Bl***y Banks Again

Barclays Bank is possibly facing criminal charges regarding fees paid to Qatar, the Serious Fraud Office is investigating.

They should have their Licence taken away if this proves to be true. Already Barclays has lost it's Chairman and COE, can

Britain afford to let Barclays keep trading when this Bank has brought British Banking into disrepute? Where will all this end? To add insult to injury Barclays was only paying 1% Income Tax.!!!!

Panda wrote:Barclays Bank is possibly facing criminal charges regarding fees paid to Qatar, the Serious Fraud Office is investigating.

They should have their Licence taken away if this proves to be true. Already Barclays has lost it's Chairman and COE, can

Britain afford to let Barclays keep trading when this Bank has brought British Banking into disrepute? Where will all this end? To add insult to injury Barclays was only paying 1% Income Tax.!!!!

THANK YOU FOR THAT,I THINK I HEARD IT ON THE NEWS.
THE BAD NEWS ABOUT BANKS MIGHT STILL BE COMING IN THE YEAR 1MILLION AND 4

Antony Jenkins succeeds Bob Diamond as chief executive of Barclays Bank

The FTSE opening share price of Barclays (in pence) after
the Libor scandal was first revealed.

Price

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162p

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Barclays named its new CEO just hours after it emerged the Serious Fraud Office had launched an investigation into payments between the bank and Middle East investors it tapped for funds during the financial crisis.

Antony Jenkins was the head of its retail and business banking division and he will assume the chief executive post with immediate effect at a time when Barclays remains under pressure for its past activities.

The inquiry, which comes after a similar probe by the Financial Services Authority was revealed last month, is a fresh blow to the bank which is still reeling following the Libor rate-rigging scandal.

Barclays raised £11.5bn from investors in 2008, which effectively allowed it to avoid following in the footsteps of Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland by taking a state bailout.

The SFO is looking in particular at payments between the bank and Qatar Holding - part of sovereign wealth fund Qatar Investment Authority - which Barclays said made a £4.5bn investment.

Whereas the FSA's investigation was centred on four present and past senior staff, including finance director Chris Lucas, the SFO's probe is currently not thought to be focusing on any individuals.

A £3.5bn investment from Manchester City owner Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan - a member of Abu Dhabi's royal family - is not part of the investigation.

The SFO's move will ramp up pressure on Barclays after it already opened a criminal investigation into the Libor rate-rigging scandal.
Bob Diamond quit as Barclays boss in July amid the Libor scandal
Mr Jenkins assumes the top job at the bank as Barclays endures one of the most turbulent periods in its history amid a £290m fine by UK and US regulators for manipulating Libor, an interbank lending rate which affects mortgages and loans.

It is the only bank to have settled, though several others are also the subject of international investigations.

Mr Jenkins' retail banking background sends a clear signal that the bank wants to move away from the controversy relating to its 'casino' or investment banking past.

Barclays has released details of how much its new CEO will be paid and says the total package equates to a 25% reduction on Mr Diamond's arrangements.

From August 30 his annual salary will be £1.1m and bonus will be up to a maximum of 250% of salary.

Mr Diamond was paid a total package of £6.9m in 2011.

In a statement, Mr Jenkins said: "I am very proud to have been asked to lead Barclays, where I began my career nearly 30 years ago.

"Barclays is a strong universal bank, with many assets, including market leading businesses; talented and engaged staff; and long-standing clients and customers.

"But we have made serious mistakes in recent years and clearly failed to keep pace with our stakeholders' expectations. We have an obligation to all of those stakeholders - customers, clients, shareholders, colleagues and broader society - and a unique opportunity to restore Barclays reputation by making it the 'go to' bank in all of our chosen markets.

"That journey will take time, we have much to do, and I look forward to getting started immediately."

The bank's share price fell 1% when the FTSE 100 began Thursday's trading session.

