Category Archives: Banking

UK settles £1.3bn claim by Iranian bank over trade ban damages

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In 2014 supreme court ruled sanctions on Bank Mellat had been unlawful

The UK government has made a last minute out-of-court deal to settle a £1.3bn damages claim made by an Iranian bank over a UK trading ban.

The undisclosed settlement to Bank Mellat on the eve of what was expected to be a five-week trial raises questions about how big the UK taxpayer’s bill is likely to be, as well as how the UK will transfer the payment to circumvent the comprehensive sanctions regime imposed by the US, which affects the bank.

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Company part-owned by Jared Kushner got $90m from unknown offshore investors since 2017

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Overseas investment flowed to Cadre while Trump’s son-in-law works as US envoy, raising conflict of interest questions

A real estate company part-owned by Jared Kushner has received $90m in foreign funding from an opaque offshore vehicle since he entered the White House as a senior adviser to his father-in-law Donald Trump.

Investment has flowed from overseas to the company, Cadre, while Kushner works as an international envoy for the US, according to corporate filings and interviews. The money came through a vehicle run by Goldman Sachs in the Cayman Islands, a tax haven that guarantees corporate secrecy.

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Tax authorities mount raids on 19 German banks and homes

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Investigation is linked to Panama Papers and part of money laundering allegations

Eleven banks and eight private homes and offices across Germany have been raided by police and tax investigators as part of a wide-ranging investigation into tax evasion.

The raids, which began at dawn on Wednesday and went on into the afternoon, were part of the same investigation started last November over money laundering allegations linked to the so-called Panama Papers scandal, alleged to involve Deutsche Bank.

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Ferrexpo could have done without the side show to its Deloitte spat

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A wiser board might have stopped Chris Mawe’s £400,000 share sale the morning before auditor quit

It is a rare for an auditor to quit the role at a London-listed FTSE 250 firm. So one might conclude it was merely unfortunate that Chris Mawe, the finance director at Ferrexpo, chose last Thursday morning to sell £400,000-worth of shares, just before events moved rapidly at the Swiss-based miner of iron ore in Ukraine. In the evening of the same day, Deloitte quit. On Friday morning, when the firm’s resignation was made public, Ferrexpo’s share price plunged by 28%.

The company had not received Deloitte’s letter of resignation at the time of the share sale, so there is – to be clear – no suggestion rules were broken. Even so, one has to ask if it was sensible for Mawe to sell last Thursday when so many unanswered questions hung in the air.

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Ending the Iranian sanctions waiver could be own goal for Trump

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Preventing Iran’s oil from reaching the market will raise oil prices and US business costs

The past two and a bit years have shown that it is naive to expect Donald Trump’s strategic and economic policies to demonstrate coherence. Even so, the lack of joined-up thinking in the decision to end the waiver against sanctions from nations that buy oil from Iran takes some beating.

Related: US toughens stance on Iran, ending exemptions from oil sanctions

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Deutsche Bank faces action over $20bn Russian money-laundering scheme

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Exclusive: in confidential internal report seen by the Guardian, bank says scandal has hurt global brand

Germany’s troubled Deutsche Bank faces fines, legal action and the possible prosecution of “senior management” because of its role in a $20bn Russian money-laundering scheme, a confidential internal report seen by the Guardian says.

The bank admits there is a high risk that regulators in the US and UK will take “significant disciplinary action” against it. Deutsche concedes that the scandal has hurt its “global brand” – and is likely to cause “client attrition”, loss of investor confidence and a decline in its market value.

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Mark Carney tells global banks they cannot ignore climate change dangers

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Financial sector warned it risks losses from extreme weather and its stakes in polluting firms

The global financial system faces an existential threat from climate change and must take urgent steps to reform, the governors of the Bank of England and France’s central bank have warned, writing in the Guardian.

In an article published in the Guardian on Wednesday aimed at the international financial community, Mark Carney, the Bank’s governor, and François Villeroy de Galhau, the governor of the Banque de France, said financial regulators, banks and insurers around the world had to “raise the bar” to avoid catastrophe.

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Mastercard ruling: almost every UK adult could receive payout

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Lawsuit could benefit 46 million people even if they have never owned the credit card

Almost every adult in the UK could receive a payout of up to £300 from Mastercard after a court ruling paved the way for a £14bn class action lawsuit.

The legal action taken by former financial ombudsman Walter Merricks claims that 46 million UK consumers paid higher prices in shops over a 16-year period because of allegedly excessive transaction fees charged by Mastercard.

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Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank confirm merger talks

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Unions warn merger of two German lenders could put up to 30,000 jobs at risk

Deutsche Bank has confirmed it is in merger talks with rival Commerzbank, putting an end to months of speculation over a potential tie-up that stands to unsettle the German banking landscape.

While the move has been touted as a route to greater profitability for the troubled lenders, unions have warned that the merger could put up to 30,000 jobs at risk.

