Banks

HSBC Holdings plc (LSE:HSBA) is the first to draw blood amongst British banks this year as it faces yet another charge of money laundering and tax evasion cases, the same accusation that had the bank paying £1.2 billion (US$1.9 billion) to US authorities in 2012. Late yesterday, Argentina’s Administrador Federal de Ingresos Publicos de Argentina […]

Stock markets around the globe treaded downhill in reaction to the planned bailout of Cyprus that will see deposits in banks within the island state charged a one-time levy to avert bankruptcy – a move that spark public rage amongst Cypriots as well as emptying of ATM’s. On Saturday, the European Union and the International […]

Following the trend in the UK’s banking sector, Santander UK is the latest bank to divulge a detailed report on how much its top executives received in 2012, a year full of controversy and billion pounds of fines that hit the sector. In its unedited annual report released earlier today, Santander disclosed there were 19 […]

JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon has been an outspoken critic of the US Congress’ attempts to more closely regulate Wall Street and the banking industry following the infamous bailouts of 2008.  Apparently Dimon never learned the old axiom “You can’t fight City Hall.”  Either that or he hasn’t thought about applying the principle at the […]

Despite an uncertain global economic environment, international financial services group, Prudential plc (LSE:PRU), managed make a profit for the fourth consecutive year since its loss in 2008, the UK-incorporated firm said Wednesday. In its full year results released earlier today, the insurance and asset management group reported statutory pre-tax profit of £3.188 billion in 2012, […]

For the first time in history, Barclays plc (LSE:BARC) revealed to the public details of how much the bank paid its employees, showing that there were in all, 428 people who received at least £1 million in 2012. The move was in response to the call of transparency by British bank’s new Chairman of the […]

Sir Mervyn King has taken his seat at the table opposite Stephen Hester.  He has put on his best poker face and has suggested that it’s time for RBS to fold this hand. King watched the RBS boss lose £5 billion at the table in 2012 and more than £34 billion since sitting at the table in […]

The anti-money laundering settlement of HSBC Holdings plc (LSE:HSBA) back in December 2012 barely made a dent on Europe’s largest banking institution as it revealed its profit for last year, despite having missed market expectations. Deducting tax, HSBC group posted US$15.3 billion profit, nearly eight times more than US$1.92 billion the bank had to absorb […]

Lloyd’s Banking Group (LSE:LLOY) is ahead of its plan to transform the banking institution into a “simple, lower-risk, customer-focused UK retail and commercial” bank that supports the British economy, the London-based bank’s Chief Executive, Antonio Horta-Osorio, said in a statement Friday, in reference to the bank’s year-end report that saw a “substantial increase” in underlying […]

Bank chief Stephen Hester predicts that it will soon be ready for reprivatisation. Stephen Hester, Chief Executive of the Royal Bank of Scotland, has told the BBC that bank will be ready for reprivatisation within the next two years. Arguing that it is was the responsibility of the government, who currently has an 80% stake […]