REMINDER: Our user survey closes on Friday, please submit your responses here

Less Ads, More Data, More Tools Register for FREE

Pin to quick picksBarclays Share News (BARC)

Share Price Information for Barclays (BARC)

London Stock Exchange
Share Price is delayed by 15 minutes
Get Live Data
Share Price: 205.80
Bid: 205.80
Ask: 205.85
Change: 3.45 (1.70%)
Spread: 0.05 (0.024%)
Open: 204.25
High: 207.75
Low: 204.10
Prev. Close: 202.35
BARC Live PriceLast checked at -

Watchlists are a member only feature

Login to your account

Alerts are a premium feature

Login to your account

RPT-Bankers and regulators could be grilled by UK lawmakers over forex fines

Fri, 14th Nov 2014 15:45

(Repeats to additional Reuters instrument code)

* Lawmakers to decide on hearings next week -sources

* Committee members express anger over forex scandal

* BoE deputy governor to give evidence next week

By Kirstin Ridley and Matt Scuffham

LONDON, Nov 14 (Reuters) - British bank executives andregulators could be in line for public grillings following thisweek's landmark international settlement over allegations ofmanipulation and collusion in the $5.3 trillion-per-day foreignexchange market.

British regulators led a global investigation afterwhistleblowers raised concerns about misconduct in the forexmarket, resulting in six of the world's largest banks beingfined a total of $4.3 billion.

The UK set its fines at record levels, reflecting risingpolitical and public demands that bankers, cast since thefinancial crisis of 2007 to 2009 as villains who reaped rewardsas the world economy crumbled, are held accountable formisconduct.

But questions have been asked about how the UK's FinancialConduct Authority (FCA) ran the inquiry and what level ofpenalty, if any, can change the culture in financial markets.

Britain's Treasury Select Committee (TSC), a cross-partygroup of lawmakers, will decide next week whether to schedulehearings on the forex scandal, political sources said.

Some regulators and bankers admit they view much of theirwork through the prism of how they would justify decisions toTSC Chairman Andrew Tyrie, a steely lawmaker whose oftensardonic quizzings are broadcast on television.

"Whatever we do we measure against how it will look sittingin front of the Treasury Select Committee," one senior banker,who asked not to be named, recently told Reuters.

The TSC could use next Wednesday's hearing into a Bank ofEngland-led "Fair and Effective Markets" review, aimed atraising standards of conduct in wholesale financial markets, asa precursor to further hearings on the forex market.

Minouche Shafik, deputy governor of the Bank of England(BoE), is due to give evidence in the first session. Herevidence will be closely watched after the BoE on Wednesdayfired its chief foreign exchange dealer after an inquirycriticised his handling of suspicious market practices.

Tyrie has already voiced outrage at the latest scandal,saying some banks appeared too big to manage and suggestingtraders in a position to harm their employer, clients or marketsshould have their remuneration deferred for long periods and, ifcaught behaving badly, should risk having their licences topractice withdrawn.

HEADS SHOULD ROLL

Other TSC members have called for fines to be paid frombonus pools, rather than profits, and for heads to roll.

"If I was the banking minister, I would want to know who isgoing to be resigning," said John Mann, a TSC member. "Headsshould roll at the very top."

Two of the six banks fined were British, HSBC andRoyal Bank of Scotland. RBS has said it is reviewing theconduct of over 50 current and former staff, and dozens ofsupervisors, and had started a disciplinary process against sixpeople. Barclays is still in talks with authoritiesover a settlement.

Two of the main criticisms levelled at the FCA during itsforex investigation focus on concerns that increasingly punitivefines have done little to change bank behaviour and that theregulator effectively privatised much of its inquiry.

Regulators argue that slapping penalties on companies andsecuring deferred prosecution agreements, or non-prosecutionagreements, help change the culture of an organisation and, inan ideal world, prevent future crimes.

But large penalties can harm investors and employees,lengthy investigations demand experience and resources and some critics question why companies should be punished for crimescommitted by unprosecuted individuals.

The 13-month FCA investigation involved over 70 enforcementstaff and unprecedented cooperation with other regulators.

But it also relied on banks trawling through chatrooms andemails and interviewing staff - and passing evidence back in astrategy that some say allowed the industry to police itself.

Some lawyers argue this allowed the FCA to avoid using itspowers to compel individuals to come for interview and gatherevidence inadmissible in parallel U.S. proceedings. Under theFifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, people have a rightnot to answer questions that might lead to self-incrimination.

