Bl***y Banks Again

There is growing resentment among Investment Managers etc at the U.S. Banks allowing young Traders to take the blame about the Libor crisis when the Bosses must have known what was going on . They feel the Investigation should take this into account. So far it is only Barclays Bob Diamond who had to accept responsibility .

Adibori has been found guilty in a London Court of embezzling $2.5 BILLION from UBS and faces a 10 year Sentence and other offences are yet to be heard. How the H*ll did he manage to lose that much without supervision??????

1. 
   UBS rogue trader Kweku Adoboli jailed for seven years
   

Former UBS banker Kweku Adoboli has been jailed for seven years and dubbed a trader who was "out of control", having been found guilty of the biggest fraud in British history.








Former UBS banker Kweku Adoboli Photo: AFP





By Jonathan Russell

2:00PM GMT 20 Nov 2012




Jailing him on Tuesday, Mr Justice Keith told Adoboli: "There is a strong streak of the gambler in you. You were arrogant to think the bank's rules for traders did not apply to you."


Adoboli will serve half his sentence minus a year already spent in custody - a total of two and a half years.


City of London Police, which investigated his activities after he confessed his losses in an email to colleagues, said Adoboli was one of the most sophisticated fraudsters the force had come across.


Detective chief inspector Perry Stokes, from the City of London police, said: "To all those around him, Kweku Adoboli appeared to be a man on the make whose career prospects and future earnings were taking off.


"He worked hard, looked the part and seemingly had an answer for everything. But behind this facade lay a trader who was running completely out of control and exposing UBS to huge financial risks on a daily basis.



Related 26 Oct 2012

• "Rules put in place to protect the bank's position and the integrity of the markets were being bypassed and broken by a young man who wanted it all and was not willing to wait.
  

"When Adoboli's pyramid of fictitious trades, exceeded trading limits and non-existent hedging came crashing down, the repercussions were felt in financial centres around the world.

"Now, just a year on, he is facing the reality that he was not above the law and will be made to pay for his crimes."

A jury at Southwark Crown Court in London had earlier returned a verdict of guilty on two counts of fraud by abuse of position but acquitted him of four charges of false accounting.

The 32-year-old, who was arrested in September last year, had pleaded not quilty to all six charges.

Adoboli was accused of losing his bank billions of pounds in a series of fraudulent trades designed to boost his standing at the bank and increase his bonuses.

Using an “umbrella account”, Adoboli hid the trades from his superiors over more than two years. He invented fictitious counterparties to the trades and repeatedly lied to his superiors to cover his tracks.

His activity came to light after he sent his bosses an email detailing his activities in mid September 2011.

It read: “I take full responsibility for my actions and the s*** storm that will now ensue. I am deeply sorry to have left this mess for everyone and to have put my bank, and my colleagues at risk.”

In court he denied the charges claiming his colleagues knew of his activities and his superiors condoned it.

His defence team painted a picture of an ambitious but well meaning young man who was working for the good of his bank. However on at least one count the jury has rejected that picture in favour of the prosecution case that Adoboli was greedy and immoral.

The jury heard how the Ghanaian-born banker had built up six-figure losses spreadbetting on the financial markets.

When UBS banned its traders from taking out spread bets Adoboli continued but with a different company. Despite earning in excess of £350,000 in 2010 Adoboli was relying on payday loan companies to meet his outgoings when he was arrested.

Swiss bank UBS saw billions wiped off its share price as a result of Adoboli's unauthorised trading and at one point was at risk of losing £7.4bn, prosecutors said.

Sasha Wass QC told jurors that he was "a gamble or two away from destroying Switzerland's largest bank for his own gain".

The £1.4bn loss he caused - revealed when Adoboli sent a bombshell email to colleagues - wiped around 10pc or £2.8bn off UBS' share price.

A day after the massive losses were revealed, the UK's Financial Services Authority (FSA) and the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority launched an investigation into what had happened.

UBS went public on September 15 - the day after Adoboli revealed what he had done - declaring a loss of around $2bn, which was later increased to $2.3bn.

By the close of business the next day, it said it had closed out all the market risk and that no clients were affected.

The Board of Directors set up a committee to investigate what had happened, and in the aftermath chief executive Oswald Grubel, and the co-heads of UBS' Equities business, all resigned. In 2011, the bonus pool for the investment bank was down by 60pc.

Several members of staff from UBS were present in court throughout the duration of the trial.

Detective Chief Inspector Stokes said: "He was a hard worker, he spent a lot of hours working, but we know a lot of that was spent on covering up his fictitious trades and his activity.

"We know about his interest in spread-betting so a lot of his income was going on that. Before this broke he was well-liked at UBS, he was respected. He was a star, he was one of their rising stars.

"He believed he was going to reach the heights within UBS and his colleagues thought the same. His supervisors, seniors, managers, they all saw him as one for the future.

"But what is clear in the evidence we uncovered is if you peel back the layers and the behaviour back to 2008, he was breaking the rules."

Adoboli became a trader in December 2005, was promoted to associate director in March 2008 and then director in March 2010.

His salary rose dramatically as his career progressed. In 2007 he earned £40,000 and a bonus of £55,000; in 2008 he earned £50,000 and a bonus of £15,000.

Then in 2009 he earned £100,000 with a £95,000 bonus; and in 2010 his salary was £110,000 and his bonus was £250,000.

UBS HAS ALSO BEEN BLAMED FOR THE HP FIASCO(GUARDIAN)
UBS ALSO TO BE FINED OVER ROGUE TRADER MENTIONED EARLIER

Barclays Bank buys 8,500 Apple iPads


British Bank Barclays has placed one of the UK’s largest ever iPad orders








Imagination Technologies designs microchips used in Apple's iPad Photo: PA





3:12PM GMT 23 Nov 2012

25 Comments




The 8,500 tablets will be used in UK branches, and will feature a new app specifically for mortgage advisers called Mortgage Brain.


