Bitcoin market cap smashes through $14bn barrier: Equivalent to the average market cap of a FTSE 100 firm December 22, 2016 Bitcoin prices today leapt by five per cent, breaking records for the overall value of the digital currency in existence and taking its price to the highest level for three years. Around 12.5 new Bitcoins come into circulation every 10 minutes. And this meant today the today market capitalisation of bitcoins broke through the $14bn [...]
Standard Chartered Bank’s Thai unit offloads retail banking arm to Tisco Bank and All-Ways December 22, 2016 Standard Chartered's Thai unit has agreed to offload its retail banking business to Tisco Bank and All-Ways Company, both units of Thai group Tisco Financial. The move continues chief executive Bill Winters' plan to boost earnings through restructuring. Standard Chartered announced in November last year that it would divest businesses that lacked a competitive advantage in a [...]
Monte dei Paschi fails to attract anchor investors to its share offer December 21, 2016 The world's oldest surviving bank, Monte Dei Paschi di Siena, looks set for a multi-billion-euro government bailout after admitting late last night that an eleventh-hour private rescue plan was unlikely to succeed. Earlier in the day Italy’s parliament agreed a new €20bn (£16.8bn) bailout package for the country’s struggling lenders, with Monte dei Paschi expected [...]
Court finds in favour of Royal Bank of Scotland in Libor and interest rate swaps mis-selling claims case December 21, 2016 The High Court has today found in favour of Royal Bank of Scotland as the bank faced claims it had caused a real estate company losses from interest rates swaps mis-selling and Libor manipulation. Manchester-based Property Alliance Group (PAG) was suing the bank for more than £30m, alleging it had been mis-sold four interest rate swap [...]
Monte dei Paschi shares close down 12 per cent on reports its private bailout efforts have flopped December 21, 2016 Shares in Monte dei Paschi di Siena plummeted today on multiple reports its private bailout attempt had met an end. Earlier on today, it was reported that the Italian parliament signed off on government proposals to inject €20bn into the banking sector, with Monte dei Paschi likely to be first in line for some help. Italy's oldest [...]
Goldman Sachs to pay $120m to settle probe into attempted rate-rigging December 21, 2016 Goldman Sachs has been ordered to pay $120m (£96.9m) today to settle a probe into attempts to fix a key benchmark rate. The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) claims the banking giant, on a number of occasions between January 2007 and March 2012, attempted to manipulate the US Dollar International Swaps and Derivatives Association Fix (ISDAFIX) and [...]
RBS and Barclays among cartels of banks fined by Swiss watchdog for rate rigging December 21, 2016 The Swiss Competition Commission (Comco) has today fined a group of international banks 99m Swiss francs (£78m) over their involvement in four separate cartels, including some aimed at manipulating Libor. The largest element of the fine went to a group of four banks which Comco claims acted in a cartel to fix Euribor for various lengths of time [...]
Italian parliament approves €20bn bailout plan for banks, as Monte dei Paschi’s shares tank on liquidity warnings December 21, 2016 Italy's parliament has today signed off a government proposal for a potential €20bn (£16.8bn) bailout for the country's banks, according to various reports. Italy's banking sector has found itself in hot water in recent years, burdened by billions of euros in non-performing loans. First in line for a cash boost is likely to be the country's oldest [...]
Atom banks on consumers’ dis-appisfaction with traditional retail banks December 21, 2016 The launch of Atom bank earlier this year was a watershed for both the finance and technology sectors. It is the first British bank with no branches and no call centres as everything is done through an app on customers’ phones. Around 30,000 people have signed up for Atom so far. While these numbers by [...]
Expecting RBS profits is living in a fool’s paradise December 21, 2016 In just 10 days from now you will likely find yourself celebrating the end of 2016, and the start of a new year. If your headache the following morning isn’t bad enough, consider this – a decade earlier, on 1 January 2007, a share in the Royal Bank of Scotland was worth £55.80. Today, its [...]