30 August 2012 Last updated at 03:35








Citigroup pays out $590m to settle subprime case


Citigroup's payout is one of the biggest settlements connected to the global financial crisis
Continue reading the main story

Big Banking

• Global banking scandals explained
  
• How British banking broke down
  
• Whistleblower hits out at regulators
  
• What's gone wrong with the banks?
  

US banking giant Citigroup has paid $590m (£370m) to shareholders who accused the bank of hiding its subprime exposure.

The payout is one of the biggest settlements connected to the global financial crisis which began four years ago.

The bank was accused by shareholders of concealing the scale of its exposure to the toxic mortgages.

Citi denied the allegation but said it wanted to avoid further legal costs.

Shareholders who acted together in a class action contended they were fraudulently misled by misstatements and omissions in the company's disclosures in 2008.

The agreement resolves claims that shareholders ended up with huge losses after the bank failed to make writedowns on complex financial instruments at an early stage and deliberately tried to hide the scale of the risk.

Citigroup ultimately lost $27.7bn in 2008 and its shares trail well below the levels reached before the crash at around a tenth of their previous values.
'Fundamentally different'
Other banks have made similar settlements.

In 2010, Bank of America agreed to a $601.5m settlement, while last year Wells Fargo also paid $590m.

The amount to be paid under the proposed settlement is covered by Citi's existing litigation reserves.

A statement from the bank said the payment was a "significant step" towards resolving outstanding claims stemming from the financial crisis, adding "Citi will be pleased to put this matter behind us".

It said it was now a "fundamentally a different company" from what it was then.

Citi said it had since overhauled risk management, reduced risk and was focussing on banking basics.

The money will be paid from an already existing litigation reserves.

The deal needs final approval from the courts.

Figures from the bank last month showed it was recovering from its exposure to bad loans.

It was able to reduce provision for bad debts from $34.4bn to $27.6bn.

RBS and TSB have been criticised for trying to stop their cash machines being used by other Banks.

Can you believe the mentality of these Bankers when they should be doing all they can to promote good relations ?

RBS especially, since 82% is owned by the Taxpayer.

I WENT TO MY RBS BANK,THEY WERE HAVING TECHNICAL PROBLEMS,ACCOUNT- ACCOUNT TRANSACTION WERE HAVING DIFFICULTIES.

Badboy wrote:I WENT TO MY RBS BANK,THEY WERE HAVING TECHNICAL PROBLEMS,ACCOUNT- ACCOUNT TRANSACTION WERE HAVING DIFFICULTIES.

Wasn't RBS one of the Banks that was recently out of action for a few days?

Panda wrote:

Badboy wrote:I WENT TO MY RBS BANK,THEY WERE HAVING TECHNICAL PROBLEMS,ACCOUNT- ACCOUNT TRANSACTION WERE HAVING DIFFICULTIES.

Wasn't RBS one of the Banks that was recently out of action for a few days?

YES,THEIR ULSTER BANK SUBSISARDY(SP?) WAS OUT OF ACTION FOR ABOUT A MONTH OR MORE.TODAY SAID THEY WOULD PAY COMPENSATION TO CUSTOMERS AFFECTED BY THE OUTAGE.
SOMEONE NEEDS TO PULL THEIR FINGER OUT TO SOLVE THESE PROBLEMS.

Badboy wrote:

Panda wrote:

Badboy wrote:I WENT TO MY RBS BANK,THEY WERE HAVING TECHNICAL PROBLEMS,ACCOUNT- ACCOUNT TRANSACTION WERE HAVING DIFFICULTIES.

Wasn't RBS one of the Banks that was recently out of action for a few days?

YES,THEIR ULSTER BANK SUBSISARDY(SP?) WAS OUT OF ACTION FOR ABOUT A MONTH OR MORE.TODAY SAID THEY WOULD PAY COMPENSATION TO CUSTOMERS AFFECTED BY THE OUTAGE.
SOMEONE NEEDS TO PULL THEIR FINGER OUT TO SOLVE THESE PROBLEMS.

