Banks

There are a few business axioms that people seldom see coming when looking forward, but almost always happen when wrong-doing has been exposed.  According to reports this morning, UK banks have become these axioms in action. The axioms: Every business that suffers from wrong doing must find a way to make up for the losses […]

Eurozone financial ministers agreed early this morning on a deal to make the European Central Bank the bloc’s banking supervisor, making a step towards a future banking union. The ECB will monitor up to 200 eurozone lenders from early 2014, but one of the main purposes of the reform – to allow the €500bn of […]

Mick Carney, the next Governor of the Bank of England, has suggested that targeting economic output instead of inflation should be the method in an attempt to revive a weak economy. Considering nominal gross domestic product (GDP not adjusted by inflation) would allow central banks to act more aggressively to counter an economic slump. “If […]

Many developing countries are using exchange rates as their key tool for monetary policy instead of stimulating domestic demand, spreading the risk of a war between currencies in the near future.  The big concern of Sir Mervyn King, Governor of Bank of England, points out the necessity for the G20 group to address global imbalances […]

Europe’s largest banking business by market capitalisation, HSBC Holdings plc (LSE:HSBA), has agreed to settle the biggest anti-money laundering penalty in history for a bank, the company announced earlier today. In a statement, HSBC stated it is to pay US$1.92 billion (£1.2 billion) to authorities in the United States and is close to “finalising an […]

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) is seldom discussed, but when it speaks, we ought to listen. “As an organization of central banks, the BIS seeks to make monetary policy more predictable and transparent among its 58 member central banks. While monetary policy is determined by each sovereign nation, it is subject to central and private banking […]

HSBC (LSE:HSBA) is liquidating its entire stake in Ping, an Insurance Group of China for nearly $9.4 billion (£5.84 billion). As a result of the sale, HSBC’s core tier 1 capital ratio will increase by 0.5% whilst its total capital ratio will be bolstered by 1.0%.  Those ratios as at 30 September 2012 were 11.7% […]

“What launched as the Bank of England’s great white hope risks looking like a white elephant.”  That is the assessment of Christopher Shaw, CEO of Platform Black, commenting on the Funding for Lending Scheme (FLS) taxpayer bailout of flailing and failing UK banks.  I know that “white elephant” is not a circus animal, but this […]

“We got it wrong.”  That’s what Sir Mervyn King told the House of Commons’ Treasury Select Committee as he was testifying at a hearing on the Bank of England’s November Inflation Report.  No wonder the UK banking system is in such disarray.  The bloody Bank of England doesn’t know what it is doing either. I […]

Given the events of the news released this morning, you might wonder if UBS stands for Unbelievable Banking Screw-Up. The traditional round of tea at the Monday morning UBS staff meeting was served iced as the bank got kicked in the knickers with a £29.7 million fine for failing to have adequate controls in place […]