Barclays told The Register the devices will be used "to assist our branch colleagues to interact with customers, improving the customer experience".


"We investigated a number of different tablet options and in this instance, we concluded that iPads were the best solution for their specific needs. We are now starting to use these across Barclays branches in the UK," she said.


Although a growing range of tablets is available the iPad remains the most popular and has the widest range of apps available compared to any of its rivals. Barclays did not provide The Register with any detailed explanation on why it opted for Apple.


The Mortgage Brain app is jointly owned by six banks including Barclays, RBS, Virgin Money, Santander, Lloyds TSB and Nationwide.



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It aims to help mortgage brokers by scanning the entire market for available options.

Insight UK, the dealer who is believed to be handling the transaction refused to comment on any individual customer

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"Barclays told The Register the devices will be used "to assist our branch colleagues to interact with customers, improving the customer experience"

This Bank has paid many thousands of £s in fines over the LIBOR scandal, lost it's Chairman , reduced it's profits and spends all this money to help staff interact.!!!!!!!!!! You couldn't make it up could you, if Staff can't "interact " with customers they shouldn't be in the job. Wonder what Barclays shareholders will make of this.??

Trader fights extradition over alleged bond fraud


Kareem Serageldin, a former senior trader at Credit Suisse, faces the first court hearing this week in what is likely to be many months of legal cases to decide whether he is to be extradited to the US to face multi-million dollar fraud charges.








Kareem Serageldin is accused of falsely valuing bonds during the financial crisis in order to cover up losses. Photo: AFP






By Jonathan Russell

7:00AM GMT 25 Nov 2012

Comment




He has vowed to fight a request by US authorities to have him sent back over allegations that he hid huge losses on mortgage-backed securities.


Mr Serageldin is accused of falsely valuing bonds during the financial crisis in order to cover up losses. When the alleged fraud was uncovered by Credit Suisse, the bank reported that the value of the mortgage-backed securities had been overvalued by $540m (£339m).


Two associates of Mr Sera­geldin have already pleaded guilty to charges of wire fraud and falsifying records. They have admitted covering up losses but claimed they did so on Mr Serageldin’s orders.


As well as facing criminal charges Mr Serageldin faces civil action brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which accused him of “initiating the fraudulent scheme”.


The charges relate to work that was carried out by the three men in the build-up to the financial crisis. When the US property market, the underlying market the mortgage-backed securities represented, started to fall the trio did not accurately reflect those changes in the value of the bonds they held, it is claimed.



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  12 Jul 2010
  

The SEC accuses them of pricing the bonds “in a way that allowed them to achieve their goal of showing consistently profitable trading”.

Mr Serageldin’s hearing in London on Wednesday follows a number of cases where UK-based businessmen have faced extradition requests to the US, including Christopher Tappin, who has admitted charges that he sold equipment to Iran that was used in its missile programme

I worked for a well known Bank who sent me on a 2 day seminar in London. One of the Speakers said the guys working in Banks on the Trading floor were played out at 30 years of age because of the pressure of their jobs. They were like the Del Boys and their salaries were very high based on the profits they made. He said not enough Management was checking on the transactions.

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1. 
   HSBC Chairman urges bankers to swear an oath
   

Douglas Flint, the chairman of HSBC, is pushing for bankers to take an oath similar to that sworn by doctors as part of radical plans to overhaul the way the profession is viewed in the wake of the financial crisis and successive banking scandals.








Douglas Flint is pushing for bankers to take an oath similar to that sworn by doctors.






By James Quinn, Sunday Telegraph's Deputy Business Editor

7:00AM GMT 25 Nov 2012


10 Comments




He is calling for the oath to be administered by an independent body designed to police the banking industry and is understood to have discussed the prospect with his counterparts at the UK’s other big banks.


The idea of an oath — similar to the Hippocratic oath traditionally sworn by doctors — was raised in 2010 as part of a cross-party pre-election commission on banking whose members included Vince Cable, now the Business Secretary, but was not followed up.


Mr Flint, the bank’s finance director for 15 years before being elevated to chairman in 2011, is working with the British Bankers Association (BBA) on the idea.


The association has set up a working committee to look at the creation of a new professional body complete with a code of standards.


Mr Flint is believed to be of the view that the body must be independent of the industry — and of the BBA — if it is to be credible. He also believes that, working in tandem with the Financial Services Authority (FSA), it should have the ability to strike off bankers if they have broken the code of standards.



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Under the FSA’s present rules very few bankers have been censured.

Mr Flint is understood to have pointed colleagues to the principles for good business conduct devised by Lord George, the former Governor of the Bank of England, in 2004.

The first of eight principles sets out the need “to act honestly and fairly at all times when dealing with clients, customers and counter-parties”.

Mr Flint has also been busy in his role at HSBC, where it is understood he has begun sounding out future non-executive directors as he continues to refresh its board.

Following the recruitment of Joachim Faber, the former chief executive of Allianz, and John Lipsky, the former deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund, earlier this year, the bank’s chairman is looking for other new candidates.

An HSBC spokesman declined to comment.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

This is rich coming from an HSBC recently appointed Chariman with 16 years Service who MUST have known what was going on !!!!! HSBC are in deep s*** with the current charges against them .

Such a dreadful indictment of the FSA lack of monitoring , the BOE who were advised in 2008 by the U.S. of the Libor rigging but did nothing. If new rules and regulations are not brought in to prevent this happening again I think we would be better off going back to the Barter System !!

UBS fined £30m over Kweku Adoboli fraud failures


UBS has been fined £29.7m by Britain's financial regulator for failures in its systems and controls that allowed former employee Kweku Adoboli to conduct Britain’s biggest bank fraud.








The fine, which was was reduced from £42.4m as the Swiss bank settled early, is the biggest fine for systems failures by a bank, although it is below the £59.5m levied on Barclays as part of the bank's transtlantic settlement over Libor rigging claims.