That guy Hester Gordon Brown appointed has proved quite incapable, only after protest did he waive his bonus , has sold

some RBS assets yet the share price is still lower than when he started and all these glitches upsetting Customers is not helping.

BoE Official Calls For Less Bank Regulation


One of the most prominent figures in Britain's financial policymaking circles argues "in financial regulation, less may be more".


7:12pm UK, Friday 31 August 2012

A top Bank of England official's speech has caused a stir at Jackson Hole

• 
  

Ed Conway

Economics Editor


We need less regulation, not more.

It's hardly a fashionable idea these days, with the world still reeling from the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression.

As far as many are concerned, it was a lack of financial regulation which got us into this mess to start with. That's why we are currently seeing an onslaught of new rules about how banks do their jobs - from the Dodd-Frank and Volcker Rule regulations in the US to the Vickers reforms over here, the direction is towards more and stricter regulation of banks.

Which is why it's so striking that now, one of the most prominent figures in Britain's financial policymaking circles has argued that "in financial regulation, less may be more".

Andy Haldane's comments, delivered in Jackson Hole a couple of hours after Ben Bernanke's speech, may well go down as the most interesting contribution from a central banker at the symposium. Quite something, given that Haldane isn't a household name and doesn't even have a say in his country's monetary policy.

The Bank of England's Executive Director for Financial Stability delivered a rich, long and only occasionally esoteric speech about complexity and financial crises - a journey which also features serial killers, hospitals, frisbees and border collies (honestly).

But it's that point about paring down financial regulation which is likely to resound. His point is that the more complex systems get - whether by systems you mean financial regulation or, for instance, sporting rankings - the worse they often get at doing their job.

Haldane mentions the ranking systems created by FIFA and the ATP in football and tennis respectively: they are extremely complex and detailed, but they are less effective at predicting success in a forthcoming tournament than simple surveys based on name-recognition.

He adds that the same is true across the board: "Among physicians diagnosing heart attacks, simple decision trees beat a complex model. Among detectives locating serial criminals, simple locational rules trump complex psychological profiling. Among investors picking stocks, simple passive strategies outperform complex active ones. And among shopkeepers understanding spending patterns, repeat purchase data out-predict complex models."
Andy Haldane spoke shortly after Federal reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke
And yet when it comes to financial regulation, the entire apparatus has become far more complex and unwieldy than it ever used to be. The Glass-Steagall bill of 1933 which split up American investment banks was a mere 37 pages long. Today's equivalent, Dodd-Frank, is 848 pages, plus 400 pages of further rules. Haldane calculates that by last month, "two years after the enactment of Dodd-Frank, a third of the required rules had been finalised. Those completed have added a further 8,843 pages to the rulebook."

The same is true when it comes to international regulations: the first big set of global banking rules, Basel I, was an agreement which clocked in at just 30 pages. Basel II was 347 pages while Basel III was 616 pages.

Longer and more complex regulations need more people to police them, and perhaps the most striking statistic in Haldane speech is that "in 1980 there was one UK regulator for roughly every 11,000 people employed in the UK financial sector. By 2011, there was one regulator for every 300 people employed in finance."

It turns on its head that whole argument about the cause of the crisis being a lack of regulators. The over-riding point of the paper, which is a must-read, is that any new rules to police banks and finance should be far, far simpler than they are at present.

Quite how this will go down in financial regulation circles will remain to be seen, but it makes eminent sense. My argument about the financial sector has, for years, been that we need, somehow, to return to a world where those who own investment banks would, once again, face unlimited liability for their investments. In other words, if the bank was to collapse, they would face losing not merely their shareholdings but every penny of their wealth until the enterprise was wound down.

However, I'll leave you with one final intriguing point from the Haldane paper: perhaps we are already imperceptibly moving towards a big break-up of the banks, of the kind that was seen in the 1930s. But perhaps it is happening already.

