banks

A fifth of IFAs expect to see a "significant" increase in the number and size of fines inflicted on the financial services sector over the next five years, according to research.

The Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) has accepted building society Nationwide's proposition to raise capital and mitigate business risks, granting it a two year extension.

The government plans to scrap what it has branded the "failed" approved person regime in financial services and replace it with a new senior persons regime.

The European Commission has accused 13 banks, including Barclays, HSBC and the Royal Bank of Scotland, of colluding to hamper competition in the credit derivatives market.

A year after regulators ruled that banks were guilty of widespread mis-selling of £2 bn of interest rate ‘swaps', thousands of the small and medium-sized businesses affected are still waiting to receive compensation.

Britain's top bank regulator has called for "ground rules" on lobbying to prevent it destabilising the financial system.

ON FINANCIALS

Former Chancellor Alistair Darling, who oversaw the bail-out of RBS and Lloyds in 2008, has urged the government to avoid a rapid disposal of taxpayers' stakes in the banking giants.

The long-awaited Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards report has criticised the government's handling of part-nationalised UK banks and recommended criminal sanctions for senior executives who behave "recklessly".

The Banking Commission report on standards in the City is to demand a radical overhaul of the punishment of bankers who have overseen failed institutions and open the door to new rules on multi-million-pound pay deals and competition in the sector.