Four years after the Libor scandal broke – how many bankers have been found guilty, and how many have been acquitted? July 4, 2016 Four years ago, Bob Diamond sensationally quit as chief executive of Barclays as a scandal over Libor-rigging sent shockwaves through London’s banks. Shortly after, on 6 July 2012, the Serious Fraud Office (known as the SFO) kicked off an investigation into the manipulation of Libor – the “London Interbank Offered Rate”, an interest rate benchmark [...]
PPI still tops the list of most complained about financial products May 26, 2016 Consumers are still feeling the effects of one of banking's biggest scandals, with complaints about Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) still topping the list of woes heard by the Financial Ombudsman Service. A report released today by the Ombudsman revealed that it is still receiving up to 4,000 PPI cases each week and that half of all the [...]
Libor scandal: Tom Hayes to appear in Old Bailey on Monday as Proceeds of Crime confiscation hearing begins March 13, 2016 Tom Hayes is due to head to court on Monday as he begins a legal battle over his assets, which prosecutors allege were purchased using proceeds from crime. Hayes and his wife are due to attend a Proceeds of Crime confiscation hearing at the Old Bailey, London's central criminal court. Hayes, a former Citigroup and [...]
Libor latest: One person has donated £5,000 to Tom Hayes’ crowdfunding campaign May 5, 2016 Tom Hayes' crowdfunding campaign to raise money for his legal fees has started to gather pace, with one anonymous individual parting with £5,000 for the cause. The crowdfunding campaign, which is being hosted on Fundrazr and was set up to raise funds for Hayes' appeal to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), has now raised almost £10,000 since [...]
Budget 2016: The stories you missed while chancellor George Osborne was speaking March 16, 2016 From Trump's warning of violence on the streets to US inflation ticking up, here are all the other stories that happened while Chancellor George Osborne was speaking. Obama to visit the UK US president Barack Obama will be paying a visit to the UK at the end of April, allowing him to show gratitude to Britain for [...]
Libor latest: Tom Hayes appoints new lawyer, and he’s making good progress on crowdfunding the legal fees May 4, 2016 Tom Hayes has instructed solicitor Karen Todner to lead the next stage in his appeal, it was announced today, as he turns to crowdfunding to raise his legal fees. Hayes, a former UBS and Citigroup trader, was convicted of offences related to manipulating the Yen-linked Libor last August. He was initially sentenced to 14 years in prison, [...]
President Dilma Rousseff’s impeachment is no coup – but Brazil’s best chance of saving itself April 19, 2016 Late on Sunday evening, the lower house of the Brazilian Congress voted by a two to one margin in support of the impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, the former Marxist guerrilla who has served as the country’s President since 2011. The proceedings, conducted against the backdrop of a spiralling public debt crisis and rising unemployment, are [...]
UBS: European Court of Human Rights accepts petition to challenge French court ruling on helping clients avoid tax March 18, 2016 UBS has won the support of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to push through a challenge to a French ruling over whether it helped clients avoid tax. The Swiss bank said in its accounts filed today that the Strasbourgh-based ECHR had accepted a petition to challenge parts of the decision. UBS was placed under formal examination in [...]
Lloyds bondholders head to the courts over bank’s attempts to buy back bonds at face value March 21, 2016 Lloyds bondholders head to the Supreme Court today, as they attempt to stop the bank from compulsorily purchasing bonds back at face value. The bondholders, who won the right to have their appeal one day before the repurchase was due to take place in February, argue that the bank should pay a premium for the bonds [...]
Will Barack Obama’s intervention in the EU referendum in support of Remain backfire? April 18, 2016 Jack Montgomery, a spokesman for Leave.EU, says Yes. Barack Obama’s support for the EU is probably best explained by a desire to answer Henry Kissinger’s famous question: “Who do I call if I want to speak to Europe?” But we can’t make this decision based on what the US State Department finds most convenient. In fact, [...]