BANKS GO UNDER THE MICROSCOPE July 2, 2012 DAVID Cameron yesterday announced two wide-ranging inquiries into the banking system, pledging to probe the “culture and standards of the industry and bring those responsible for fixing the Libor interest rate to justice”. “The British people want to see bankers who acted improperly punished,” Cameron told the House of Commons. The news came soon after [...]
SFO backed out of rates probe July 1, 2012 INVESTIGATORS at the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) considered launching an investigation into abuse of the Libor interest last September but decided against it due to a lack of funds, it was claimed yesterday. Former SFO director Richard Alderman took the decision, allegedly citing overstretched resources at the anti-fraud agency. This left the Financial Services Authority [...]
Legal cost over Libor could run into the billions June 28, 2012 BARCLAYS could face legal claims running into billions of pounds after it admitted trying to rig the Libor rate, analysts have warned. The bank, which will pay £290m in fines to regulators in Britain and the US, is expected to face legal action around the world and still faces punishments from authorities in other jurisdictions, [...]
Niall Ferguson warns on London’s possible fall June 27, 2012 The historian who wrote a book entitled The Ascent of Money yesterday warned that London faces a fairly rapid descent from its platform as the world’s leading financial centre unless it quickly improves its infrastructure. Niall Ferguson, the well-known history professor at Harvard University, said that infrastructure improvements, such as public transport, and in particular [...]
Four banks win judicial review of SFO’s order June 20, 2012 THE SERIOUS Fraud Office suffered a fresh knock yesterday as four banks won a court case blocking its attempts to seize documents linked to a derivatives probe in Italy. JP Morgan, Deutsche Bank, UBS and Depfa Bank won a judicial review against the SFO and the home secretary, quashing the watchdog’s request for papers that [...]
SFO drops investigation into Vincent Tchenguiz June 18, 2012 THE SERIOUS Fraud Office (SFO) was yesterday forced into an embarrassing climbdown after dropping a high-profile fraud investigation into flamboyant property tycoon Vincent Tchenguiz. The regulator’s decision to admit that there are “no longer reasonable grounds” to consider Tchenguiz a suspect could leave it with a substantial bill for damages to his business interests. He [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING June 14, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES Money managers reap US crop insurance rewards Institutional money managers have emerged as unlikely beneficiaries of a subsidised safety net for US farmers set for expansion by Washington. Basel III will damage developing countries Tough global bank reforms will be disproportionately difficult to implement in developing economies and will damage their growth, a [...]
Liquidators win in $600m fraud case against hedgie May 30, 2012 MAGNUS Peterson, the boss of collapsed hedge fund business Weavering, has been found guilty of defrauding investors and ordered to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in damages. London’s High Court ruled that Peterson, manager of the Weavering Macro Fixed Income fund, deceived clients and breached his duty of care to investors with a strategy [...]
Robert Tchenguiz and allies owed £1.6bn to Kaupthing, fraud office tells the High Court May 23, 2012 THE SERIOUS Fraud Office has begun the defence of its actions following the controversial arrest of property tycoons Vincent and Robert Tchenguiz last year. SFO counsel James Eadie told the High Court that at the time of Kaupthing’s collapse Robert and companies connected to him owed the bank around £1.6bn. Robert Tchenguiz owned shares in Kaupthing as [...]
Fraud office set to drop key case May 22, 2012 ANTI-FRAUD investigators could be forced to drop a long-running probe into property tycoon Vincent Tchenguiz after admitting they have made a series of mistakes. The Serious Fraud Office said it is “urgently” reviewing Tchenguiz’s status as a suspect after he was arrested in an inquiry into the collapse of Iceland’s Kaupthing Bank. Yesterday Tchenguiz’s barrister [...]