Category Archives: Banking

Lloyds bankers could face bonus cut if not in office two days a week

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Group reviews office attendance as part of performance-related bonus targets forsenior employees

Senior bankers at Lloyds could be at risk of having their bonuses docked if they fail to follow company orders to be in the office at least two days a week.

Lloyds Banking Group – which owns the Halifax, Lloyds and Bank of Scotland brands – has confirmed it is reviewing office attendance as part of performance-related bonus targets for its most senior employees. That includes hybrid staff who, in 2023, were ordered to be in the office at least 40% of the time, which typically amounts to two days a week for those on full-time contracts.

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JP Morgan Chase requires all workers to return to office five days a week

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Executives acknowledge ‘not everyone will agree with this decision’ as bank calls time on remote and hybrid working

JPMorgan Chase is summoning all staff back to the office, becoming the latest corporate giant to call time on era of remote and hybrid working sparked by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The US’s largest bank, which has some 316,000 employees worldwide, announced on Friday that all workers on hybrid work schedules will be required to return to the office five days a week from March.

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City regulator vows to ease ‘burden’ on UK banks amid government pressure

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Bank of England says it is rowing back on ‘overcooked’ regulations introduced after financial crisis

The Bank of England plans to slash the “reporting burden” on UK banks and allow insurers to make riskier investments without initial approval, as it comes under government pressure to ease regulations introduced after the financial crisis.

Sam Woods, a deputy governor at the Bank who leads its regulatory arm, the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), said the central bank had rowed back on rules that appeared to be “overcooked”, as he suggested it might have gone too far and harmed the financial sector.

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All the 1 January changes in Australia: Centrelink increases, import bans and pay rises

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Bigger Austudy and carer allowance payments, higher Medicare safety net thresholds and mandatory corporate reporting on climate also in 1 Jan changes

With the new year comes new policies, laws, taxes and reforms. Here’s everything to know about changes on 1 January, 2025 that could affect you.

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All the 1 January changes coming to Australia in 2025: Centrelink increases, import bans and pay rises

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Bigger Austudy and carer allowance payments, higher Medicare safety net thresholds and mandatory corporate reporting on climate also ahead

With the new year comes new policies, laws, taxes and reforms. Here’s everything to know about changes on 1 January, 2025 that could affect you.

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City regulators to start oversight of tech firms that provide ‘critical’ services to UK

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New powers come amid concerns that cyber-attacks and outages could put the country’s financial stability at risk

City regulators will begin cracking down in the new year on tech firms providing “critical” services to UK banks amid concerns that cyber-attacks and outages at companies such as Google or Amazon could put the country’s financial stability at risk.

From 1 January, the Bank of England and the Financial Conduct Authority will be handed powers to regulate companies that are becoming a crucial part of the day-to-day operations of the increasingly digital banking and payments sector.

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Japan’s Nomura bank boss takes 30% voluntary pay cut after worker tries to kill customer

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Wealth management employee charged with robbery, attempted murder and arson after home visit to elderly clients

The boss of the Japanese bank Nomura has apologised and taken a voluntary pay cut after a former employee was charged with robbery and attempted murder of a customer.

Kentaro Okuda, who has led Nomura since 2020, will take a 30% pay cut over the next three months, with several other senior managers at the bank taking similar reductions, the bank said.

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Vietnamese tycoon faces scramble to raise billions to avoid death sentence

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Truong My Lan must repay three-quarters of $12bn she embezzled from bank in a case that shocked the country

The Vietnamese property tycoon Truong My Lan has lost her appeal against the death penalty for masterminding a multibillion-dollar fraud scandal – though she could still save her life if she can repay most of the funds she embezzled.

Lan, who founded the real-estate developer Van Thinh Phat, was sentenced to death in April for embezzling $12bn (£9.95bn) from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB), in a case that shocked the country.

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Banks and bookmakers tricked by ‘sophisticated’ gambling syndicate may have breached anti-money laundering laws

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Exclusive: Documents seen by Guardian Australia show syndicate placed bets with Sportsbet while using another person’s name

Banks and bookmakers that were hoodwinked by a gambling syndicate that created multiple accounts in other people’s names to hide their true identities may have breached their anti-money laundering obligations.

Guardian Australia has confirmed a gambling syndicate paid $1,000 to desperate men for their ID documents, which were used to create multiple bank and betting accounts in their names. Cash was deposited into these bank accounts and gambled with at least nine bookmakers.

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Barclays fined £40m for ‘reckless’ failures in 2008 Qatari fundraising

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Bank’s shares rise as it disputes FCA finding it should have disclosed more about deal during financial crisis

Barclays will pay a fine of £40m for “reckless” failures to disclose a fundraising deal with Qatar at the height of the financial crisis, after the British bank agreed to withdraw a legal challenge against it.

The FTSE 100 bank effectively won a discount of £10m by challenging the fine, but was found by the regulator to have committed serious misconduct. Barclays withdrew an appeal shortly before it was due to be heard on Monday by the upper tribunal, a court in London.

