https://www.scmp.com/rss/303768/feed Royal Bank of Scotland grew into one of the world’s biggest banking groups through aggressive acquisitions, but overstretched itself when it tried to buy Dutch banking giant ABN Amro in 2007. The British government pumped 45 billion pounds (US$73 billion) into RBS to keep it afloat in 2008, leaving it 82 per cent state-owned. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Five banks, including Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland, have been fined a total of more than €1 billion (US$1.1 billion) by the European Union for rigging the multitrillion-dollar foreign exchange market. The European Commission said the banks, which also include Citigroup, JP Morgan and MUFG (Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group), formed two cartels to manipulate the spot foreign exchange market for 11 currencies, including the US dollar, the euro and the pound. The financial industry has been hit... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3010560/five-banks-fined-more-us1-billion-eu-rigging-multitrillion-dollar?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3010560/five-banks-fined-more-us1-billion-eu-rigging-multitrillion-dollar?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 16 May 2019 14:00:48 +0000 Britain’s leading consumer group has called on banks to justify nearly 13,000 bank branch closures that have left millions of people struggling to access vital financial services across the UK. Figures compiled by the consumer charity Which? show the UK has lost nearly two-thirds of its bank and building society branches over the past 30 years, from 20,583 in 1988 to 7,586. The loss of those sites has left 19 per cent of the population nearly 3km (two miles) away from their nearest branch,... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/2173509/british-banks-urged-justify-staggering-level-branch-closures?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/2173509/british-banks-urged-justify-staggering-level-branch-closures?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 16 Nov 2018 01:31:27 +0000 Politicians usually try to kick tricky problems into the long grass by having a commission of inquiry or a public consultation that we all know is intended to bury the issue until the next one comes along. Having just been to Australia, I have been following the quaintly named royal commission on the behaviour of banks. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull fought hard against it – a royal commission is much harder to kick. Banking is a naturally adversarial practice and conflicts of interest abound,... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2148568/australia-and-uk-show-banker-bashing-all-well-and-good?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2148568/australia-and-uk-show-banker-bashing-all-well-and-good?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 31 May 2018 05:00:00 +0000 Royal Bank of Scotland said on Wednesday it has reached a US$5.5 billion settlement in the United States over the mis-selling of mortgage-backed securities before the financial crisis, a key milestone in the institution’s efforts to put its past sins behind it. The deal with the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the conservator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, resolves claims regarding the issuance and underwriting of approximately US$32 billion (25 billion pounds) of residential mortgage-backed... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/2102439/royal-bank-scotland-pays-us55-billion-settle-us-mortgage?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/2102439/royal-bank-scotland-pays-us55-billion-settle-us-mortgage?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 12 Jul 2017 23:00:15 +0000 Royal Bank of Scotland, Britain's biggest government-owned lender, is on track for its largest pre-tax loss since 2008 after setting aside a further £3.1 billion (HK$39.8 billion) for legal and compensation claims. The provision included £1.9 billion for lawsuits and fines tied mostly to the sale of US$91 billion of mortgage-backed securities from 2005 to 2007, the lender said on Monday. It follows agreements Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan Chase and UBS struck with regulators in the United States to... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1416133/mortgage-provisions-push-rbs-further-red?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1416133/mortgage-provisions-push-rbs-further-red?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 28 Jan 2014 21:00:30 +0000 Britain’s Serious Fraud Office is considering the possibility of launching a criminal investigation into allegations that Royal Bank of Scotland mistreated struggling small businesses, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday, citing five people familiar with the matter. RBS has been accused by government adviser Lawrence Tomlinson of pushing struggling small firms into its “turnaround” unit, so it could charge higher fees and interest and take control of their assets. “The only thing we’re... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1366908/britains-serious-fraud-office-mulling-rbs-probe-report-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1366908/britains-serious-fraud-office-mulling-rbs-probe-report-says?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 27 Nov 2013 01:20:49 +0000 The Royal Bank of Scotland faced fresh damage to its reputation on Monday after the British government handed financial watchdogs a report claiming it forced small firms to default in order to seize their assets. Business Secretary Vince Cable confirmed on Sunday that he had given the report, written by Lawrence Tomlinson from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, to the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority. The report, published on Monday, has been... