UK Banks to Meet Finance Regulator as Anger Grows over Savings Rates

THE GUARDIAN: NatWest, Lloyds, HSBC and Barclays bosses expected to attend FCA meeting and justify disparity between loan and savings rates

The chief executives of the UK’s largest high street banks will face the City watchdog today amid accusations they are ‘profiteering’ as savings rates offered to customers lag well behind surging borrowing costs.

Bosses including NatWest’s Alison Rose, HSBC UK’s Ian Stuart, Barclays UK’s Matt Hammerstein, and Lloyds Banking Group’s Charlie Nunn, will meet the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as they come under pressure to justify their decision to keep easy access savings rates low, while the cost of loans and mortgages has soared. » | Kalyeena Makortoff, Banking correspondent | Thursday, July 6, 2023

Jeremy Hunt Sets Out Sweeping Reforms to Financial Sector

THE GUARDIAN: Chancellor says plans will ensure City ‘benefits from dynamic, proportionate regulation’

The chancellor has announced plans to reform and repeal a number of City regulations, including rules originally meant to protect the UK from another financial crisis, in order to “unlock” investment and “turbocharge” growth across the UK.

Jeremy Hunt’s package of more than 30 reforms was announced as he travelled to Edinburgh to meet a group of chief executives from banks and insurers, who the government hopes will be in a stronger position to grow and compete with international peers as a result of the deregulation drive.

The package, known as the “Edinburgh reforms”, is wide-ranging, spanning from plans to consult on a new central bank digital currency to changing tax rules for investment trusts involved in real estate, and reforming rules around short selling – where investors bet that the price of an asset will drop.

The government said it also plans to trial a new trading venue that would operate intermittently but allow companies to raise money from investors before officially floating shares on the public market. » | Kalyeena Makortoff, Banking correspondent | Friday, December 9, 2022

“We Are Lurching Toward Plutocracy”: Rep. Ellison on Rollback of Key Dodd-Frank Banking Regulations

In a rare bipartisan effort Tuesday, House lawmakers voted 258 to 159 to exempt banks with less than $250 billion in assets from many of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act regulations, even though banks’ profits are soaring. The Dodd-Frank Act was passed after the 2008 economic crisis, which was provoked by years of risky lending by Wall Street banks. Thirty-three Democrats joined their Republican counterparts in voting for the financial regulation rollback, which, if signed into law, would leave less than 10 banks in the U.S. subject to stricter federal oversight. For more, we speak with Minnesota Democratic Congressmember Keith Ellison. He is the first Muslim member of Congress and the deputy chair of the Democratic National Committee, or DNC.

Few Obama-era Regulators Left in Banking Sector

Many Americans may not be aware just how much power the head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau holds. As Richard Cordray prepares to step down from the position, Bart Chilton, the former US trading commissioner and host of ‘Boom Bust’ on RT America joins ‘News With Ed’ to explain what it could mean.

Banking Reform: Has Enough Been Done? - BBC Newsnight

A decade after Northern Rock's collapse, Helen Thomas asks whether enough has been done to reform banking regulations.

Bank Restructuring Post-Brexit "Could Cost Up To 15 Billion Euros"

With no post-Brexit free trade deal yet struck to ensure easy access to EU markets, some banks are already moving jobs to Frankfurt and Dublin. And now a new report for the Association of Financial Markets in Europe warns that the cost of restructuring could be as much as 15 billion Euros. Chief Executive Simon Lewis speaks to Ian King.

Five Élite Bankers Die In Apparent Suicides

There's been a string of bizarre deaths in the globe's financial circles. In the past few weeks five high-profile bankers have died - all from apparent suicides. RT's Tesa Arcilla investigates.

The Joris Luyendijk Banking Blog »

Going Underground: Fracking under Your Home & MoD Tries to Unmask Anonymous

Afshin Rattansi goes underground with former head of regulatory risk at HBOS, Paul Moore, to investigate whether bankers have learnt their lesson since the bailout. We ask Friends of the Earth's Jane Thomas if energy multinationals can frack under your house without planning permission. We get to the bottom of why an MP tried to claim expenses for not voting at the Syria War debate in parliament. And David Cameron spends millions on trying to uncover the faces behind 'Anonymous'.

Has Capitalism Failed the World?

Former financial regulator Lord Adair Turner discusses the role of banks, the politics behind austerity, and capitalism.

Cyprus Big Depositors to Lose Up to 60%
The bank confirms depositors with about $130,000 could lose up to 60 percent of their savings in EU-IMF bailout plan.

