Bank bonuses chopped back after year of scandal January 29, 2013 BARCLAYS and RBS are expected to slash bonus payouts in the coming months after a series of scandals hit the industry. The deepening payment protection insurance crisis has hit both banks to the tune of several billion pounds and shows no sign of ending, while Barclays was hit by a £290m Libor fine last year. [...]
UBS prepares to pay Libor fine of more than $450m December 3, 2012 SWISS banking giant UBS is set to be the next bank to settle with regulators over Libor manipulation claims, it emerged yesterday, with RBS likely to follow suit in the coming months. The bank could take the hit as soon as next week under negotiations taking place with the authorities in the UK and the [...]
US watchdog charges audit China affiliates December 3, 2012 THE US markets watchdog yesterday hit the Chinese arms of five accounting firms with charges, after the affiliates failed to hand over audit documents the US body wants. PwC, KPMG, Ernst & Young and Deloitte – the so-called big four – as well as BDO, have been charged with securities violations by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), [...]
Newspapers searching for new way ahead November 29, 2012 WITH David Cameron making it clear that newspapers will have to overhaul the systems that currently regulate the press if they want to ward off legislation, the industry is now scrambling to put forward a new system. All the major newspaper groups, including those outside of current body the Press Complaints Commission (PCC), have backed [...]
Our sprawling permanent state is a disaster for the UK’s public services February 17, 2013 OF ALL the pejorative terms applied to the banking industry, “vampire squid” is my favourite. It’s uniquely expressive, describing a malign organism that extends its tentacles into all the crevices of its host, while draining it of resources. Expressive though it is, applying the term to the banks is mistaken. Britain’s real “vampire squid” is [...]
Banks aren’t rewarding failure – but restrictions on bonuses could go too far January 30, 2013 WITH the predictability of “snowflake causes chaos” stories, we are entering the annual banker bonus furore season. With the economy in doldrums, and the industry in the doghouse, it is easy to understand the concern. Top bankers have themselves said that pay has been “grotesque.” But just as predictable as the outrage is a lack [...]
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 [...]
Top football clubs call time on sugar daddies February 7, 2013 THE DAYS of mega-rich individuals, such as Roman Abramovich at Chelsea and Sheikh Mansour at Manchester City, lavishing billions on clubs in pursuit of instant success are over after England’s top teams agreed historic new financial rules. Premier League clubs will face points deductions if they lose more than £105m over a three-year period or [...]
What the other papers say this morning January 1, 2013 FINANCIAL TIMES Pessimism mars growth expectations Britons should brace themselves for another year of weak growth as the prospects of a recovery remain gloomy, according to the Financial Times’ New Year survey of 94 leading economists. A larger number of those surveyed thought George Osborne should rethink his austerity drive. Sun European set to buy [...]
Depardieu blasts French PM for calling Belgium move pathetic December 17, 2012 FRENCH ACTOR Gerard Depardieu yesterday launched a blistering verbal assault on French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault for calling his decision to move to Belgium pathetic. “Pathetic, you said pathetic? How pathetic is that?” Depardieu wrote in an open letter. “I am leaving because you believe that success, creation, talent, anything different must be sanctioned,” the [...]