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Superyachts and private schools: Britain’s dirty money problem

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Russian money – some legitimate, some the proceeds of fraud – was channeled through a Lithuanian bank into the UK, according to a major leak of banking documents. The Guardian’s Juliette Garside has been investigating for months and describes how Prince Charles and some of England’s most exclusive schools have benefited. Plus: Ben Beaumont-Thomas on the legacy of the Prodigy’s Keith Flint

The leak of more than 1m bank transactions has shown how an estimated $4.6bn (£3.5bn) was sent to Europe and the US from a Russian-operated network of 70 offshore companies with accounts in Lithuania.

The Guardian’s Juliette Garside has been investigating the network and where the money ended up. She tells India Rakusen that money linked to major Russian fraud cases was laundered with funds from legitimate enterprise, making it impossible to trace the original source. It could then be spent on luxury goods, private school fees and property.

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Banking leak exposes Russian network with link to Prince Charles

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Exclusive: investigation reveals how Troika Dialog channelled $4.6bn to Europe and US

A charity run by Prince Charles received donations from an offshore company that was used to funnel vast amounts of cash from Russia in a scheme that is under investigation by prosecutors, the Guardian can reveal.

Money flowing through the network included cash that can be linked to some of the most notorious frauds committed during Vladimir Putin’s presidency.

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Goldman Sachs plans to cut bonuses as 1MDB scandal deepens

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Investment bank might withhold cash from former boss Lloyd Blankfein over firm’s involvement in Malaysian affair

Goldman Sachs’s decision to potentially cut bonuses for top executives over the 1MDB scandal reflects an acknowledgement of shareholder and public outrage over the debacle.

The prestigious investment bank has announced that it could withhold millions of dollars in bonuses to former chief executive Lloyd Blankfein and two other retired executives depending on the outcome of ongoing inquiries into the Malaysian fund.

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Bill Shorten demands extra sitting weeks to fast-track banking reforms

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Labor leader says failure to act will show Coalition ‘putting the interests of the big banks’ first

Bill Shorten says Scott Morrison must schedule two extra sitting weeks in March to fast-track the legislative changes recommended by the banking royal commission, saying failure to act quickly will show voters the government is “putting the interests of the big banks ahead of them”.

As Morrison signalled executives of the National Australia Bank should reflect on Kenneth Hayne’s “sharp” assessment of their conduct, Shorten wrote to the prime minister on Tuesday, declaring it was critical the reforms be legislated as soon as possible, and demanding two extra sitting weeks be scheduled in March.

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‘Ridiculous’: report Ivanka Trump could lead World Bank meets scorn

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First daughter’s name said to be ‘floating around Washington’ but it wouldn’t be her first unconventional role

The Financial Times reported on Friday that the name of Ivanka Trump is “floating around Washington” regarding the need for a new president of the World Bank.

The role will soon be open due to the surprise departure of the current president, Jim Yong Kim. But on politics Twitter, at least, the idea that his replacement might be the first daughter met with widespread derision.

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Ex-Credit Suisse bankers arrested in $2bn fraud investigation

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Trio arrested in London on US charges as calls grow for debt claim against Mozambique to be dropped

Three former Credit Suisse bankers have been arrested in London on US charges of alleged involvement in a fraud involving $2bn (£1.6bn) in loans to state-owned companies in Mozambique.

Mozambique’s former finance minister, Manuel Chang, and a senior executive from the shipbuilder Privinvest Group, Jean Boustani, have also been arrested in South Africa and New York, respectively, in recent days.

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Three men, four questions and a 24 million dollar quandary

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Hong Kong court orders asset management firm SSG Capital to answer questions about missing funds relating to a multi-million dollar fraud A court in Hong Kong has ordered Shyam Maheshwari, Andreas Vourloumis, and Edwin Wong, principals of the hedge fund SSG Capital, a Hong Kong-based asset management firm, to answer under oath questions about missing funds relating to a multi-million dollar fraud scheme perpetrated in the United States. The principals of SSG Capital are former Lehman Brothers executives based in Hong Kong and Singapore.

Greene County Dems Want Greeneville Roe-Olsen Debate

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The Greene County Democratic Party is urging 1st District Congressional candidates to debate in Greeneville - a central location in a district that stretches over a large swath of northeast Tennessee. Incumbent Republican Dr. Phil Roe, of Johnson City, and Democratic candidate Dr. Marty Olsen, of Johnson City, are vying to represent the 1st Congressional District, which encompasses 12 counties, from Sevierville and Sneedville in the west to Mountain City in the eastern most corner of the state.

While waiting for Hurricane Florence, Donald Trump mocks Jamie Dimon

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Banker Jamie Dimon had said he could defeat President Donald Trump in an election because "I'm smarter than he is." While waiting for Hurricane Florence, Donald Trump mocks Jamie Dimon Banker Jamie Dimon had said he could defeat President Donald Trump in an election because "I'm smarter than he is."