Bank of Cyprus High-end Clients to Get One Third of Deposits in 'Worthless' Shares
RUSSIA TODAY: Large depositors in the Bank of Cyprus will get back 37.5 percent of their money in shares instead of cash, the Bank of Cyprus has confirmed. The move is the part of the painful Cyprus rescue package.

Under the new conditions, Bank of Cyprus clients with accounts with over 100,000 euros in deposits will be offered shares instead of cash in the bank for 37.5 percent of their deposits. Those under the 100,000 mark will reportedly not be required to participate in the scheme.

Authorities had previously predicted a loss to big depositors of 30 to 40 percent. Anger is mounting in the country as Cypriots protest the dissolving of the second-largest bank – Cyprus Popular Bank, also known as Laiki – and what they are calling a theft of their assets.

Under the terms of the deal, the assets of Laiki bank will be transferred to Bank of Cyprus.

At Bank of Cyprus, about 22.5 percent of deposits over 100,000 euros will earn no interest. The rest of the account will generate interest, but will not be repaid until the bank shows a strong performance. » | Saturday, March 30, 2013

Bank of Cyprus Savers with More Than 100,000 Euros Now face 60% Losses as Officials Scramble to Prevent Collapse
MAIL ONLINE: Bank insider and government technocrat anonymously reveal latest plan / Deposits over 100,000 euros will lose 37.5% of their value / Savers then stand to lose a further 22.5% depending on an assessment / Cypriot banks refusing to release UK pension payments to expat Britons / President of Cyprus says there is 'no intention' of leaving the eurozone

Savers with over 100,000 euros deposited in the Bank of Cyprus could now be hit for losses of up to 60 per cent, according to a central bank official and a senior finance ministry technocrat.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they're not authorized to publicly discuss details of the issue, said deposits over 100,000 euros at the country's largest lender will lose 37.5 percent of their value after being converted into bank shares.

They said that savers could then lose up to 22.5 per cent more, depending on an assessment by officials who will determine the exact figure aimed at restoring the troubled bank back to health. » | Daniel Miller | Saturday, March 30, 2013

Cyprus to Bring in Weekly Cash Curbs
BBC: Cyprus finance ministers are planning to impose a weekly limit on cash withdrawals, the BBC has learned.

The country's draft capital controls include export limits on euros and a ban on cashing cheques, says Newsnight economics editor Paul Mason.

In addition, fixed-term deposits will have to be held until maturity.

Cyprus's finance minister earlier confirmed that depositors with more than 100,000 euros could see 40% of their funds converted into bank shares.

But Michalis Sarris also said that Cypriot depositors with less than 100,000 euros in their accounts "will not be hit". » | Tuesday, March 26, 2013

One of the Nastiest and Most Immoral Political Acts in Modern Times
MAIL ONLINE: People who rob old ladies in the street, or hold up security vans, are branded as thieves. Yet when Germany presides over a heist of billions of pounds from private savers’ Cyprus bank accounts, to ‘save the euro’ for the hundredth time, this is claimed as high statesmanship.

It is nothing of the sort. The deal to secure a €10 billion German bailout of the bankrupt Mediterranean island is one of the nastiest and most immoral political acts of modern times.

It has struck fear into the hearts of hundreds of millions of European citizens, because it establishes a dire precedent.

If democratically elected governments are willing to impose outright confiscation of up to 40 per cent of balances over €100,000 upon depositors in Cyprus, then why not another such hit tomorrow — in Spain, Italy or, most plausibly, Greece?

This is the most brutal display since 2008 of how far the euro-committed nations are willing to go to save the tottering single currency. It shows that the zone’s crisis will run and run, to the grievous disadvantage of almost everyone except the Germans. » | Max Hastings | Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Bank Of Cyprus To Cut Up To 40% Off Deposits Over €100,000
RT.COM: Depositors in the Bank of Cyprus, the biggest bank on the island, will reportedly lose from 30 to 40 per cent on their holdings above 100,000 euro as result of a bailout agreement which Cyprus and the troika of international backers signed on Monday.

Irish Radio is quoting the chairman of the Cypriot parliamentary finance committee, Nicholas Papadopoulos, who said that the levy of 30 per cent will be imposed on the deep-pocketed savers.

"I haven't heard a formal announcement about the haircut, but this is the figure I heard," he said.

Bloomberg reports an even bigger figure as it refers to two EU officials, who claimed that the losses would be no more than 40 per cent on uninsured depositors at the Bank of Cyprus. » | Monday, March 25, 2013

Cyprus Eyes 25 Percent Levy on Big Savers
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Cyprus was threatening to seize up to a quarter of the value of wealthy savers' bank accounts as part of a desperate bid to stave off financial meltdown.

