The UK could be about to make a multi-billion pound mistake. Plans to sell-off the 82% share of the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and the 39% share of Lloyds owned by the taxpayer are gaining favour in…
If the UK Financial Services Authority (FSA) had been a dog, it would have been about 86 years old when it was put down on April Fool’s Day this year. Uncharitably, some say that the FSA, the lead regulator…
In recent months, talk of an emerging crisis in China’s financial sector has been getting louder. A few weeks ago such chatter reached a crescendo, at least in terms of a narrative, when two Nomura economists…
For most of us, banks represent a trusted and safe harbour for our money. Investing in fixed term deposits for example, is widely seen as a low-risk strategy. The global financial crisis changed that view…
Last week, the Parliament of Cyprus rejected a bill that would impose a levy of 9.9% on bank deposits over the insurance threshold of €100,000 and a levy of 6.75% on deposits below the insurance ceiling…
Stephen Long’s story last night on the ABC’s Four Corners beautifully illustrated the human cost of financial misconduct, as retirees and widows described the pain of having lost their super funds and…
Though it rarely rates a mention in the Australian financial press, there is a spectacle in London at the moment that rivals even the most ferocious games at the Roman Colosseum. Almost every day, a bunch…
It was an artful if devastating performance. In just seven minutes, Senator Elizabeth Warren from Massachusetts signaled the arrival of what appears destined to be a powerful force on Capitol Hill. At…
Some four and-a-half years after the banking crisis that has resulted in massive public debt and a deep austerity program, the UK government has finally unveiled its Financial Services (Banking Reform…
This year, the Basel process of banking regulation is 25 years old. In 1988, the first set of global banking regulations, known as Basel I, was adopted by the world’s senior banking regulator, the Basel…
This week, two different approaches to embedding restraint began to take shape as London-headquartered banks reflected on the exceptional power of the United States Department of Justice to shift cultural…
Welcome to the third and final part of Back to the Future. AS HSBC is fined US$1.9 billion for “egregious” money laundering and the first arrests are made in the Libor scandal, the need for the public…
The $1.92 billion deferred prosecution entered into by HSBC with US regulators is one of the most significant financial penalties imposed on a global bank. On Tuesday in a Federal Court in Brooklyn, HSBC…
This week, the National Australia Bank published its 2012 annual report, confirming that its net profit for the year had fallen by about 21%, mainly from higher bad and doubtful debt charges. Buried deep…
How are retail banks — the incumbents of banking — likely to fare in the era of mobile banking? This is an increasingly crucial issue for banks. Mobile banking is a major technological development, and…
In developed countries such as the United States, United Kingdom and Australia, mobile banking — describing the use of mobile phones to make financial transactions — is transforming banking from a physical…
Islamic finance has grown and expanded rapidly in recent years. It was recently announced that, following in the footsteps of some of its European neighbours, Germany will soon have its first Islamic bank…
At first glance, a consultation paper released by Treasury last week aimed at strengthening the crisis management powers of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, could pass for a routine tidy-up…
A Senate Economics Committee has been reflecting on life after the global financial crisis for Australian banks. The general consensus has been to date that Australian banks escaped the worst of the fall-out…
It has been five years since the sub-prime mortgage crisis emerged in the US. This was followed by financial institutions suffering liquidity shortfalls in both US and Europe, and their eventual collapse…