By Telegraph Staff

7:45AM GMT 26 Nov 2012




"UBS failed to take reasonable care to organise and control its affairs responsibly and effectively, with adequate risk management systems and failed to conduct its business from the London Branch with due skill, care and diligence," the Financial Services Authority (FSA) said in a statement on Monday.


Tracey McDermott, director of enforcement and financial crime at the FSA, branded UBS's controls "seriously defective".


"UBS failed to question the increasing revenue of the desk and failed to ensure that there was a corresponding increase in the controls in place over the desk. As a result Adoboli, a relatively junior trader, was allowed to take vast and risky market positions," she said.


Last week, the Telegraph reported that UBS was “ready to settle” with regulators for the multiple failures of systems, controls and supervision that allowed Adoboli to clock up £1.4bn losses.


Adoboli was jailed for seven years and dubbed a trader who was "out of control", having been found guilty of the biggest fraud in British history.



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  'Rogue trader' charged by police
  16 Sep 2011
  
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  'He wanted it all': rogue trader who lost £1.4bn jailed for seven years
  20 Nov 2012
  
• 
  In the pink
  21 Nov 2012
  

The FSA fine, which was reduced from £42.4m as the Swiss bank settled early, is the biggest fine for systems failures by a bank, although it is below the £59.5m levied on Barclays as part of the bank's transatlantic settlement over Libor rigging claims.

The FSA and the Swiss regulator, Finma, started investigating UBS in February. In the UK, a report conducted by KPMG on behalf of the FSA has formed the basis of the regulator’s investigation. As a result the bulk of the enforcement is already complete with just few more details to add which could not be conducted while the criminal case was ongoing.

Prosecutors described Adoboli, who was born in Ghana and educated in England, as a “master fraudster” and compulsive gambler who ran up losses of £123,000 of his own money on top of UBS’s losses. He hid his trades telling “carefully crafted, deliberate, detailed and sophisticated lies.”

However UBS was also exposed as having lapse controls that failed to detect the fraud for more three years. Adoboli took advantage of UBS’s back-office procedures that regularly did not check trades until just before settlement, often around 27 days by which time he cancelled the trade and opened a new one.

The rogue trading only ended when Adoboli wrote a “bombshell” email in September 2011 confessing to his activities. In court it emerged his losses had peaked at around $12bn – enough to bankrupt UBS.

Credit Suisse is to shed 100 jobs in their Investmenrt Arm deptmost if all, from London.

Breaking News.....Mark Carney is to be the next Bank of England Governor, he is currently Governor of the Bank of Canada and is Canadian..........Quel Surprise !!!!

He is Canadian , his Wife British , 4 children have dual Citizenship and is apparently well qualified and the BOE and FSA will merge again. Tucker was expected but apparently he was a bit too close to Bob Diamond.

One of Carney's colleagues says he is well qualified for the job and understands financial stability very well, his CV is excellent and he takes up his position next year .

New Bank Of England Governor Revealed


Mark Carney is chosen to replace Sir Mervyn King as the Bank of England boss, beating Paul Tucker to the post.


4:05pm UK, Monday 26 November 2012

The next Bank of England governor will be Mark Carney

• 
  
• 
  

Mark Carney has been named as the new Bank of England governor, who will replace outgoing head Sir Mervyn King.

The role of the governor is the most important unelected position in Britain, and is chosen by the Government.

Mr Carney, a Canadian national, will take up his role on June 30 next year.

He was appointed governor of the Bank of Canada in early 2008, for a term of seven years.

According to Bloomberg, Mr Carney said he did not formally apply for the role - indicating he was headhunted by Britain for the job.

Sky's Economics Editor Ed Conway said: "This is a real surprise for the City.

"He will serve a five-year term rather than the eight-year term originally advertised.

"We don't know the future of current deputy governor Paul Tucker, who has been heading towards this role all his career."

Mr Carney was born in Fort Smith, in Canada's Northwest Territories, and received a bachelor’s degree in economics from Harvard University in 1988.

He received a master’s degree in economics in 1993 and a doctorate in economics in 1995, both from Oxford University.

A father-of-four, his wife is a British national and his children all hold dual nationality.

Announcing the choice to the House of Commons, Mr Osborne said he would apply for British citizenship.

Prior to joining the Canadian civil service, Mr Carney had a 13-year career with investment bank Goldman Sachs in its London, Tokyo, New York and Toronto.

Mr Carney was appointed deputy governor of the Bank of Canada in August, 2003.

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1. 
   Mark Carney: A Canadian we can bank on
   

There is much the Chancellor can learn from the Bank of England’s new Governor – if he’ll listen








Mark Carney wants to get rid of excessive risk-taking but he doesn’t hate financial firms, and is not obsessed with breaking them up Photo: Reuters






By Allister Heath

7:47PM GMT 27 Nov 2012


50 Comments




There is only one problem with Mark Carney’s appointment as the next governor of the Bank of England, and that is that he won’t be starting until next July. Britain’s mismanaged economy desperately needs all the help it can get, and having to wait seven months before the Canadian central banker can start making changes will be almost unbearable.


It is not that Carney is perfect: like all economists, he doesn’t get everything right, and while he was one of a number of individuals who turned Canada into a success story, his reign as governor of the Bank of Canada hasn’t been without its critics. But he is eminently reasonable and experienced, a brilliantly qualified former City worker who is committed to balancing economic growth with financial stability, rather than tilting the balance too far either way.


He is exactly what the City needs – a tough but fair watchdog – and will inject fresh energy into Britain’s stale, closed economic policy establishment in Whitehall, the Bank of England and regulatory agencies.


Carney should start off by reminding George Osborne of the astonishingly successful fiscal rescue operation that saved the Canadian economy from collapse. Our new governor didn’t organise it himself, as he was still a student at Oxford at the time; but the experience is at the heart of Canada’s successful economic model, based on relatively low public spending and taxes, the right kind of austerity and sensible, well-managed banking.