As talks continued to prevent Europe's finance chiefs from pulling the plug on the country's stricken banks, the Cypriot government said it was considering a levy of 25 per cent on deposits of more than €100,000 held in accounts at the Bank of Cyprus, one of the island's most troubled lenders.

The fate of similar high-value deposits in other Cypriot banks has yet to be decided.

The move was among a package of measures designed to persuade eurozone officials to agree to a €10 billion bail-out deal over the weekend. The European Central Bank has said unless an agreement is reached, it will remove financial support for country's banks when they re-open this week, leaving them facing imminent collapse.

Late on Friday night, the Cypriot parliament also backed a revenue-raising levy of less than one per cent on bank deposits below €100,000 - a rate seen as fairer than the 6.75 per cent levy rejected by legislators last Tuesday.

However, the 25 per cent rate on high-value accounts at the Bank of Cyprus is likely to cause further ructions on the island, which has seen widespread protests in the last week. It is expected to particularly hit Russian investors, who make up the bulk of the Cypriot financial sector's high-value clients. » | Colin Freeman, in Nicosia, Graham Ruddick and agencies | Saturday, March 23, 2013

M&S Set to Launch Bank to Take On High Street Lenders
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Marks & Spencer is to open its first bank branch, making current accounts available alongside sandwiches, socks and cashmere sweaters.

The retailer has announced plans to open an in-branch banking service in its Marble Arch flagship store in London, with plans to expand the service to 50 larger outlets across the country in the next two years.

Mortgages will not be offered initially, however the retailer expects to extend the range of services it provides, which will start with current accounts, to include home loans.

M&S added that the branches "will be open twice as long as traditional high street banks; mirroring M&S store opening hours and enabling customers to bank while they shop, seven days a week".

Marc Bolland, chief executive, said: “M&S is one of the most trusted brands on the UK high street and we’ve achieved this by continually listening and responding to the needs of our 21m customers. This bank will be built on M&S values; putting the customer at the heart of the proposition and delivering the exceptional service that sets us apart from the competition.”

The launch of M&S Bank will create 500 UK jobs by the end of 2013. Read on and comment » | Harry Wilson, and Harry Wallop | Friday, June 08, 2012

Crisis of Confidence: Fears of Bank Runs Mount in Southern Europe

SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Following the downgrade of 16 Spanish banks by Moody's, the focus in the euro crisis is back on the banking sector. Greeks are withdrawing hundreds of millions from their accounts, with reports that the same is happening in Spain. Experts are calling on the European Central Bank to step in and prevent full-scale bank runs.

The final wake-up call came from Moody's. On Thursday evening, the US rating agency downgraded 16 Spanish banks in one fell swoop, some of them by three notches. On Monday, the agency had already downgraded 26 Italian banks -- including major institutions such as UniCredit and Intesa Sanpaolo. The outlook for all the institutions involved is negative, Moody's said.

These are drastic steps, but they are hardly excessive. The European sovereign debt crisis long ago also became a banking crisis. The fate of the affected countries can not be separated from that of their financial institutions: If a state goes bankrupt, its banks too will struggle to survive. On the other hand, the examples of Ireland and Spain show that a shaky banking system can quickly overwhelm national budgets.

Moody's justified its downgrades of Spanish banks with the argument that the ability of the government to support individual banks has worsened. On Friday, the Spanish central bank was also forced to admit that the proportion of bad loans on the books of Spanish banks has risen to an 18-year high. According to the central bank, the share of bad loans rose in March to 8.36 percent, compared to 8.15 percent in the previous month. » | Stefan Kaiser | Friday, May 18, 2012

Crisis Forces Greeks to Keep Cash Out Of Banks

Barclays, Credit Suisse Shareholders Criticize Executive Pay Packages

THE HUFFINGTON POST: * Investors angry at payouts, want more of the spoils * More than a quarter of Barclays investors could rebel * Barclays promises higher dividends, shares rise * Credit Suisse boss defends pay strategy

LONDON/ZURICH, April 27 (Reuters) - More than a quarter of Barclays shareholders look set to vote against the British bank's controversial pay plan for bosses and Credit Suisse is also facing a backlash as investors seek a greater share of profits.

Stormy annual shareholder meetings at both banks got underway on Friday with many attendees complaining executives are getting too big a slice of bank income at their expense.

Anger is also rife in the population at large that an industry whose excesses sparked the global economic downturn is still awarding its leaders multi-million dollar pay outs.

"People feel that bankers and the banking sector have lost touch with what's real," said Jim Arnott, 56, an executive coach in London who counts bankers among his clients.

"The majority of people feel it's just a culture of greed." » | Matt Scuffham and Katharina Bart | Reuters | Friday, April 27, 2012