Is the historic $1.9bn settlement between HSBC and US regulators a reasonable result? December 11, 2012 YES Roger Francis HSBC said today that it had agreed to pay $1.92bn (£1.2bn) as part of a settlement with US regulators. Although the settlement sets a new record for penalties on a bank, it should be viewed in the perspective of HSBC’s huge earnings power and the bank’s breaches of money laundering and sanctions [...]
Rapid responses December 11, 2012 The payday debate [Re: The poorest will suffer if we ignore the real evidence on payday loans, yesterday] This is the first honest, data-driven response to the payday loan industry debate I’ve seen. Unfortunately, screaming headlines about sky-high interest rates and vulnerable borrowers have led some to ignore the sad truth that many are far [...]
FTSE flat as Tullow Oil sinks December 11, 2012 The blue chip index was broadly flat in early trading this morning, as explorer Tullow Oil, which this morning said it was to acquire a Norwegian exploration company and dispose of its North Sea operations, dropped almost five per cent. Miners ENRC and Kazakhmys dropped 2.64 per cent and 1.86 per cent respectively on the [...]
US regulator slaps record fine on HSBC December 10, 2012 HSBC has agreed to pay out a record $1.9bn (£1.2bn) to US authorities over charges related to money laundering, it emerged last night. In a major victory for prosecutors, the British bank will today admit to breaking laws by transferring billions from drug cartels and terrorists through the US financial system. The sum – an [...]
Man needs more than a new head to spark Roman revival December 10, 2012 WHEN he looks back over his five years as chief executive of Man Group, Peter Clarke will probably want to focus solely on his first 18 months in charge. Stepping up from finance chief in early 2007 to lead the hedge fund that he had joined in 1993, Clarke must have thought he had an [...]
Bubbles and bankruptcy at the British Museum December 10, 2012 THE LATEST offering from the money team at the British Museum, Bubbles and Bankruptcy, is a exhibitional journey through financial crises in Britain since the first stock bubbles of 1700 to the fiscal woes of present. The exhibition aims to “explore the fertile history of satire and protest about financial crises, represented by historic prints, [...]
Who’s switching jobs December 10, 2012 Legal & General Property Rob Codling has been appointed senior asset manager within the property investment firm’s managed fund. He joins from Jones Lang LaSalle, where he was most recently an asset manager and transactions surveyor. BNY Mellon Edith Rigler has been appointed business strategy and market solutions manager for treasury services in Europe, Middle East [...]
HSBC expects to be hit with $1.8bn charge over laundering December 6, 2012 HSBC is likely to face a bigger than expected fine from the US authorities, after lax controls allowed terrorists and drug dealers to launder money through its accounts. The bank had already pencilled in a $1.5bn (£935m) hit, but it is now thought the fine could come in at $1.8bn. But markets held steady, as [...]
Ex-Citi bankers forced to close Asian focused Primus Financial December 6, 2012 THREE ex-Citigroup bankers who raised $1bn (£620m) to invest in pan-Asia financial services have closed the fund after a string of setbacks and the region’s failure to deliver hoped-for bargains in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. Robert Morse, Wing-Fai Ng and Guocang Huan – all with long experience in Asian financial M&A – [...]
FTSE up despite regulatory probes December 6, 2012 The FTSE 100 was up in early trading, rising 0.4 per cent to break through the important 5,900 barrier, with some of the main share price moves driven by regulatory investigations. Rolls-Royce fell heavily after admitting that it was co-operating with the Serious Fraud Office on a probe into potential corruption and bribery at its [...]