Bank of England’s forex boss Martin Mallett broke rules 20 times March 3, 2015 The sacked Bank of England official who failed to tell bosses about the possibility of foreign exchange benchmark manipulation also failed to act properly a score of other times, Mark Carney said yesterday. Martin Mallett lost his job as chief currency dealer last year after the discovery that he did not escalate his concerns to his [...]
Forex probe costs hurt Barclays results as bank reports loss of £174 March 3, 2015 Mounting forex probe costs and an extra PPI compensation bill helped to push Barclays into the red in 2014, as the bank yesterday said its restructuring programme is ahead of schedule. Barclays reported an attributable loss of £174m for the year, compared with a £530m profit in 2013. Much of the damage came from [...]
Barclays: When one-off costs keep coming – Bottom Line March 3, 2015 Investors want to know the exact profit of the firms they own, but they also want the long-term outlook. That is why banks publish their statutory earnings, and their underlying numbers. The difference can be huge – hundreds of millions or even billions of pounds per year. But how far can investors rely on those [...]
Barclays sets aside another £750m for forex probes as profits jump and costs fall March 3, 2015 The figures Barclays' full-year adjusted pre-tax profits soared 12 per cent to £5.5bn, well ahead of the £5.3bn analysts expected for 2014. An additional £750m has been set aside for forex settlements, bringing the total to £1.25bn. Chief executive Anthony Jenkins said the bank expected to "make significant progress in this area" in 2015. A further £200m provision has also been made for [...]
Bank of England trains 150 staff to monitor forex markets properly after rate-rigging scandal February 26, 2015 More than 150 Bank of England staff have been retrained to keep an eye on foreign exchange markets properly, in the wake of the manipulation scandal. Although a review led by Lord Grabiner found the Bank’s staff had not done anything wrong, officials are concerned that they did not uncover the benchmark manipulation which led [...]
Forex market needs to change ways, says financial watchdog February 25, 2015 The currency markets must change their trading practices, but good co-operation from the industry bodes well for “sensible” reforms, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said yesterday. The UK’s financial watchdog last year fined a number of banks $1.7bn (£1.1bn) for attempting to manipulate foreign currency benchmarks. After the fines in November, the FCA established an [...]
Royal Bank of Scotland suspends two staff in forex scandal probe February 25, 2015 Shares in Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) edged one per cent lower today after it emerged it has suspended a further two employees amid an investigation into the rigging of foreign exchange markets. The bank, which is 81 per cent owned by the taxpayer, said: “We can confirm that two members of staff have been [...]
HSBC’s unhappy 150th birthday illustrates its growth: Stuart Gulliver on the highs and lows February 23, 2015 In the 1990s, Stuart Gulliver went to what look like extraordinary lengths to hide his bonus – he was paid in a Swiss account, held in the name of a Panamanian company. It looks shady, in light of the latest round of revelations of tax evasion through Swiss accounts. And the extra scrutiny comes at [...]
London FinTech startup Kantox flies past $1bn forex transfers thanks to currency woes and economic uncertainty February 9, 2015 Businesses hit by currency volatility and worried by economic uncertainty are increasingly turning to alternative finance services, helping one London FinTech startup fly. Kantox, a peer-to-peer forex platform for business, has flown past $1bn (£657bn) in currency transfers since setting up shop in the capital in 2011 with an astonishing 20 per cent of that- [...]
Merck defies forex and patent headwinds to deliver profits February 4, 2015 THE COMBINATION of expiring patents, divestitures and a strong dollar helped deliver a year of mixed results for pharmaceutical giant Merck which saw profits up and revenues down leading investors to dump Merck shares which closed down 2.05 per cent. Despite a strong inventory of new drugs in the pipeline and US Food and Drug Administration [...]