Post-Brexit passporting questions hang over fintech too July 5, 2016 The question of passporting hangs over fintech startups as well as banking in a post-Brexit world. Half of fintech firms in the UK stand to lose access to the European market handed to them by passporting. A snap survey of around 100 members of industry body Innovate Finance following the referendum result found half are authorised [...]
Libor three – Who’s who? July 4, 2016 After a trial lasting just short of three months, three ex-Barclays bankers have been found guilty of Libor-rigging related offences. The jury was, however, unable to arrive at a decision for the other two before being discharged. But who were the men in the docks? Jonathan Mathew (Source: Getty) Jonathan Mathew, 35 Verdict: Guilty, 11-1 majority [...]
Big firms suffer as investment banking fees plunge 23 per cent in first half of 2016 July 4, 2016 Investment banking (IB) fees plunged by more than a quarter in the UK and Ireland in the first half of 2016, new figures show. Global fees for the six-month period were $37.1bn (£27.9bn), down 23 per cent on the same period in 2015, according to Thomson Reuters. This was the lowest first-half figure since 2012. And the [...]
Everything you ever wanted to know about Libor (but were too afraid to ask) July 4, 2016 It may be hard to believe but, four years since the Libor-rigging scandal first rocked the City, the fallout is still being felt. Today, the jury on the most recent Libor trial was discharged after reaching guilty verdicts for three of the men involved but being unable to arrive at a verdict for the other [...]
Four years after the Libor scandal broke – how many bankers have been found guilty, and how many have been acquitted? July 4, 2016 Four years ago, Bob Diamond sensationally quit as chief executive of Barclays as a scandal over Libor-rigging sent shockwaves through London’s banks. Shortly after, on 6 July 2012, the Serious Fraud Office (known as the SFO) kicked off an investigation into the manipulation of Libor – the “London Interbank Offered Rate”, an interest rate benchmark [...]
Angela Merkel will not drop opposition to breaking EU bank rescue rules as trouble in Italian banking sector continues July 4, 2016 German chancellor Angela Merkel will not back down on opposing the breaking of EU bank rescue rules as the Italian banking crisis continues. When asked about plans to rescue the banking sector, the German finance ministry spokesperson, Martin Jäger, said Germany stands by its position that was declared last week at the EU Council meeting, [...]
Three ex-Barclays bankers found guilty of Libor-rigging July 4, 2016 Three more former bankers have been slapped with guilty verdicts for their roles in Libor manipulation, taking the total number of UK convictions to five. Former traders Jay Merchant, 45, and Alex Pabon, 38, and ex-Libor submitter Jonathan Mathew, 35, all stood trial charged with conspiracy to defraud. The prosecution said that the trio of [...]
US billionaire investor Wilbur Ross picks up £280,000 from the ashes of NBNK July 4, 2016 US billionaire investor Wilbur Ross has picked up £281,000 from the ashes of the failed banking investment vehicle NBNK. In May the board of NBNK, made up of private equity firm WL Ross & Co's senior vice president Stephen Johnson, and Labour life peer and barrister Lord Brennan, voted in May to make the payment to WL Ross & Co [...]
The French PM is already wooing Brexit-battered City firms July 2, 2016 France is already thinking about how to nab the City's best bankers after Britain voted to leave the European Union. Prime Minister Manuel Valls said on Saturday he is thinking about how to re-jig France's tax system to attract international firms which may be thinking of leaving London. Read more: When will Article 50 be triggered? Probably [...]
EU gives thumbs up to government guarantees for Italian bank support scheme June 30, 2016 The European Commission has extended a lifeline to Italy's struggling banks, by granting a guarantee scheme. The scheme will allow Italy to use government guarantees to create a precautionary liquidity support programme for banks in need, although it only applies to institutions which are solvent and will only be valid until the end of the year. According [...]