Here's Haldane:"Having risen to a peak of almost three in 1928, the largest US banks’ price-to-book ratios had by 1931 plummeted to below one. They remained close to these levels for several years afterwards. This discount implied that investors in the bank could improve their wealth by selling-off the banks’ assets separately. Investor pressures to separate began to mount."

"In response, a number of banks began selling off their equity brokerage affiliates, including the two largest banks, Chase National Bank and National City Bank in 1933. A number of banks delisted their shares. This response, led by the market, paved the way for the passage of Glass-Steagall in 1933. As Fuller (2009) puts it: 'Divorce made a virtue of necessity and cursed and condemned bankers jumped at the opportunity to demonstrate their virtue'. The market was leading where regulators had feared to tread.

"Today, the situation is not so dissimilar. As then, many of the world’s global banks have fallen from heady heights to trade at heavy discounts to the book value of their assets. If anything, the discounts to book value are even greater today than in the early 1930s. As then, this conjunction is stirring market pressures to separate. Bankers today, many cursed and condemned, could make a virtue of necessity. The market could lead where regulators have feared to tread."

ULSTER BANK IS TO PAY CUSTOMERS AFFECTED BY TECHNICAL PROBLEMS £19 AND 3 MONTHS FREE BANKING.

Badboy wrote:ULSTER BANK IS TO PAY CUSTOMERS AFFECTED BY TECHNICAL PROBLEMS £19 AND 3 MONTHS FREE BANKING.

That's very generous of them Badboy.....I don't think.!!!!!!

21 August 2012 Last updated at 23:24
British banking: How it broke down and how to rebuild itBy Michael Robinson Fixing Broken Banking, BBC Radio 4
Modern High Street banking exasperates Sir Mervyn King and customers alike
Continue reading the main story

Big Banking

• Global banking scandals explained
  
• What's gone wrong with the banks?
  
• Whistleblower hits out at regulators
  
• Q&A: Standard Chartered allegations
  

I'm old enough to remember how British banking used to be.

I can recall a time long before an exasperated Sir Mervyn King, the governor of the Bank of England, declared: "Of all the many ways of organising banking, the worst is the one we have today."

The puzzle is how once conservative, traditional bank managers changed into people prepared to foist products such as payment protection insurance on to their customers.

PPI started as a good insurance idea - designed to help people with personal loans or mortgages keep up their payments if they lost their jobs or became ill.

But it ended up as one of the most cynically expensive financial products ever to be offered to the British public.

Niels Kröner used to work for management consultants McKinsey. From the mid-1980s, he says, they advised banks how to become more efficient and profitable.

At first, computers were used to automate and centralise data-processing previously carried out in branches. Then decision-making was automated.

That, Mr Kröner says, is when the trouble began, because the result was to distance bankers from their customers.

"It all looked really logical and rational at the time," he says.

"But in hindsight, perhaps, one should have told the banks, 'Beware of the dangers of centralisation,' and rather stick to a business model that more or less works."
'Relentless' targeting
With the new systems in place, top bankers started producing financial products, such as PPI, and imposing tough targets on branch staff for selling them.

Former banker Cliff D'Arcy says such systems became pervasive. "The targeting was harsh, severe, relentless," he said.

PPI mis-selling has led to a huge industry in compensation claims
"Your job was on the line if you didn't sell enough PPI. Cashiers, assistant managers, financial advisers, even the manager - everybody would have a personal and a group target towards selling PPI."

In Cambridge, former NatWest cashier Tim Kierman says a bonus system, running alongside the selling targets, focused staff on selling - and ultimately mis-selling - products such as PPI.

Mr Kierman was sacked by NatWest in 2009 for helping a campaign against high bank penalty charges.

At the time, he was taking home about £1,000 a month - well below the average British wage. So the £200-a-quarter bonus for getting his quota of customers into a room with the branch sales staff - the "customer advisers" - really made a difference.