In 1992, after its very own financial implosion, Canada’s budget deficit reached a horrendous 9.1 per cent of GDP, levels similar to those bequeathed to Britain by the Labour party and the global crisis four years ago. Yet by 1997, Canada was already boasting a budget surplus after a textbook case of how to shrink a bloated state. Between 1992 and 1997, public spending in Canada fell by a massive 9 percentage points of GDP, while tax rose just 0.3 percentage points; in the UK, as oppressed taxpayers are well aware, Osborne is relying far too much on tax hikes, while his cuts are being dragged out over far too many years.



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Canada is not Britain: our neighbours are in the troubled eurozone, not the United States; and we are not as well endowed with natural resources. Yet the Canadian model demonstrates that deep reductions in public spending and a short, sharp shock can go hand in hand with strong growth, refuting Keynesian nostrums.

The Canadian economy moved from a deep recession in 1991 to an average of 2.8 per cent annual growth in the following five years, a bounce-back Britain can only dream of. Departmental budgets were slashed by a fifth within four years. Total spending rose only 0.7 per cent a year between 1992 and 1997 in cash terms, an annual cut in real terms of 0.8 per cent. Compare that with the UK, where spending is going up three times as quickly in cash terms, the deficit is increasing again and taxes on income, consumption, capital and property have all been hiked. The Chancellor needs to pick Carney’s brains, and fast.

Today, Canada has a much freer economy than Britain: its government spends less than 42 per cent of its national income, against a still crippling public spending share of 49 per cent for the UK, OECD figures suggest. Canada’s economy is the sixth freest in the world, according to the Fraser Institute, ahead of America and far better than Britain’s unsatisfactory 12th position, confirming that economic freedom and financial stability are perfectly compatible with the right framework. There is much we can learn from Canada, and Carney will be Osborne’s best possible teacher if only our Chancellor is willing to listen.

When it comes to monetary policy, where Carney will actually be in charge, the difference between the two countries is less pronounced, but Ottawa’s system is nevertheless superior. Carney needs to persuade Osborne to change the Bank’s inflation-targeting rules, the last vestige of Gordon Brown’s destructive monetary and financial reforms to have escaped unscathed.

At the moment, the Bank of England is meant to be targeting an increase of 2 per cent on the consumer price index, within a band of one per cent above or below. Yet it keeps missing it, with no consequences, and then goes on to announce that it will meet the target at a later date. At best, it’s a bit like Zeno’s dichotomy paradox: if you are always halfway towards your end goal, you never actually reach it; at worst, it’s a system increasingly devoid of credibility.

While hardly a panacea, the UK will undoubtedly soon adopt Canada’s flexible inflation-targeting framework. This has the virtue of honesty: if the Bank thinks that inflation should remain a little above target for the next year, it would be able to say so, rather than insisting otherwise. But that will only be acceptable if Carney makes it clear that he believes in sound money and not in a secret, slow-motion inflation intended gradually to rob us of our savings and wages.

His appointment is a perfect opportunity to usher in a fresh, credible anti-inflation commitment while also improving existing rules. Even if interest rates remain low for now, Carney needs a realistic plan for rate normalisation to tackle indebted zombie companies, to remind households that ultra-cheap money will eventually end, and to make saving more rewarding.

It is also clear that endless quantitative easing isn’t the answer to our pathetically weak economy; the Bank’s £375 billion of gilts purchases have also had the unintended effect of financing Osborne’s deficit and blurring the distinction between fiscal and monetary policy. One branch of the state – the Treasury – is issuing IOUs; another branch of the state, the Bank of England, is using newly created money to pay for these IOUs.

This isn’t how the economy is meant to work. If increased monetary loosening is still needed, then Carney should temporarily relax capital requirements for banks, making it cheaper and easier for them to lend.

Perhaps most important of all, Carney’s appointment must end the amateurish war on the City that is crippling one of the UK’s biggest employers, exporters and taxpayers. The Canadian sensibly believes in prudently managed, well-capitalised universal banks that are not excessively leveraged.

He wants to get rid of excessive risk-taking. But he doesn’t hate financial firms, and is not obsessed with breaking them up – he just wants the banking system to work better. He will doubtless want to jail crooked bankers but won’t seek to demonise good ones.

The cacophony of competing, contradictory banker-bashing voices at the Bank of England, FSA, the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards and other bodies, which has reached a new crescendo thanks to the power vacuum at the heart of our regulatory infrastructure, needs to end; the extreme uncertainty about future rule-changes is damaging Britain and chasing away investors.

Carney will have to be tough – on wayward bankers, of course, but also on other regulators. Anyone who goes against his policies will need to be fired. There must be a single, rational message.

Most important of all, Carney is a great believer in reintroducing genuine capitalist discipline back into banking and ditching the immoral bubble-era system where risks were socialised and losses privatised. He rightly wants to banish bail-outs and introduce a robust new bankruptcy code for financial institutions, to make sure that all can be wound down, regardless of scale, wiping out bondholders as well as shareholders but protecting depositors.

If Carney succeeds in convincing the public that banking has moved on, and that taxpayers will never again be called upon to bail anybody out, he will have saved the City from itself – and that, more than anything else, would be a legacy worth fighting for.



Allister Heath is editor of 'City A.M.’

===================================

Read the comments........seems Carney is not squeaky clean.

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   UK banks face £60bn black hole
   

Britain's banks face a financial black hole of up to £60bn from regulatory demands, hidden losses, and potential mis-selling costs that threaten to jeopardise future growth, the Bank of England has warned.








The Bank of England wants banks to build more capital Photo: PA






By Philip Aldrick, Economics Editor

6:46PM GMT 29 Nov 2012


108 Comments




In its Financial Stability Report (FSR), the Bank revealed that the big four lenders - RBS, Lloyds, Barclays and HSBC - may need to take £15bn of extra provisions on consumer loans and European debt, “a further £4bn-£10bn” to cover fines and customer compensation, and “between £5bn and £35bn” to meet regulatory risk standards.


