Britain’s banks might soon be allowed to resume dividends payments again, according to reports over the weekend.
The Bank of England is said to be considering a plan to allow shareholder payments to resume as long as banks maintain their financial strength and continue to support business struggling due to coronavirus.
Banks will need to agree on a new floor for their capital ratios and commit to increase net lending.
Britain’s other major banks all report quarterly results within the next few days following Barclays PLC (LON:BARC) numbers last Friday that indicated its financial position was more than adequate to resume dividends.
Jes Staley, Barclay’s chief executive said talks would be held with the Bank of England towards the end of 2020 about dividend payments.
Shareholders would have to wait until early 2021 to find out the conclusion of the talks, he told Bloomberg in a television interview, adding that Barclays’ dividend policy would be addressed in its yar-end results.
Britain’s banks agreed in March to suspend dividend payments under pressure from the Bank of England. Bonuses to senior executives were also scrapped.
At that time, the Bank of England’s bank overseer the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) said it would undertake in the fourth quarter an assessment of distribution plans at banks beyond the end of 2020.