Four of the best bank accounts: Get paid £100 just to change your current account June 8, 2016 Banks are offering customers free cash for switching their current accounts. The UK’s big four – Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds and RBS – have been shaken up by the arrival of newcomers, from online-only “challenger” banks to European giants. Banks are working harder to draw customers, with several offering between £100-£200 to newcomers. “It appears free-in-credit accounts [...]
The CMA’s retail banking recommendations have been slammed by experts addressing parliament’s Treasury Select Committee June 7, 2016 The Competition and Markets Authority's (CMA) work on the retail banking market is a failed opportunity, MPs have been told. One challenger bank boss said that the concentration risk in the market will take “decades” to unwind, speaking at a Treasury Select Committee hearing earlier today. Meanwhile, a former Competition Commission member said that the provisional recommendations issued [...]
French court orders Societe Generale to pay Jerome Kerviel €450,000 for unfair dismissal June 7, 2016 Societe Generale has today been ordered to pay €450,000 (£350,171) to former employee Jerome Kerviel on the grounds the ex-trader was unfairly dismissed, according to various reports. Kerviel has previously been found guilty for breach of trust and fraud, with his unauthorised trades losing the bank €4.9bn in 2008 in an incident that is one of the largest of its kind. The French [...]
Australia’s securities watchdog seeks civil penalties from National Australia Bank over benchmark rigging allegations June 7, 2016 National Australia Bank (NAB) found itself in the firing line today, after Australia's securities watchdog announced it would be pursuing civil penalties for alleged benchmark rigging. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has launched legal proceedings in the Federal Court in Melbourne, claiming that NAB was involved in manipulating the bank bill swap reference rate (BBSW) between 8 June 2010 [...]
Banks face a storm of new regulation in the aftermath of the EU referendum – and they’re worryingly unprepared June 7, 2016 June 24. The Brexit referendum result is in the books. Everyone wakes up dazed and wonders “what next?” The City, in particular, will have work to do. Normal politics has taken a bit of a holiday but the bureaucratic processes steadily reshaping financial services regulation have not. To give just a few examples: tax rules [...]
Tom Hayes’ crowdfunding campaign breaks £20,000 mark June 6, 2016 Tom Hayes' crowdfunding campaign is gaining pace, having recently broken the £20,000 mark. The former UBS and Citigroup trader has turned to Fundrazr in an attempt to raise £150,000 to pay towards his legal costs of appealing to the Criminal Cases Review Commission. At time of writing, the campaign had raised £21,110, having previously been stalled around the [...]
Goldman Sachs sells stakes in five hedge funds to AMG for $800m June 6, 2016 Affiliated Managers Group (AMG) has become the world’s second-largest manager of alternative assets by acquiring five leading investment companies managed by Goldman Sachs. AMG is forking out $800m (£553m) to buy the hedge funds from Goldman Sachs’ Petershill Fund I, making the deal one of the largest acquisitions in the financial services sector this year. [...]
Former Deutsche Bank trader Christian Bittar given green light to pursue civil case against FCA June 6, 2016 A former Deutsche Bank trader has been given the go ahead to continue with a civil case against the City watchdog. Christian Bittar is suing over the manner he was depicted in a penalty notice issued by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which levied a fine on his former employers for its role in the rate rigging [...]
Deutsche Bank is ditching its plans for a digital bank June 6, 2016 Digital challenger banks can breath a sigh of relief – competition just got a little less crowded. Deutsche Bank was moving with the times with its plans for a new digital bank, revealed late last year in a board reshuffle. Now, it's had a change of heart and has ditched plans for the new venture, a [...]
HSBC to restructure global banking division in bid to cut costs June 6, 2016 HSBC is planning to restructure its global banking division in an effort to slash costs and make the business more "agile", according to reports. The bank issued an internal memo today, outlining the reorganisation, which is part of plans announced last June to cut one in five roles and shrink its investment bank by a third. [...]