Sir Mervyn King, the Bank’s Governor, said the potential losses distorted the “picture of banks’ health” and that lenders may have to “raise capital or take steps to restructure”. He added: “The danger to be avoided is that of inadequately capitalised banks holding back our recovery.”


However, he stressed that no more taxpayer money would be put on the line. “It was made very clear that the Treasury did not want to put more into the state-owned banks,” he said.


Markets have lost confidence in the banks due to their “complex and opaque” numbers and, to recover investors’ trust, lenders need to set aside capital for “expected losses” and for potential compensation and fines over customer mis-selling and Libor rigging, the Bank said. Risk levels also need to be calculated more prudently.


The decision was taken after last week’s meeting of the Financial Policy Committee. In the most dramatic intervention since the £67bn bail-out of lenders from RBS to Lloyds, the proposal will see regulators from the Financial Services Authority sent into banks and building societies to ensures losses are properly declared by March next year.



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However, the Bank declined to put a single number on the scale of potential recapitalisations, stressing that it would depend on the FSA judgement on each individual bank. Sir Mervyn added: “The problem is manageable, and is already understood at least in part by markets.”

Bank shares reacted favourably as fears of a worse outcome proved unfounded. Barclays shares closed up 1pc at 244.6p, RBS was 1.5pc higher at 299p, and Lloyds rose 1.5pc to 46.64p. Jason Napier, an analyst at Deutsche Bank, said: “Overall, the FSR is in line with our expectation, and in areas the report is better than we had feared.”

The plan could lead to a shake-up of the industry with rights issues, asset sales, and disposals – so long as they “do not hinder lending to the real economy”.

Barclays has already raised $3bn (£1.8bn) in contingent capital, Royal Bank of Scotland has previously been asked by the regulators to consider selling its US operation Citizens, and Lloyds Banking Group is rumoured to be looking at the disposal of its stake in wealth manager St James’s Place.

Sir Mervyn said: “The recommendation we have made will soon get the banks back to a position where they can support our economic recovery.”

The Bank also released separate data yesterday showing that write-offs by UK banks fell to £3.5bn in the third quarter from £4bn in the previous three months – well below the peak of £6.3bn in 2011 and the lowest since 2009. Citi’s economist Michael Saunders said: “The drop may be a symptom of increased banking forbearance and reluctance to face losses

SOMEONE SAID THAT THE BANKS/ECONOMY ARE IN A ZOMBIE STATE WITH SOME COMPANIES/PEOPLE ONLY PAYING INTEREST ON THEIR LOANS.

Mark Carney attacked bankers' windfall pay agreements


The new Governor of the Bank of England criticised the remuneration "windfall" enjoyed by bankers and supported plans to pay them in bonds, suggesting tougher regulations could be financed by cutting "personnel" costs.








In a speech to the Toronto Board of Trade in 2008, the then governor of the Bank of Canada said that "regulators need to consider carefully the incentive impact of compensation arrangements as they assess the robustness of risk-management and internal control systems". Photo: AFP





By Charlotte Santry, in Ottawa

8:30PM GMT 01 Dec 2012

Comment




In a 2009 speech, Mark Carney said the "current windfall" on bonuses "sits uneasily" with the aim of tying remuneration to long-term performance. He warned that the banking industry lacked "sensitivity" and was in danger of "hubris".


Mr Carney, who was appointed last week, also blamed the global financial crisis partly on the fact that "many financial institutions have pay structures that reward short-term results and encourage potentially excessive risk-taking".


In a speech to the Toronto Board of Trade in 2008, the then governor of the Bank of Canada said that "regulators need to consider carefully the incentive impact of compensation arrangements as they assess the robustness of risk-management and internal control systems". He stopped short of
recommending that financial regulators should intervene directly in bankers' pay.


In statements that could hint at how he will approach bankers' pay when he starts his new role in London next summer, Mr Carney spoke strongly of the need for banks to control their operating costs. He told Bundesbank in 2010 that the costs of implementing tougher liquidity standards and capital requirements could be offset by shaving "personnel expenses" by 10pc. This was put forward as a way of paying for the global regulatory standards known as Basel lll, due to be introduced from 2013.


At January's World Economic Forum in Davos, he was said to have expressed support for plans to pay part of bankers' bonuses in bail-in bonds, which are converted into equity if a bank's performance dips. He was reported to have said these bonds "could be part of the solution to recapitalising weak banks".



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Bail-in bonds were later proposed in an EU document published in October. Analysts suggested that the plans could reduce bonus payments by as much as 70pc.

Canada's banks continued to pay out big bonuses throughout the crisis. Its six biggest banks set aside C$9.3bn (£5.84bn) in bonuses for their best performers, up by 7pc from the previous year.

They have also seen increased profits, up by 15pc last year, driven by higher consumer loan volumes and capital markets activity. It is believed that Mr Carney's comments on compensation were directed
at the international banking sector, partly because Canada's pay policy compliance is overseen by a regulator.

The view from Toronto's Bay Street, Canada's financial hub, is that Mr Carney will want to raise the issue of pay in his new role. Janet Ecker, of the Toronto Financial Services Alliance, said Mr Carney understood the "connection between credibility with the public and sound compensation

=================================

looks like Carney means Business , about time the banks stopped being so greedy, especially now Britain is heading for

triple recession and a downgrade by Moodys.

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   Bank fears led to business rate row
   

The Coalition is to stand firm on controversial plans to postpone a revaluation of business rates and increase the tax in line with inflation, amid concerns within the Government that a revaluation would lead to a multi-million pound tax cut for banks.








Property and retail bosses are furious that the Coalition has scrapped a planned revaluation of business rates next year because it means that they have to pay rates based on property rents in 2008 – close to the peak of the market – until 2017. Photo: ALAMY






By Graham Ruddick, Retail correspondent

7:30AM GMT 02 Dec 2012

1 Comment




The Government has been under pressure from retailers to cut business rates as the industry faces a £6bn annual bill and a £175m inflation-linked increase in 2013.


