Article: HSBC scandal further erodes credibility of UK banking industry

Article - Media, Publications

HSBC scandal further erodes credibility of UK banking industry

AFP, 22 July 2012

London: A scandal erupting at Europe’s biggest bank HSBC has added to concerns over the state of Britain’s financial sector amid the Barclays rate rigging affair and as the industry faces a major shake-up.

HSBC last week apologised and its head of compliance David Bagley resigned after US lawmakers accused the London-based bank of failing to apply anti-laundering rules, benefitting Iran, terrorists and drug dealers.

The HSBC affair follows hot on the heels of the Libor interest rate rigging scandal that has brought down top executives at Britain’s Barclays bank — most notably its chief executive Bob Diamond and chairman Marcus Agius.

Regulators are reportedly investigating HSBC, as well as Credit Agricole, Deutsche Bank and Societe Generale, over alleged manipulation of the Libor rate after Barclays was recently fined £290 million (Dh1.66 billion) over the affair.

Britain’s financial regulator, the Financial Services Authority (FSA), has said its Libor probe is looking at seven groups, which are not only British institutions.

Bank of England governor Mervyn King has meanwhile proposed that central bank governors and regulators discuss Libor reform at their upcoming meeting in Basel, Switzerland, on September 9.

Barclays has admitted attempting to manipulate the Libor and Euribor rates between 2005 and 2009.

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Article: FERC probes JPMorgan over electricity charges

Article - Media

FERC probes JPMorgan over electricity charges

Katarzyna Klimasinska

SF Gate, 3 July 2012

JPMorgan Chase & Co. is being investigated over potential power-market manipulation that inflated payments for electricity, according to the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

FERC, which has pledged to combat manipulation of prices, began its probe after reports last year of bidding practices by JPMorgan that were deemed abusive by California and Midwest grid operators, according to documents provided by the agency.

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