the wide variety of banking groups operating out of the UK.

While the major banks are often in the press for their big money profits, do you really know the size and profitability of some of the UK’s best known financial conglomerates? You may find these figures surprising :-

Name : HSBC

Value Of Group : ?05.57 billion

Profits in 2005 : ?5.081 billion

The business lines of HSBC cover the world, although there is a large historical presence in the Far Eastern markets, due to the origins of the bank. The UK exposure is predominately through Midland Bank which was acquired many years ago.

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Name : Royal Bank of Scotland

Value Of Group : ?5.34 billion

Profits in 2005 : ?.501 billion

While the Royal Bank of Scotland obviously has it roots in the Scottish financial sector, the company now have worldwide exposure - with the US one of their main markets. The company really took off after the acquisition of NatWest Bank which moved the group into the higher league. Tight cost controls, and increased returns on investment have helped the group grow.

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Name : Barclays Bank

Value Of Group : ?8.72 billion

Profits in 2005 : ?.447 billion

Barclays has a history of difficulty controlling bad debts, and suffered particularly when third world bad debts rose in the 1980s and 1990s. While one of the oldest banking groups in the UK, the company have struggled to keep up with newer, fresher competitors and are seen by many as the next takeover target - with a number of US Groups said to be monitoring their situation closely.

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Part Two To Follow……