Property and retail bosses are furious that the Coalition has scrapped a planned revaluation of business rates next year because it means that they have to pay rates based on property rents in 2008 – close to the peak of the market – until 2017.


However, despite the Chancellor looking for ways to stimulate the economy in his Autumn Statement this week, the Government will stand by the postponement and inflation increase this week.


It is understood that one of the reasons for the Coalition's stance is that the revaluation would lead to a sharp fall in taxes for banks. According to estimates by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA), office buildings in London would see a 14pc drop in business rates following the revaluation – the biggest decline in the country. This is because rents in the City – the home of the financial services industry – have slumped since the financial crisis. In contrast, pubs, theatres, and hotels would see a sharp rise in business rates, while the retail sector would see a 1pc increase.


These sectors would see a rise in rates because the multiplier used to calculate how much of the rental value will be paid in tax would have to increase sharply to cover the shortfall in rates from London offices.



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Business rates – one of the Government's biggest sources of income – are calculated on the rental value of a property and the annual rate of inflation. The revaluation is designed to redistribute how the tax is paid but does not change the total paid to the Treasury. The Government is also thought to have concerns about the cost of the revaluation – estimated to be £43m – and the backlog of 200,000 rates appeals facing the VOA.

Loss of income caused by banks as bad as a 'world war', says BoE's Andrew Haldane


The economic impact of the global financial crisis has been as bad as a world war and as a result public anger at banks was reasonable and understandable, said Andrew Haldane, a senior Bank of England official.








Andrew Haldane said the the scale of the loss of income and output as a result the crisis started by banks was as damaging as a 'world war'.





By Telegraph Staff

3:45PM GMT 03 Dec 2012

12 Comments




Mr Haldane, the Bank's executive director for financial stability, told BBC Radio 4's The World at One on Monday that the scale of the loss of income and output as a result the crisis started by banks was as damaging as a "world war".


"There is every reason why the general public ought to be deeply upset by what has happened – and angry," he said.


"If we are fortunate, the cost of the crisis will be paid for by our children. More likely it will still be being paid for by our grandchildren."


Mr Haldane, the Bank's executive director for financial stability, said banks needed to be more honest about the risky assets on their books if confidence was to be restored to the system and lending to business was to flow again.


"Investors will be much less willing to put their money into the banking system. They will lack confidence in the banking system and will either charge very high rates for lending that money to banks or will just withdraw their money entirely," he warned.



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  27 Nov 2012
  

He urged banks to "spring clean" their balance sheets to get credit into the system and create a "springboard" for a recovery in the economy.

Last week, the Financial Stability Report warned that the big four lenders – RBS, Lloyds, Barclays and HSBC – faced a financial black hole of up to £60bn from regulatory demands, hidden losses, and potential mis-selling costs that threaten to jeopardise future growth.

It said banks needed to lend more and to do so may need to take £15bn of extra provisions on consumer loans and European debt, “a further £4bn-£10bn” to cover fines and customer compensation, and “between £5bn and £35bn” to meet regulatory risk standards.

From next year the FPC will take the lead in British bank regulation.

On excessive bank pay, Mr Haldane said he thought that the Libor scandal had been a turning point, with a "ratcheting down" of bonuses and salaries although he said there was "still some way to travel" before they reached acceptable levels.

"Back in 1980, your average investment banker was paid the same as your average lawyer or doctor. By the time we got to 2006, they were being paid four times as much," he said.

"A massive discrepancy had been built up, that is now being steadily eroded. It may take some years. Have we got further to travel south? I suspect probably yes," he said.

HBOS chief James Crosby sold shares prior to collapse


Sir James Crosby, the former HBOS chief, faced accusations from MPs that he sold out his holdings in the bank amid growing warning signs of its looming collapse.








Sir James Crosby and Andy Hornby celebrate as the Halifax Group achieves mortgage assets of over £100 billion in 2001






By Louise Armitstead, Chief Business Correspondent

11:40PM GMT 03 Dec 2012


80 Comments




Sir James sold around two-thirds of his holdings in HBOS between the time he left in 2006 and its collapse two years later, it emerged at a session of the Parliamentary Commission on Banking on Monday.


The bank’s former chief executive said he understood how it could be seen as getting out, but that this was not his motivation and that he was “balancing his portfolio”.


Sir James admitted that the bank collapsed because of “incompetence” in its corporate lending division, telling told MPs that he “horrified and deeply upset” by its failure. “I am apologising,” he said. “I played a major part in building a business that subsequently failed.”


Andrew Tyrie, chairman of the committee, repeatedly put it to Sir James that HBOS had been brought down by the “incompetence” of reckless lending decisions and poor controls.


Sir James said: “I will agree that corporate banking losses were excessive ... and the lending in those terms were not good.” Replying to Mr Tyrie’s assertion that “it was incompetence that brought this bank down”, Sir James conceded: “Correct.”



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Sir James was asked if he should be stripped of his knighthood like Fred Goodwin, the disgraced former chief executive of Royal Bank of Scotland. The former HBOS chief said the award he received after stepping down in 2006 had been “a great honour”, but added: “I am in no doubt my reputation and my achievements will never again be seen in the same way.”

As a final blow, Sir James was forced to admit that he would no longer be considered a “fit and proper person” under regulatory requirements. He told the Committee he had “no plans” to apply for another regulated City role but said he “wouldn’t expect to get approved”.

He added: “I’m too closely associated with problems at HBOS to get approval.”

However he refused to accept he should give back a portion of his pay and bonuses. He insisted that some of the growth after the merger of Halifax and Bank of Scotland in 1999 was positive.

Rory Phillips QC crushed Sir James’ claims to success: “The seeds for what went wrong at HBOS were sown during your time ... [by the] plans and strategy that you made after the merger of Halifax and Bank of Scotland.”

