BANKING & FINANCE LITIGATION UPDATE - JD...

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CONTENTS

Domestic Banking 2

Domestic General 3

European Banking 5

European General 6

International Banking 6

International General 7

Press Releases 8

BANKING & FINANCE LITIGATION UPDATE

ISSUE 82

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2 | Issue 82 - Banking & Finance Litigation Update

DOMESTIC BANKING

BANK OF ENGLAND

1. The Bank of England has announced a major

change to its monetary policy arrangements. The

changes, which will be implemented from 2016,

will mean there will only be eight decisions made

on interest rates each year, rather than 12.

Financial Times, 12 December 2014

2. The Financial Times has reported that the Bank of

England began an investigation into possible

market manipulation by its own staff in the

summer. The bank is trying to ascertain whether

its employees knew about or facilitated the

manipulation of money-market auctions which

occurred during the financial crisis.

thetimes.co.uk, 22 November 2014

BARCLAYS

3. As part of its plan to cut the number of branches it

operates to reduce costs, Barclays is to introduce a

home-based system whereby customers will be

able to talk to staff about issues via a "Skype-

like" system instead of having a face-to-face

interview.

Sunday Telegraph, 30 November 2014

CO-OPERATIVE BANK

4. The Co-operative Bank has had its financial

strength deemed as inadequate after failing Bank

of England stress tests. The tests have forced the

Co-op to accelerate its plans to improve its

finances. Details of its new capital plan have been

approved by the Bank of England.

Telegraph, 16 December 2014

LLOYDS BANKING GROUP

5. The government has made a surprise

announcement that it plans to sell up to 5.4 per

cent of its remaining stake in Lloyds Banking

Group over the next six months. The sale, which

could be worth £3 billion, would leave the

government with less than 20 per cent of the bank

in its possession before the next general election.


6. The dormant Bank of Wales name has been

purchased by Lloyds Banking Group along with

the Banc Cymru name. Lloyds is hoping to use

the names to market savings products to new

customers and has already created a website for

the brand.


7. Scottish Widows, the insurance arm of Lloyds

Banking Group, is to sell its offshore investment

and tax planning business which is based in the

Isle of Man. Those with knowledge of the process

have indicated that there are a number of parties

interested in the sale of the entity which is

responsible for around £5 billion of funds.


8. Lloyds Banking Group is to "simplify" its range of

savings accounts offered by its three entities

Lloyds, Halifax and Bank of Scotland. The group

is to replace 47 old accounts, which are no longer

open to the public, with just three savings accounts

paying 0.25 per cent interest. The change will

mean that a third of Lloyds existing customers

with the accounts will see their income drop as a

result of rate cuts.

Telegraph.co.uk, 26 November 2014

THE ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND

9. Current account customers with The Royal Bank

of Scotland ("RBS") have been getting unexpected

letters from the lender informing them that their

debit cards need to be replaced as they have been

"compromised". This is happening even where

customers have not lost cash nor observed any

suspicious activity on their accounts. The lender

said the move was part of a trial launched in the

summer with the intention of eradicating card

fraud before it happens. It did not reveal the

number of customers who were being contacted.

Telegraph.co.uk, 18 December 2014

10. Bloomberg has reported that RBS intends to

withdraw from fixed-income trading in Japan and

reduce employees from approximately 200 to

lower than 50. It is anticipated that RBS

Securities Japan will relinquish its primary

dealership and executives of RBS are said to be

scheduled to meet shortly with officials from the

Financial Services Agency to detail the proposal

for closure.

Independent.co.uk, 10 December 2014

11. Intesa Sanpaolo, the Italian lender, has announced

that it will only bid for the wealth management

operation of RBS if the unit is sold in its entirety.

www.dlapiper.com | 03

The UK lender is looking to sell the international

division of Coutts only.

Telegraph, 29 November 2014

12. The Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) has

uncovered a mistake in RBS's core capital ratio

which it says has been "overstated" by £4 billion.

RBS has admitted the error, which came to light

during analysis by the PRA of the European

Banking Authority's stress test results, and may

face a financial penalty as a result.

Times, 22 November 2014

STANDARD CHARTERED

13. A new group has been set up by Standard

Chartered to fight financial crime as it tries to

convince regulators in America that it is taking

radical action so that scandals in relation to

sanctions-busting and money-laundering do not

happen again. The financial crime risk committee

will be made up of senior directors and

knowledgeable external advisers to eradicate

misconduct and to assure the US authorities that

the terms of a deferred prosecution agreement will

be met, the lender said.

thetimes.co.uk, 11 December 2014

14. Following a settlement in 2012 between Standard

Chartered and the US Department of Justice with

regard to money laundering violations, the

regulator has extended its deferred prosecution

agreement with the bank until the end of 2017,

saying it had not yet "reached the standard

required" in an acceptable compliance

programme.


15. Credit ratings agency Standard & Poor's has

downgraded its rating on Standard Chartered for

the first time in two decades, considering it to be

less creditworthy as a result of a series of profit

warnings and increased charges on loans. The

lender's long-term debt has been cut from AA- to

A+ and its short term debt from A-1+ to A-1.


DOMESTIC GENERAL

16. The Serious Fraud Office has confirmed that a

man in Billericay, Essex, has been arrested. His

arrest is thought to be the first in connection with

an investigation into attempts to rig the foreign

exchange market. £2.7 billion worth of fines were

handed to six banks in November, in connection

with rigging allegations.


