Traders ready themselves for election all-nighter December 12, 2019 Armed with energy drinks, cigarettes (or vapes) and coffee, London’s financial traders are gearing up for a general election all-nighter. City workers will be glued to their terminals for the next 24 hours, preparing themselves for any swings in global financial markets as Britain’s voters head to the polling booths. Read more: Moody’s downgrades outlook [...]
Second law firm files multi-million foreign exchange class action against raft of banks December 11, 2019 A second law firm today launched a multi-million pound class action claim against a raft of banks which admitted rigging the foreign exchange markets. US litigation firm Hausfeld filed the claim in the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) today against Barclays, Citibank, the Royal Bank of Scotland, JP Morgan, UBS and MUFG Bank over their participation [...]
Credit Suisse cuts profit targets and pivots away from coal December 11, 2019 Credit Suisse faces missed targets and losses next year, after the bank cut its profitability target for 2020. The Swiss bank expects return on tangible equity – a profitability metric – to be over eight per cent, a drop from previous expectations of 10-11 per cent. Read more: Credit Suisse profit doubles amid rise in [...]
Moody’s downgrades outlook for European banks amid slowdown December 11, 2019 Credit ratings agency Moody’s has downgraded its outlook for European banks to negative, predicting that weak economic growth will cause loan quality and profitability to suffer over the coming year. The agency has already downgraded its outlook for the UK, German and global banking systems, again citing weak growth and a highly uncertain 2020. Read [...]
HSBC Swiss unit fined $192m over US tax evasion December 11, 2019 HSBC’s Swiss private banking arm will pay $192.4m (£146.7m) to resolve a US investigation into its role in helping wealthy Americans evade taxes using undeclared Swiss bank accounts. The US Department of Justice filed a charge of conspiracy to defraud the United States against HSBC Private Bank (Suisse), but agreed to drop the charges in [...]
Lloyds found to have failed customers hit by HBOS Reading branch fraudsters December 10, 2019 Lloyds Banking Group was found today to have failed in its compensation of customers who were hit by fraudsters in the Reading office of HBOS. A report by Sir Ross Cranston assessing the bank’s customer review, which was set up to compensate victims of the HBOS Reading fraud, found the review “did not achieve the [...]
Morgan Stanley fined €20m as French regulator accuses it of sovereign bond price manipulation December 10, 2019 Morgan Stanley has been issued a €20m (£16.8m) fine by French regulators after its London desk faced accusations of using “pump and dump” tactics to manipulate sovereign bond prices. France’s stock market regulator, the Autorite des Marches Financiers (AMF), said the bank manipulated prices on 14 French government bonds and eight Belgian bonds in June [...]
Six in 10 financial services workers worried about threat of Brexit December 10, 2019 Six in 10 financial services workers fear the aftermath of Brexit will be the single biggest challenge the sector has to face over the next 12 months, according to a report published today. The survey of more than 500 financial services workers by content software firm Nuxeo also identified other potential threats on the horizon [...]
Softbank taps Goldman for Wework debt financing plan December 9, 2019 Wework saviour Softbank has approached Goldman Sachs for financing as it attempts to reinvigorate the flexible working space provider. The banking giant is securing a $1.8bn (£1.4bn) line of credit, the first stage in Softbank’s $5bn debt financing package for Wework. Read more: Wework names four new executives and outlines six point plan for profitability [...]
Fines levied by the FCA rocket more than 500 per cent December 9, 2019 The value of fines issued by City watchdog the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) this year has soared to £391.8m. Research from law firm RPC found the level of fines so far this year was up more than 550 per cent on the £60m levied last year. The increase in fines by the FCA has been [...]