"This is just getting information through the back door,"said one lawyer familiar with the investigation. "You could sayit's outrageous, as it's essentially the UK subverting its owninvestigation process, privileges and protections for the U.S." (Additional reporting by Jamie McGeever; Writing by KirstinRidley; Editing by David Holmes)

More News
21 Feb 2024 08:59

IN BRIEF: Barclays begins GBP1.00 billion share buyback programme

Barclays PLC - London-based banking group - Commences share buyback programme for up to GBP1.00 billion. The buyback will run until November 20, and is intended to reduce the share capital of the company, Barclays says. The maximum number of ordinary shares that may be repurchased under the programme is 1.09 billion.

Read more
20 Feb 2024 16:52

LONDON MARKET CLOSE: Pound boosted after BoE's Bailey talks rate cuts

(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London closed lower on Tuesday, whilst the pound bounced back, after the Bank of England's Andrew Bailey talked interest rate cuts.

Read more
20 Feb 2024 15:29

London close: Stocks finish lower on fresh China concerns

(Sharecast News) - London's stock markets closed in negative territory on Tuesday, with concerns over China's economic prospects exerting pressure on mining shares.

Read more
20 Feb 2024 11:57

LONDON MARKET MIDDAY: Banking stocks drag FTSE 100 into green

(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London were mixed at midday Tuesday, after a busy morning of corporate updates and earnings.

Read more
20 Feb 2024 11:20

London midday: Stocks mixed after China makes bigger rate cut

(Sharecast News) - London's stocks were in a mixed state at midday on Tuesday, as concerns around China's economic outlook continued to weigh on mining stocks.

Read more
20 Feb 2024 08:52

LONDON MARKET OPEN: Stocks slide; banks rise as Barclays outperforms

(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London opened in the red on Tuesday, as European markets failed to find upward momentum amid muted trading in Asia, and Monday's public holiday in the US.

Read more
20 Feb 2024 08:19

TOP NEWS: Barclays eyes GBP2 billion cost cuts and promises returns

(Alliance News) - Barclays PLC on Tuesday announced an efficiency drive, a new divisional reporting line-up and a plan to return GBP10 billion to shareholders over the next three years.

Read more
20 Feb 2024 07:47

LONDON BRIEFING: Barclays announces GBP1b buyback as 2023 profit falls

(Alliance News) - Stocks in London are called lower on Tuesday, following a US holiday, and a mixed performance in Asian markets.

Read more
20 Feb 2024 07:01

Barclays unveils massive overhaul as profits fall 6%

(Sharecast News) - Barclays Bank unveiled a swathe of changes on Tuesday, including a structural overhaul of operations, £2bn in cost cuts and a massive increase in shareholder payouts as annual earnings fell by 6%.

Read more
19 Feb 2024 16:10

Tuesday preview: China rate decision, Barclays in focus

(Sharecast News) - Investors' focus on Tuesday will be on the People's Bank of China's interest rate decision overnight.

Read more
18 Feb 2024 23:26

Sunday newspaper round-up: Currys, Barclays, Homebuilders

(Sharecast News) - China's JD.com has been looking at a possible acquisition offer for Currys. Just the day before the electricals retailer had rebuffed an approach by private equity. Exploratory talks between Currys and JD had been held over the preceding weeks. Additional bidders may appear. It was understood that Currys had been contacted by multiple private equity firms on an informal basis over recent months after it was forced to cut its dividend payout. It was but the latest example of a British business being taken out and for some showed that British businesses were being chronically undervalued. - Sunday Telegraph

Read more
16 Feb 2024 12:07

LONDON MARKET MIDDAY: Stocks up as UK retail sales soften GDP jitters

(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London were up strongly at midday on Friday, buoyed by UK retail sales data that came in far better than expected and soothed worries about the economy after numbers on Thursday showed it entered recession last year.

Read more
16 Feb 2024 08:41

LONDON MARKET OPEN: Stocks climb amid UK retail sales surprise

(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London opened higher on Friday morning, after a sentiment-boosting UK retail sales reading which calmed some nerves about the economy.

Read more
15 Feb 2024 11:59

REPEAT: Barclays bids to buy SocGen's UK private bank - Reuters

(Alliance News) - Barclays PLC is considering bidding to buy the UK private bank of France's Societe Generale SA, Reuters reported on Thursday.

Read more
15 Feb 2024 10:37

PRESS: Barclays bids to buy SogGen's UK private bank - Reuters

(Alliance News) - Barclays PLC is considering bidding to buy the UK private bank of France's Societe Generale SA, Reuters reported on Thursday.

Read more

Login to your account

Don't have an account? Click here to register.

Quickpicks are a member only feature

Login to your account

Don't have an account? Click here to register.