PPI fines to hit £16bn November 25, 2012 TOTAL PPI compensation payouts are likely to hit £16bn, according to new estimates out today, providing a £10bn boost to consumer spending but crippling shareholders and hitting banks’ ability to lend to firms and individuals. The PPI payouts are reaching such a scale that they are being described as a bank windfall tax in all [...]
What the other papers say this morning November 25, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES Microsoft in talks over Europe stores Microsoft is exploring the possibility of extending its showcase stores strategy to Europe as it bolsters the number of devices and appliances on its software platforms. Jenkins urged to axe Barclays unit Some of Barclays’ biggest investors have urged Antony Jenkins, the bank’s new chief executive, to [...]
HSBC chairman Flint backs new Hippocratic oath for bankers November 25, 2012 DOUGLAS Flint is pushing for bankers to swear an equivalent to the medical profession’s traditional Hippocratic oath, as part of plans to improve standards in the industry. The HSBC boss is already on board with Barclays’ proposals for a new professional body to oversee qualifications in the sector, track misdemeanours as bankers change jobs, and [...]
RBS Libor fines set to be drawn out painfully November 25, 2012 RBS now expects to take multiple blows from regulators in the coming months as their Libor fines are likely to be split over several days, rather than concentrated in one announcement, as with Barclays. Chief executive Stephen Hester wants the settlement to be agreed before February, to clear the cloud above the majority state-owned bank [...]
Row your boat gently down the Atlantic say three City boys November 25, 2012 THREE City boys and former army officers – Ed Janvrin, consultant at PwC, Alex Mackenzie, consultant at McKinney Rogers and Will Dixon, business manager at Barclays – stripped off their suits to row across the Atlantic in aid of charity Row2Recovery earlier this year. The mission, conceived by Janvrin and Mackenzie, was undertaken by a [...]
Gloating over broken windows forgets their real costs November 25, 2012 THE price of payment protection insurance (PPI) mis-selling continues to spiral upwards. Barclays put aside an extra £700m in October for PPI compensation, taking its expected payout to £2bn. RBS and HSBC have each set aside well over £1bn and Lloyds added another £1bn at the start of November, taking its PPI provision to an [...]
FTSE 100 flat as EU budget talks continue November 23, 2012 A lack of headway on the EU budget talks kept the leading share index broadly flat in trading this morning. Eurasian Natural Resources was the biggest blue-chip riser, adding more than one per cent. On the FTSE All-Share, holiday group Thomas Cook rose 5.44 per cent, while credit card CPP Group added 2.88 per cent. [...]
UBS set to face regulator fine of up to £50m for Adoboli loss November 22, 2012 REGULATORS are closing in on a deal to fine Swiss bank UBS millions of pounds over its $2.3bn (£1.4bn) trading loss, following the conclusion of the criminal trial against its former rogue trader Kweku Adoboli earlier this week. UK regulator the Financial Services Authority and its Swiss counterpart, the Swiss Financial Markets Authority (FINMA), are [...]
Barclays quits open outcry trade at LME November 22, 2012 MAJOR commodities player Barclays quit open outcry floor trading at the London Metal Exchange (LME) yesterday, downgrading its membership at the world’s biggest marketplace for industrial metals to cut costs. The commodities operations of banks like Barclays face tough times and total commodities trading turnover for the 10 biggest investment banks has tumbled 20 per [...]
SABMiller lifts FTSE 100 November 22, 2012 The leading share index was trading up this morning, as brewer SABMiller led the FTSE 100 up. Headline mining shares were also among the gainers this morning, as a return to growth in Chinese manufacturing activity boosted demand for metal companies. On the FTSE All-Share, Mothercare jumped almost nine per cent, on news that first-half [...]