Failure to meet his target did not only threaten his own bonus. If overall branch targets were not met, branch staff would all suffer financial penalties.

"You have a customer adviser over your shoulder saying, 'Why didn't you get them? Why didn't you say this? Why didn't you do this?" he says.

"You don't want to be having to try to explain how come cashier X can do the job. And you can't do the job."
Banking time-warp
The same change happened in business banking. The former close relationship between branch managers and business clients was replaced by remote, computerised loan approval systems.

Pressure on front-line staff to sell their business clients profitable financial products also grew.

The extent of the change in Britain is apparent if you go to a place such as Ludwigsburg, a small provincial town in south-west Germany.

Not every German banks with giants like Deutsche Bank
It is like entering a banking time-warp.

Germany has its equivalents of British High Street banking giants, but most people in Ludwigsburg use local banks based in the town. The same is true across Germany.

The Ludwigsburg Regional Savings bank has highly computerised, highly centralised back-office systems, shared with local savings banks across Germany.

But that's where the transformation process ended.

Banking in Ludwigsburg is still face-to-face, without targets or bonuses to divert staff from providing local customers - business and personal - with useful financial services.

Stephan Kessler, the head of business lending, says long-term relationships result in good quality lending and lower defaults.

"I always compare it with going to the doctor," Mr Kessler says. "You tear down your pants - and you have to do the same with your banker - you trust in each other."
Traditional values
The advantages of relationship banking are now widely recognised. But with British banking now operating on a far more adversarial model, there are doubts that such banking can be revived in Britain.

Earlier this year, I came across a reason to hope it might.

Handelsbanken sounds German, but in fact it's a Swedish bank, with more than 100 branches in Britain offering traditional relationship banking to personal and business customers.

Continue reading the main story
FIND OUT MORE


Michael Robinson presents Fixing Broken Banking on BBC Radio 4, examining what went wrong with Britain's banks and how it might be put right.

• Listen to the series on the Radio 4 website
  
• Listen via the programme download
  

Andy Copsey, Handelsbanken's UK chief operating officer, has found a hunger in Britain for the basic banking it offers. As a result, he is now opening a new branch every 10 days or so.

"I think our traditional values chime with the UK public and the business people out there," he says. "And that encourages us to continue to open more branches and recruit more staff."

Handelsbanken could hardly be more different from the familiar British banking model.

It has no targets or bonuses. Its branch staff deal with customers face to face and only in their immediate vicinity. Most lending decisions are made locally - by the branch itself.

Most Handelsbanken staff have had careers at one or other of the High Street giants - and all described relief in escaping top-down selling pressure and the chance to be, as one put it, a "proper banker again".
Tipping point?
Handelsbanken is not the only alternative model now emerging. A string of new banks is appearing on the High Street.

In addition, so-called peer-to-peer lenders are starting to cut banks out of the picture entirely, using the internet directly to match lenders with borrowers.

I experimented putting £350 of my own money into a peer-to-peer lender and ended up with 35 mini-loans of £10 each.

One borrower I met, Rob Boufee, got his loan at about half the interest rate his bank charged. Providing he and other borrowers repay in line with forecasts, I will end up with a better return.

Peer-to-peer lending is still unregulated and relatively small-scale. But this growing competition gives one of Britain's top regulators, the widely respected director of financial stability, Andy Haldane, hope for the future.

Sometimes the system needs to visibly break, he says, before the process of repairing can begin. Recent scandals, such as the manipulation of Libor - the inter-bank lending rate - may prove the tipping point.

"What we've seen over the course of the last year or two is a much greater energy by the general public into shopping around for their financial services," Mr Haldane says.

"This is manna from heaven. If it comes from customers, it cannot be resisted.

"And banks being forced to compete on their customer proposition is the way in which this problem can solve itself, without the need from regulators like me to start sticking their finger in the pie."

