FSA to embark on HBOS report

Sberbank reports 6M 2012 results

Russian banking institution Sberbank has reported its financial results for the first six months of 2012, in accordance with its own internal methodology. During this period net interest income rose by more than a quarter (26%) year-on-year, with net fee and commission income up by 19.7% on the same basis. Before provisions are accounted for [...]

Two weeks to go on Ulster Bank technical glitch

Ulster Bank, part of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) group, has announced that the problems arising from a major technical glitch that occurred in June will not be resolved for all customers for another fortnight. In a statement, the bank says: “We expect gradual, but significant and noticeable improvements throughout the remainder of this week [...]

ECB cuts eurozone rate by 25 basis points

The Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) has today announced that it is cutting the interest rate in the eurozone area from 1% to a record low of 0.75%. The cut of 25 basis points is the first cut in the single currency’s rate this year. The change comes on the same day [...]

Bank of England increases QE by £50bn

The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has today increased the scale of the quantitative easing (QE) asset purchase programme by £50bn to £375bn. The MPC also elected to leave unchanged the UK’s interest rate at the historic low of 0.5%. The increase in QE had been expected from some quarters as the country [...]

New sanctions for directors of failed banks

HM Treasury has published proposals that could prevent the directors of failed banks from holding similar positions at financial institutions in the future. The recommendations follow the findings of the Financial Services Authority’s (FSA) report into the failure of Royal Bank of Scotland. They include a “rebuttable presumption” requiring a director of a failed bank [...]