He said that Sir James’ successor, Andy Hornby, had just “nine months” to spot the problems. He added: “From about the middle of 2007, there was nothing very much that could be done.”

Over two and half hours, the committee quizzed Sir James over the corporate lending policies that have led to £45bn of impairments in four years. Sir James said: “With the benefit of hindsight, we would have done things differently ... things could have been done better.”

Mr Hornby, who was quizzed by the Committee after Sir James, accepted that HBOS’s losses were catastrophic. He said that the “core driver” came from the bank’s corporate lending division and the group had been hit by the “unforeseen and totally unprecedented closure of the wholesale markets”.

He accepted that the business growth targets were aggressive, particularly in international forays into Ireland and Australia. He also admitted that he lacked specific banking experience in areas such as life assurance and said he was “always very aware of that.”

Banks are to set aside £35 Billion to pay the fines for the Libor crisis and action by Councils and Investment Managment

Companies.

The Bank of England says Banks should set aside money to boost Capital.

Former HBOS chairman Lord Stevenson 'thinks about bank failure nearly every day'


Lord Stevenson, the former chairman of HBOS, has apologised for the collapse of the lender in 2008, saying he felt “awful” about its failure.








'We were not aware until very late in 2008 that we were suffering from a heart attack,' said Lord Stevenson Photo: PA






By Harry Wilson, Banking Correspondent

6:08PM GMT 04 Dec 2012


49 Comments




“I feel awful about it. There are very few days I don’t think about it,” said Lord Stevenson as he questioned by the banking standards commission on his role HBOS’s collapse.


The former banker admitted HBOS’s board had not realised the severity of the problems the business was facing as Justin Welby, the new Archbishop of Canterbury and a member of the commission, likened the lender’s demise to “someone who has a heart attack at home”, but dies in a “car crash” on the way to hospital.


“We were not aware until very late in 2008 that we were suffering from a heart attack,” said Lord Stevenson.


However, former Chancellor of the Exchequer Lord Lawson hit out Lord Stevenson, accusing him of being either “dishonest” or “delusional”.


“You’re living in cloud cuckoo land aren’t you? Reckless growth led you into difficulties,” said Lord Lawson.



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Letters from 2008 published by the commission showing correspondence between Lord Stevenson and Sir Callum McCarthy, the former chairman of the Financial Services Authority, showed the bank’s seeming lack of concern at the problems building up inside it.

In a letter dated March 18, 2008, Lord Stevenson complained to Sir Callum about “rumour feeding upon rumour” after a more than 20pc fall in the HBOS share price over the previous three weeks, which he said was “probably but not necessarily generated with criminal intent”.

At the end of a hearing in which Lord Stevenson admitted “he did not know” whether he should be considered a fit and proper person to hold an FSA-approved role, Andrew Tyrie MP, the chairman of the commission, accused him of being “evasive, repetitive and unrealistic”.

“Some witnesses have been very frank with us and it’s been clear to us from their evidence that they have been looking the reality of this catastrophic series of events in the face. And some haven’t. I regret to say, on the basis of what I’ve heard three and a half hours, the evidence today has been in the latter category,” said Mr Tyrie.

The hearing came a day after Sir James Crosby, the former chief executive of HBOS admitted the bank had collapsed because of “incompetence” in its corporate lending division

Standard Chartered Sees $330 Million Iranian Settlement


By Stephanie Tong & Howard Mustoe - Dec 6, 2012 5:47 AM GMT

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Standard Chartered Plc (STAN), Britain’s second-largest bank by market value, said it expects to pay about $330 million to settle regulators’ claims that transactions with Iranian clients violated U.S. sanctions.

Talks with U.S. authorities may conclude “very shortly,”the London-based lender said today in a statement. After agreeing to pay $340 million to the New York Department of Financial Services on Aug. 14, the bank is still negotiating with the U.S. Justice Department, the Treasury Department, theFederal Reserve and the Manhattan District Attorney’s office.





Enlarge image

Standard Chartered Sees $330 Million Settlement on Iran Case




Simon Dawson/Bloomberg

A visitor enters the illuminated lobby of Standard Chartered Plc's headquarters in London, U.K.

A visitor enters the illuminated lobby of Standard Chartered Plc's headquarters in London, U.K. Photographer: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg

“The end of the U.S. sanctions discussion is good news for the capital market, as the payment will be a one-time event,”Lewis Wan, Hong Kong-based chief investment officer at Pride Investments Group Ltd., said by phone today, adding that his company holds an undisclosed number of shares (2888) in the bank. “The uncertainties are now cleared up.”

Standard Chartered in August was accused by Benjamin Lawsky, head of the DFS, of helping Iran launder about $250 billion in violation of federal laws, keeping false records and handling lucrative wire transfers for Iranian clients. The settlement was the largest ever paid to an individual regulator as part of a money-laundering accord.

Shares in the bank rose 0.8 percent to HK$184.7 at 1:16 p.m. in Hong Kong, compared with a 0.9 percent gain before the midday trading break when the statement was published. The stock has jumped 8.7 percent in Hong Kong trading this year.

Revenue Growth


Standard Chartered, which gets most of its profit in Asia, is expected to report full-year revenue growth in the “high single digits,” according to the statement. Finance Director Richard Meddings said Oct. 30 that the bank might miss its earlier growth target of at least 10 percent.

Pretax income may grow at a “mid single digit” rate, not including the effect of future settlements with U.S. regulators, according to the statement.

The “headwind” from currency moves is decreasing, Standard Chartered, which is seeking a ninth consecutive year of record net income, said in the statement. The bank in October said revenue growth in the first nine months had been “impacted by the strength of the U.S. dollar against Asian currencies.”

Full-year revenue in markets including Africa, Malaysia, China and Indonesia may grow 10 percent or more, the bank said. The lender continues to see “significant opportunities” in Asia, Africa and the Middle East, Chief Executive Officer Peter Sands said in the statement.

