Societe Generale courts shareholders with possible buyback February 6, 2020 Societe Generale boosted its capital in 2019 due to asset sales, and said it would introduce a new shareholder remuneration policy including the possibility of share buybacks. France’s largest bank guided that its profitability would improve in 2020, although it fell short of mentioning its previous return on tangible equity (ROTE) guidance of between nine [...]
BoE policymaker calls for stress testing to go beyond banking sector February 5, 2020 A Bank of England (BoE) policymaker has called for bank stress testing to extend beyond the banking sector. Speaking at the European Central Bank’s stress testing conference in Frankfurt, Donald Kohn said that the bank was looking at opening up stress testing to hedge funds and open-ended funds. Stress tests are used by the BoE [...]
Credit Suisse shareholders back chief executive in board battle February 5, 2020 Three top Credit Suisse investors have backed chief executive Tidjane Thiam in a power struggle with chairman Urs Rohner as the Swiss bank grapples with the aftermath of a spying scandal. Relations between the pair are understood to have come under increased strain since the revelation that the bank had hired a corporate espionage agency [...]
HSBC set to axe senior managers in strategy shift February 5, 2020 HSBC is reportedly set to unveil a strategy overhaul which will see a new round of job cuts targeting senior managers and reduce its presence in some smaller markets. Reuters reported that the changes are expected to be part of a strategy update by interim chief executive Noel Quinn on 18 February. The restructuring is [...]
Barclays under pressure from second investor group over fossil fuel financing February 5, 2020 Barclays is facing increased pressure over its financing of fossil fuel producers, as it emerged that a second influential shareholder group is pushing the bank to adopt stricter climate change policies. The Investor Forum, whose 50 members control £18.5 trillion assets, has held discussions with the British lender over its climate policies, the Financial Times [...]
Woman who spent £16m in Harrods loses appeal against first ‘McMafia’ wealth order February 5, 2020 A woman who spent £16m at Harrods in a decade has lost a legal challenge against the UK’s first Unexplained Wealth Order (UWO). Zamira Hajiyeva, the wife of Azerbijani banker Jahangir Hajiyev, had been attempting to overturn a UWO obtained by the National Crime Agency in 2018 against a property in Knightsbridge. Read more: Woman [...]
Danske Bank warns profit could almost halve amid fallout from money-laundering scandal February 5, 2020 Danske Bank warned this morning that its profit could almost halve this year as continued fallout from a €200bn money-laundering scandal and negative interest rates weigh on the Danish lender. The bank’s 2019 net profit was flat at 15.1 billion Danish crowns (£1.7bn), but Danske forecast that the total would fall to eight to 10 [...]
EY hit with €95m claim over tax scandal advice February 4, 2020 Big Four accountancy firm EY has been targeted with a €95m (£80.5m) lawsuit for advice it gave to a collapsed bank that allegedly defrauded the German state. The administrator to Maple Bank filed the lawsuit against EY in Stuttgart. The claim relates to the so-called cum-ex scandal which led to the closure of Maple Bank [...]
Goldman Sachs partner caught up in 1MDB scandal barred from banking industry February 4, 2020 The Goldman Sachs partner who was put on leave over the 1MDB scandal has now left the bank and has been permanently barred from the banking industry. The Federal Reserve said it is permanently barring Andrea Vella from the industry for his “role in Goldman’s financing of a defrauded Malaysian sovereign wealth fund.” “The [...]
Metro Bank in compliance probe over Iran and Cuba sanctions breaches February 4, 2020 Metro Bank is undergoing a major review of its compliance controls after the lender handled money from Iran and Cuba, breaching strict US and EU sanctions. The review is being carried out by law firm DLA Piper. Metro Bank hired the firm after receiving the funds from Iran last year. The bank previously notified US [...]