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UK bank fraud victims could face £100 excess on refund claims

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Despite new rules, many lenders have decided to implement the optional exemption

Some victims of bank transfer scams will not get a penny back despite beefed-up rules designed to better protect consumers from fraudsters, because several big banks have introduced an excess on refund claims.

New rules requiring banks and other payment companies to reimburse fraud victims who have been tricked into sending money to scammers took effect last month, and included an optional £100 excess that firms can apply to a claim.

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Australian businesses selling essential goods and services to be forced to accept cash payments

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Treasury confirms cheques will stay in circulation until 2029 but then cease to be accepted as legal tender

Businesses selling essential goods and services such as groceries, medicines and fuel will be forced to accept cash from their customers unless granted a special exemption, under a government mandate to take effect from 1 January 2026.

In a move designed to taper the phase-out of cash and ensure those who rely on it can still use it for the near future, the federal government will require certain businesses to take cash payments. But others, including many small businesses, will be exempt from the measure.

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Banks could face levy for failing to meet ‘baseline’ services in regional Australia, Treasury proposal suggests

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Confidential report comes in the wake of Senate inquiry which highlighted ‘deficiencies in branch closure processes’ across regional areas

Australian banks would have to meet a minimum level of service in regional areas or contribute funding to bolster the number of branches and ATMs offered by other institutions, in a proposal put forward by Treasury.

According to a confidential report sent to bankers this week, seen by Guardian Australia, Treasury has outlined two proposals to better support the presence of in-person branches and ATMs.

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Reeves tells City regulator to encourage more risk-taking in financial sector

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New remit given to FCA by chancellor raises fears of a weakening of rules meant to avert another financial crisis

The financial regulator has been ordered to encourage more risk-taking across the City, raising concerns that the Labour government is in danger of watering down rules meant to avoid another financial crisis.

In an official “remit” letter addressed to Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) boss, Nikhil Rathi, the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, said regulations meant to protect consumers should not stand in the way of “sensible risk-taking” by investors and the wider financial sector, which includes banks, asset managers and insurers.

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Metro Bank fined nearly £17m for failure to monitor potential money laundering

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Problems were raised by junior staff three years before they were completely resolved, says FCA

Metro Bank has been fined nearly £17m by the UK’s financial watchdog for failings in its money-laundering controls over four years, in a fresh blow to the lender a year on from its near-collapse.

In a surprise announcement that also triggered the early release of Metro’s third-quarter results on Tuesday morning, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said it had found shortfalls in the bank’s financial crime checks between 2016 and 2020.

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Boots says it will ‘draw lessons’ from research into links to slavery

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Report looked into donations to Nottingham universities by Jesse Boot, who expanded pharmacy chain

The high-street pharmacy Boots’s links to the transatlantic slave trade have been revealed in new research that shows how the proceeds of enslavement became entangled with British capitalism.

Jesse Boot, the son of the company’s founder, expanded the chemist with the help of banks and premises linked to slavery. He was not identified as involved in the enslavement of people, the trade of enslaved people or trade in goods made by enslaved people.

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Lloyds shareholders could take £1bn hit over car finance crisis

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Analysts forecast bank will have to halve £2bn buyback plan, as ex-boss of City regulator blames watchdog for crisis

Lloyds Banking Group could give almost £1bn less to shareholders this year as a result of the car finance crisis, analysts have said, as the City regulator’s former boss blamed the watchdog for the chaos.

The estimated size of a multibillion-pound compensation bill for motor lenders has grown after a shock court of appeal ruling last Friday, which said customers could not consent to motor loans that involved “secret commission” payments to brokers and car dealerships.

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Santander to cut more than 1,400 jobs in UK amid increasing automation

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News of redundancies comes as UK division delays publication of results after car finance court ruling

Santander is cutting more than 1,400 jobs across its UK business this year as part of its efforts to reduce costs.

The Spanish bank’s chief executive officer, Hector Grisi, confirmed the cuts as its UK division delayed publication of its latest financial results to consider the impact of an influential court ruling linked to commission on car finance.

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HSBC denies breakup plan as it launches $3bn share buyback

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London-headquartered bank says profits beat forecasts as it prepares to split eastern and western operations

The boss of HSBC has said moves to separate its eastern and western operations are not part of a plan to break up the banking group, as he announced a $3bn share buyback amid better-than-expected profits.

Georges Elhedery pushed back against rumours that a huge restructuring plan announced last week was a sign he was considering hiving off parts of the banking group, which had been under pressure to do so by its largest shareholder, the Chinese insurer Ping An. Investors last year rejected Ping An’s proposals.

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Lloyds backs Reeves budget plans despite mooted tax increases

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Bank expects ‘constructive, pro-growth agenda’ by chancellor next week and seeks to be part of it

Lloyds Banking Group has backed the Labour government’s forthcoming budget and played down the impact of any tax increases, which it said would probably be part of a “constructive, pro-growth agenda”.

The chief financial officer of the UK’s biggest mortgage lender, William Chalmers, said he would welcome a budget package that was consistent with government pledges to kickstart growth and investment in key areas such as energy, infrastructure and housing.

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