There's a long way to go before British banking is back on course. But with a bit of luck, it could be that we have seen the nadir.

Slowly, and not without difficulty, a form of banking may just emerge which benefits the British economy as a whole, rather than just feeding on it.

LIBOR CRISIS SPREADS








Email




Monday 16th July 2012, 3:36am



TIM WALLACE






LLOYDS became the latest UK bank to be dragged into the ongoing Libor scandal over the weekend, after the New York Fed made public emails sent by Barclays staff to the US authorities that accuse Lloyds of entering false Libor submissions in mid-2007.

A swathe of previously unseen documents also show Bank of England governor Sir Mervyn King and US Treasury secretary Tim Geithner discussed problems in the way Libor was set in early 2008, and that there was widespread concern over the lack of effective control exercised by the British Banking Association over the key interbank rate.

At the time, Geithner was president of the New York Fed.

Meanwhile Barclays has told its staff that the reputational damage suffered by the bank will be “put in perspective” when other banks’ actions are made public – indicating it believes other institutions behaved as badly or even worse than the battered financial giant.

And the New York Times has revealed that the US Justice Department is building criminal cases against several financial institutions and their employees related to the manipulation of interest rates.

The scandal widened dramatically with the publication of an email sent by a Barclays staff member to the New York Fed on 28 August 2007 which warned that the day’s US dollar Libor readings “look too low”.

The informant pointed to Lloyds’ submission of 5.48 per cent for three month borrowing, and argued “probably the lowest rate you could attract liquidity in threes would be 5.55 per cent” – suggesting the bank was also entering falsely low readings.

“Draw your own conclusions about why people are going for unrealistically low libors,” the Barclays worker added.

Other emails sent during the early months of the financial crisis show regular and growing concern that several banks were entering incorrect readings.

“We are not going to comment on speculation by traders at other banks,” said a Lloyds spokeswoman in a written statement.

“In 2007, Lloyds was one of the highest rated banks in the world, with a triple-A rating and was in a strong position in relation to funding itself in the markets, compared to some other banks.”

The Fed has also released correspondence between US and UK regulators, showing concern over the way in which Libor was set in the early months of 2008.

Tim Geithner suggested a list of ways in which the Libor-setting process could be strengthened, including by adding more US banks to the panel and enhancing transparency in the system – proposals that Mervyn King described as “sensible,” adding that he would ask the BBA to study the ideas.

Meanwhile an internal Barclays memo to staff, leaked to Sky News, shows the bank firmly expects other firms to be engulfed in the crisis.

“As other banks settle with authorities, and their details become public, and various governments’ inquiries shed more light, our situation will eventually be put in perspective,” said the note, co-written by executive chairman Marcus Agius.

Meanwhile Agius also wrote to customers to apologise again for the scandal, promising that “we will not allow ourselves to be distracted from what really matters – delivering for you, day in and day out”.

It also emerged over the weekend that Barclays is making preparations to withdraw from the panel that sets another similar rate, the UAE’s Emirates interbank offers rate (Eibor).

Is there anyone or any institution in the world of banking that isn't corrupt?

malena stool wrote:Is there anyone or any institution in the world of banking that isn't corrupt?

Not that I can think of malena, Bernard King is a disgrace, he knew about this in 2008 but did nothing. He said if was the FSA's responsibility !!! He is due to retire soon and will walk away with a big fat Pension without a conscience.

I didn't post it here because it is a U.S. problem, although maybe some of our Investment Companies might be guilty. It appears several Investment Companies and some U.S.Banks have been fiddling about with sales figures and profits to avoid paying tax.

Panda wrote:

malena stool wrote:Is there anyone or any institution in the world of banking that isn't corrupt?

Not that I can think of malena, Bernard King is a disgrace, he knew about this in 2008 but did nothing. He said if was the FSA's responsibility !!! He is due to retire soon and will walk away with a big fat Pension without a conscience.