Increase Headcount


Standard Chartered said it continues to expand branch networks and hire in China and Africa, and may increase headcount by 1,800 by the end of 2012 from a year earlier. The bank had 86,865 employees at the end of last year, according to its annual report.

“Standard Chartered is beautifully positioned in emerging markets and will benefit from the relatively better growth in those markets,” Jim Antos, a Hong Kong-based analyst at Mizuho Securities Asia Ltd., said in an e-mail today. “The bank is hiring rather than firing. Few global banks can say the same.”

HSBC Holdings Plc (5), Europe’s biggest bank by market value, said on Nov. 5 it’s likely to face criminal charges from U.S. anti-money-laundering probes and that the cost of a settlement may “significantly” exceed the $1.5 billion the bank has already set aside. The bank has been in talks with U.S. regulators over allegations it laundered funds of sanctioned nations including Iran and Sudan.

The settlement may reach $1.8 billion, Reuters reported today, citing people familiar with the matter.

ING Bank NV agreed in June to pay $619 million to settle allegations similar to those against Standard Chartered, a sum that was split evenly between the federal government and the Manhattan District Attorney’s office.

Standard Chartered “is getting away cheap compared to HSBC,” Antos said. “The fact that the bank mentions an exact figure suggests that this has been wrapped up.”

HSBC, Standard Chartered Close to Resolving Iran Claims


By Greg Farrell & Lindsay Fortado - Dec 8, 2012 5:01 AM GMT

• 
  

HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA) and Standard Chartered Plc (STAN) may settle U.S. charges involving money-laundering violations and dollar-clearing transactions on behalf of Iranian clients as soon as next week, two people familiar with the negotiations said.

The agencies involved in the settlements include the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, the Federal Reserve, the Justice Department and the New York District Attorney’s office, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because negotiations are still under way.

HSBC announced last month that it had added an $800 million provision to an existing $700 million reserve to cover the costs of a potential settlement, and warned investors that the final payment could “significantly” exceed the $1.5 billion total.

A Senate committee said in July that failures in London-based HSBC’s money-laundering controls allowed terrorists and drug cartels access to the U.S. financial system.

Standard Chartered has said it expects to pay about $330 million to settle claims by federal regulators that its money-clearing operations violated rules related to U.S. sanctions against Iran. The London-based bank agreed in August to pay $340 million to resolve charges brought by New York’s banking regulator that it hid the identity of Iranian customers involved in dollar-clearing transactions.

“As we’ve disclosed, we are cooperating with authorities in ongoing investigations,” Robert Sherman, a spokesman for HSBC in New York, said yesterday. “The nature of any discussions is confidential.”

=============================

As usual the customers and shareholders will pay for this , not the management of the Banks.

Standard Chartered has agreed to settle with the US to pay $327 million , HSBC has yet to decide.

Doesn't it make you sick that all these British Banks have paid the US well over $1,000 million and the U.K. could have been helping its economy if the FSA had been on the ball and done it's job .

The reputation of British Banks has gone, no wonder Sharia Banking is on the rise.

HSBC To Pay $1.9bn In Money Laundering Case


The record penalty comes amid an investigation into transfers of billions of dollars linked to Iran and Mexican drug cartels.


7:26am UK, Tuesday 11 December 2012



Video: The London-based bank says it has co-operated with investigations
Enlarge

• 
  
• 
  
  
  
  
  British banking giant HSBC has confirmed it will pay $1.92bn (£1.2bn) to settle a money-laundering probe by US authorities - the largest penalty ever paid by a bank.
  
  The investigation of Europe's largest bank has focused on the transfer of billions of dollars on behalf of nations such as Iran and the movement of money through the US financial system from Mexican drug cartels.
  
  The bank is expected to pay $1.25bn (£778m) in forfeiture - the biggest such amount in any case involving a bank - on top of $655m (£408m) in civil penalties.
  
  Under what is known as a deferred prosecution agreement, the bank will be accused of violating the Bank Secrecy Act and the Trading With The Enemy Act.
  
  The bank's chief executive Stuart Gulliver said it accepted responsibility for its past mistakes.
  Standard Chartered agreed to pay £203m to settle money laundering claims
  "We have said we are profoundly sorry for them, and we do so again," he said in a statement.
  
  "The HSBC of today is a fundamentally different organisation from the one that made those mistakes.
  
  "Over the last two years, under new senior leadership, we have been taking concrete steps to put right what went wrong and
  to participate actively with government authorities in bringing to light and addressing these matters."
  
  The bank added that it also expected to reach a settlement with the Financial Services Authority in the UK.
  
  A US Senate investigative committee reported earlier this year that in 2007 and 2008, HSBC Mexico sent about $7bn in cash to the US. The committee said such an amount of cash pointed to illegal drug proceeds.
  
  The current trade minister, Lord Green, was HSBC's chairman from 2006 to 2010, after serving as its chief executive between 2003 and 2006.
  
  Last month it emerged HSBC had set aside as much as $1.5bn (£935m) to cover the bill from US authorities.
  
  The HSBC agreement comes after another London-based bank, Standard Chartered, agreed to pay $340m (£203m) to settle federal charges that it laundered money on behalf of four countries, including Iran, that were subject to US economic sanctions.
  
  That deal covered currency transactions made at the bank's New York branch for Iranian, Sudanese, Libyan and Burmese entities from 2001 to 2007.
  
  With US officials increasingly cracking down on money laundering by banks, Credit Suisse, Barclays and Lloyds have all paid settlements since 2009 related to allegations that they moved money for people or companies that were on the US sanctions list.
  
  Before HSBC's fine, the largest amount paid out was by ING Bank NV in June, which agreed to pay $619m (£384.8m) to settle allegations that it violated sanctions against countries including Cuba and Iran.
  
• Related Stories:
  
• Standard Chartered Faces Bill Over Laundering Probe