Banks

Chancellor George Osborne introduced his Banking Reform Bill to Parliament today, but not before giving the public a good look at it in a speech this morning at JP Morgan in Bournemouth. In this writers opinion, the changes put forth can come none too soon.  We often refer to the 2007 banking crisis. It’s been […]

UK Chancellor supports measures to break-up banks that don’t reform Banks that fail to comply with new regulations to protect investment operations from high-street banking will risk being broken up, UK Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne has announced. By calling for “open markets with clear rules, properly policed” the Chancellor accepted a recommendation by […]

Chief executive waives bonus following a difficult year for the UK bank”. The Chief Executive of Barclays Bank has chosen to receive a bonus following what the bank has described as a “difficult” year. Antony Jenkins had been expected to receive an additional £1m, of a potential bonus of £2.5m, on top of his annual […]

The Director of Enforcement at the Financial Services Authority, Tracey McDermott, appeared before the Andrew Tyrie and the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards to answer questions about the FSA’s strategy and approach to dealing with banks and bankers who have stepped afoul of legal standards. One of the leading concerns of Tyrie’s commission was why […]

The share price of RBS (LSE:RBS) has fallen by 20.70 today to 345.10 as it has been reported that the US government is seeking a settlement with the bank on allegations connected to the Libor scandals.  Under normal circumstances, negotiating a settlement would be a fait accompli, but there is a catch in the deal […]

The President of the European Central Bank predicts economic recovery in the third and fourth quarters of 2012. Mario Draghi, President of the European Central Bank (ECB), has argued that he foresees economic recovery for Europe “in the second part” of 2013 as a result of national government’s “extraordinary” fiscal consolidation efforts. In December the […]

Mark Carney, incoming Governor of the Bank of England, says “the next two years will be decisive” for the UK banking sector. The incoming Governor of the Bank of England has argued that the issues of “shadow banking” and banks being “too big to fail” would need to be resolved in the next two years […]

Two days ago I wrote an article about the dysfunctional culture at Barclays (LSE:BARC) that had created an atmosphere that essentially ignored the “Do the right thing” culture that I grew up in with a “Do what I say or else” culture put employees all employees at the virtual edge of a slippery slope.  In […]

In most cases where fraud and regulatory non-compliance are revealed, the press reports the story, politicians point their fingers, and the populace gets in a tizzy.  Someone loses their job, fines may be paid, the politicians are happy, and the public sleeps at night again thinking that everything is fixed.  With a little patience the […]

US banking giant Morgan Stanley report strong growth in profits. Morgan Stanley has called a strong rise in profits a “pivot point” and a sign that the bank is making “meaningful progress”. The bank reported a net profit of $481m between October and December 2012, a result of a 37% increase in revenue to $7.5bn. […]