I didn't post it here because it is a U.S. problem, although maybe some of our Investment Companies might be guilty. It appears several Investment Companies and some U.S.Banks have been fiddling about with sales figures and profits to avoid paying tax.

It's beyond belief that Cameron and Osborne who both constantly reiterate the need to reduce the nation's deficit and boost investment, yet completely ignore the Brown inspired corrupt banking practices which have contributed so much to the state we are in.

malena stool wrote:

Panda wrote:

malena stool wrote:Is there anyone or any institution in the world of banking that isn't corrupt?

Not that I can think of malena, Bernard King is a disgrace, he knew about this in 2008 but did nothing. He said if was the FSA's responsibility !!! He is due to retire soon and will walk away with a big fat Pension without a conscience.

I didn't post it here because it is a U.S. problem, although maybe some of our Investment Companies might be guilty. It appears several Investment Companies and some U.S.Banks have been fiddling about with sales figures and profits to avoid paying tax.

It's beyond belief that Cameron and Osborne who both constantly reiterate the need to reduce the nation's deficit and boost investment, yet completely ignore the Brown inspired corrupt banking practices which have contributed so much to the state we are in.

NOT TO MENTION PFI AND PAYING WORK PROGRAMME CONTRACTORS,SACK THE WORKFARE CONTRACTORS IF THEY ARE NOT DOING THEIR JOB,SAVE BILLION IN PROCESS

malena stool wrote:

Panda wrote:

malena stool wrote:Is there anyone or any institution in the world of banking that isn't corrupt?

Not that I can think of malena, Bernard King is a disgrace, he knew about this in 2008 but did nothing. He said if was the FSA's responsibility !!! He is due to retire soon and will walk away with a big fat Pension without a conscience.

I didn't post it here because it is a U.S. problem, although maybe some of our Investment Companies might be guilty. It appears several Investment Companies and some U.S.Banks have been fiddling about with sales figures and profits to avoid paying tax.

It's beyond belief that Cameron and Osborne who both constantly reiterate the need to reduce the nation's deficit and boost investment, yet completely ignore the Brown inspired corrupt banking practices which have contributed so much to the state we are in.

Osborne was on the Andrew Marr show this morning, the usual platitudes, "we must do all we can to stimulate the Economy" etc......Marr wiped the floor with him!!!

Andrew Marr can make some very pointed statements at times... Pity he uses the same draconian laws and lawyers as the McCanns to stop the press reporting his own frailties.

RBS shareholders 'plan to sue bank and former chief Fred Goodwin'


Shareholders in Royal Bank of Scotland are in talks with litigation funds with a view to launching a formal £3.3bn fund lawsuit against the bank, according to reports.








The shareholders lost nine-tenths of their money after buying shares in the ill-fated rights issue Photo: Getty Images





5:59AM BST 03 Sep 2012

9 Comments




The shareholders, known as the RBoS Shareholders Action Group, plans to sue RBS and its former chief executive Fred Goodwin, as well as former chairman Tom McKillop and the former investment bank chief Johnny Cameron for misleading investors at the time of a landmark £12bn rights issue in 2008, The Times claimed.


The shareholders lost nine-tenths of their money after buying shares in the ill-fated rights issue, Reuters reported.


The shareholders claim they were misled by omissions in the prospectus which concealed the frailty of the bank, which was bailed out by the British government during the 2008 financial crisis.


If the group secures about £12m to £15m to pay for the cost of potential defeat, legal proceedings will begin in the coming weeks, the newspaper said, citing sources familiar with negotiations.


HSBC, Deutsche Bank and Credit Agricole are among 91 institutional investors giving backing to the shareholder group, with 20 more ready to sign up once the group has the necessary cost cover in place, the Times said.

Emma Rowley
11:40PM BST 21 Aug 2012


61 Comments




The taxpayer-backed UK bank is understood to be being scrutinised by the US Federal Reserve and the Department of Justice, after it provided information to them and to the UK regulators.