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1365109/small-firms-mercy-rbs-says-report?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1365109/small-firms-mercy-rbs-says-report?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 25 Nov 2013 01:19:26 +0000 The Royal Bank of Scotland has reached a US$153.7 million settlement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission over an investigation into its mortgage-backed securities. In a statement on Thursday, RBS said the cost of the payments has been covered by provisions already made but that the terms of the settlement meant it neither admitted nor denied the allegations from the SEC that its prospectus for a 2007 securities offering was “materially misleading”. The settlement is the latest in a... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1350682/rbs-settles-us-securities-and-exchange-commission-us1537?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1350682/rbs-settles-us-securities-and-exchange-commission-us1537?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 08 Nov 2013 04:31:06 +0000 Two of the three bidders short-listed to buy 315 bank branches from Royal Bank of Scotland have called for the long-running sale process to be completed as quickly as possible, with one describing the outlets as “slightly neglected” under their current ownership. RBS was ordered to sell the UK branches as a condition of its 2008 taxpayer bailout, which left the bank 81 per cent state-owned. A 1.65-billion-pound (HK$20 billion) sale of the branches to Spain’s Santander collapsed in October last... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1297989/rbs-branch-bidders-push-speedy-deal-promise-growth?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1297989/rbs-branch-bidders-push-speedy-deal-promise-growth?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 20 Aug 2013 02:57:03 +0000 Regional banking group CIMB, which acquired key Asian assets of Royal Bank of Scotland last year, is targeting China for rapid business expansion outside its home market in Malaysia. In April last year, the Kuala Lumpur-based investment and consumer banking group agreed to pay US$140 million for some Asian assets of loss-making RBS, which was bailed out by the British government during the 2008 financial crisis. Now chief executive Nazir Razak is aiming to open new offices in China, with a view... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1297648/cimb-puts-china-heart-growth-push?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1297648/cimb-puts-china-heart-growth-push?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 18 Aug 2013 16:00:00 +0000 New Zealander Ross McEwan was confirmed as boss of Royal Bank of Scotland yesterday and immediately tasked with recovering British taxpayers' cash from one of the biggest casualties of the credit crunch. McEwan, 56, whose promotion comes less than a year after he arrived to run RBS' retail arm, will take over in October. He had been widely tipped to get the job after predecessor Stephen Hester was ousted by the government in June and will have the job of completing RBS' restructuring, ensuring... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1293838/royal-bank-scotland-picks-new-head-returns-profit?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1293838/royal-bank-scotland-picks-new-head-returns-profit?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 02 Aug 2013 07:10:46 +0000 EU watchdogs have charged 13 top investment banks with blocking exchanges’ access to the lucrative credit derivatives market, hitting the sector with the latest in a growing list of regulatory headaches. The move by the European Commission, which could result in hefty fines, comes as major banks also come under investigation for suspected rigging of lending benchmarks including Euribor and Libor. The Commission said banks including Citigroup and Goldman Sachs, along with financial data company... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1273810/eu-charges-banks-blocking-exchanges-derivatives-market?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1273810/eu-charges-banks-blocking-exchanges-derivatives-market?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 02 Jul 2013 05:01:04 +0000 Britain is ready to start selling its shares in Lloyds Banking Group and will examine whether to break up Royal Bank of Scotland, Finance Minister George Osborne said, after acknowledging the re-privatisation of RBS remains a long way off. The government is keen to show Britain’s part-nationalised banks are recovering from the 2008 financial crisis and a profitable sale of part of its 39 per cent stake in Lloyds would allow it to claim at least partial success ahead of the next election in... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1264874/britain-start-sale-lloyds-soon-review-rbs-split?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1264874/britain-start-sale-lloyds-soon-review-rbs-split?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 20 Jun 2013 03:16:54 +0000 Royal Bank of Scotland Group boss Stephen Hester will step down later this year, after the bank’s board decided it wanted new leadership to oversee the sale of Britain’s majority stake in the bank, which could take years. Hester said on Wednesday he would have liked to carry on at the helm for the start of the sale of the government’s 81 per cent stake, which could happen before the next election in 2015. However, the bank said the 52-year-old had been unable to make an open-ended commitment to... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1259692/rbs-boss-hester-nudged-out-bank-seeks-leader-guide-sale?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1259692/rbs-boss-hester-nudged-out-bank-seeks-leader-guide-sale?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 13 Jun 2013 02:31:29 +0000