RBS tonight would not comment on the nature of the alleged failings or the investigation. However it said in its half-year results earlier this month that it was conducting a “review of its policies, procedures and practices” around its processing of US dollar payments outside the US.


The bank also said that it had initiated discussions with UK and US authorities to discuss its historical compliance with the relevant regulations and laws, “including US economic sanctions”.


The investigation into RBS comes after another UK bank, Standard Chartered, last week agreed to pay a $340m (£217m) fine in a humbling settlement with a US regulator over Iranian money-laundering charges.


Unlike Standard Chartered, RBS is not being investigated by Benjamin Lawsky, the high-profile New York state regulator

Deutsche Bank Said to Cut 85 Equities Jobs in Tokyo, HK


By Takahiko Hyuga and Fox Hu - Sep 5, 2012 10:57 AM GMT+0100


Deutsche Bank AG (DBK), Germany’s biggest lender, is eliminating about 85 jobs at its Japan and Hong Kong equities units as Europe’s widening debt crisis curbs economic growth in Asia.

The bank cut about 15 positions in Tokyo yesterday, and plans to tell 30 employees in equity research, sales and trading today that they will be dismissed, three people with knowledge of the matter said. The Frankfurt-based company trimmed 40 jobs in Hong Kong yesterday, according to another person, who asked not to be identified because the information is private.





Enlarge image

Deutsche Bank Said to Cut Equities Division Jobs in Hong Kong




Michael Nagle/Bloomberg

Deutsche Bank will cut about 1,900 jobs “predominantly” outside of Germany, including 1,500 positions in Corporate Banking & Securities and related infrastructure areas, according to a July 31 statement from the lender.

Deutsche Bank will cut about 1,900 jobs “predominantly” outside of Germany, including 1,500 positions in Corporate Banking & Securities and related infrastructure areas, according to a July 31 statement from the lender. Photographer: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg

Co-Chief Executive Officers Anshu Jain and Juergen Fitschen are paring costs amid declining investment banking revenue and a slump in Asian equity markets. The lender said on July 31 that it will reduce about 1,900 jobs, mainly outside of Germany, including 1,500 positions in corporate banking and securities and related infrastructure areas. Total job cuts across Asia amount to about 100 employees, one of the people said.

“The adjustments were part of the global program announced on July 31 and there is no change in our full-service equity offering,” Amy Chang, a Hong Kong-based spokeswoman for Deutsche Bank, said by phone today of the local cuts.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index has declined more than 8 percent since the end of March. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index (HSI) has dropped 6.9 percent and Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average has slid 14 percent.

Global Reductions


Deutsche Bank’s Hong Kong reductions account for about 10 percent of the unit’s workforce, mostly sales and trading positions, said the person. The Financial Times reported on the Hong Kong redundancies earlier today.

Deutsche Bank was little changed at 27.72 euros at 11:35 a.m. in Frankfurt trading. The stock has fallen 5.9 percent so far this year.

Global banks have been reducing equities jobs as trading volumes slump. Goldman Sachs Group Inc., the Wall Street bank that generated 58 percent of first-half revenue from sales and trading, eliminated 20 to 30 jobs in that division in the U.S., a person briefed on the matter said on Aug. 15.

Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc (RBS), Britain’s biggest state-owned lender, said in March that it will shut its cash equities,equity capital markets and corporate finance units in Korea, as well as cash equities operations in Indonesia and Singapore. About 70 people will be affected.

Macquarie Group Ltd. (MQG), Australia’s biggest investment bank, cut about 20 people, or 10 percent of its investment banking workforce in Asia outside of Australia, two people with knowledge of the departures said on Feb. 14.

Lloyds Bank is to be investigated by the FSA over Staff Payments.....didn't Richard Branson buy Lloyds?

BARCLAYS USED LOAN GUARANTEE SCHEME EVEN THOUGH LOAN(S) DIDN'T QUALIFY FOR SCHEME