17. As it continues its work on the 2015 edition of its

stress tests, the Bank of England has made it clear

that banks are likely to be tested on their ability to

withstand a shock emanating from what are

known as "emerging markets". The banks which

could be most tested by such a focus would be

HSBC and Standard Chartered, with their

presence in Asia, and Barclays, which has a

growing business in Africa.

Independent, 17 December 2014

18. Bank of England "stress" tests on eight high street

banks have found three of them - the Co-

Operative Bank, Lloyds Banking Group and RBS

- lacking in financial strength. The five others -

Barclays, HSBC, Standard Chartered, Santander

UK and the Nationwide building society - did not

have any capital inadequacies. Of the three banks

shown to have some issues, only the Co-op Bank

was ordered to prepare a revised plan being the

only bank to fall below a minimum core tier one

capitalisation that had been set by the Bank of

England.

Guardian.com, 16 December 2014

19. Following months of negotiations with the

Treasury, nine high street banking groups -

Barclays, HSBC, Co-operative Bank, Lloyds,

Nationwide, RBS, Santander, TSB and NAB

(owner of Clydesdale Bank and Yorkshire Bank) -

have agreed to offer basic bank accounts with no

charges for failed payments. The banks also

agreed to provide all account holders with debit

cards and full access to the UK's main cash

machine network, services previously charged for

or unavailable to many basic account customers.

The deal was welcomed by consumer groups.


Times, 16 December 2014

20. The Financial Conduct Authority ("FCA") has

proposed a ban on banks and other financial

services firms from directing customers who wish

to complain or get some advice to premium-rate

phone numbers. Under the proposals the banks

would not be able to charge anything over the

basic rate. Currently many banks offer new

customers a Freephone number, but switch

existing customers to premium-rate numbers.


21. Under new powers which came into force on 12

December 2014, fines or even criminal penalties

could be handed to any banks or building societies

which allow current accounts to be opened by

known illegal immigrants. The bank account

move is part of a strategy by the Home Office

which aims to make life in the UK more difficult

for those foreigners who do not have visas.


22. New guidelines which are being developed by the

financial industry and the FCA, could see bankers

having social media behaviour included in their

employment contracts. The finance industry has

been slow to adopt popular social media

platforms, but this is changing with the industry's

launch of The Social Media Charter, a set of

standards aimed at helping to avoid any future

embarrassing incidents.


23. The commissioner of the City of London Police,

Adrian Leppard, who has national responsibility

for tackling fraud, has said that, for the first time,

banks must be made to report the full extent of

financial crime to the authorities. Mr Leppard said

that the failure by the financial industry to give

proper notification about incidents, meant that the

criminals involved were being allowed to get off

"scot free". Once compensation has been paid to

customers banks prefer to keep any fraud details

confidential, leaving millions of incidents

unreported.


24. Rating agency Standard & Poor's has claimed that

the ring-fencing regime due to be imposed on the

UK's five biggest high-street banks by the Bank of

England, could end up relegating their investment

banking divisions to "junk" status. In order to

protect customers from risky activity the banks

must, from 2019, place their retail and trading

operations in separate subsidiaries.


25. With banks becoming increasingly concerned over

the rising level of penalties being levied against

them and the impact this could have on their

capital, the FCA is to conduct a review of its

penalty regime. Investigations into possible

rigging of the foreign market and the Libor

interest rate benchmark, have seen FCA fines

reach record levels, with £1.39 billion in fines

handed out since April 2014, more than three

times the previous high amount for a whole year

period.


26. The past year has seen a jump in bank overdraft

charges, with the average customer rate having

increased by 11 per cent, according to Bank of

England figures. This is despite a period of record

low funding costs for banks, which has meant falls

in savings and other borrowing rates.

Sunday Telegraph, 7 December 2014

27. British banks have been surprised by chancellor

George Osborne's move in his Autumn Statement

to launch a crackdown on their ability to off-set

future tax bills by using post-2008 financial crisis

losses. Osborne called it "totally unacceptable"

that, due to the level of so-called deferred tax

assets held on their balance sheets, "some banks

would not pay any tax for 15 to 20 years." The

move will, over the next five years, raise around

£3.5 billion in extra tax. Foreign banks whose UK

arms hold large amounts of deferred tax assets

could be affected by the crackdown.


28. Challenger bank Shawbrook, established in 2011,

has hired investment banks Goldman Sachs and

Bank of America Merrill Lynch, as it prepares for

a 2015 float on the London Stock Exchange.

Going public would enable the bank to have an

acquisitions currency, raise fresh capital and use

share awards as an incentive for staff.


29. The Treasury and the Bank of England have

issued a joint statement in which chancellor

George Osborne announced his intention to extend

the Funding for Lending Scheme (FLS), which

was set to end in January 2015. The cheap credit

will only be available to banks if it is used to

support small businesses. So far the FLS, which

has seen £48 billion drawn down by lenders, has

not led to an increase in the level of net lending to

small business.



30. The chairman of Metro Bank, Vince Hill, has

criticised the technology systems used by

incumbent banks, describing them as

"horrendous". Hill, who co-founded the

challenger bank, said that the banking industry

compared unfavourably to the high standards

reached by other industries when it came to

technology.

Financial Times 28 November 2014

31. A report by the think-tank New City Agenda has

found that retail banks have made provision for

£38.5 billion worth of fines and compensation

since the turn of the century, and since the

financial crisis of 2008 they have received over 20

million complaints. The report also said that it

would take a generation before the public regained

the trust in banks lost as a result of the financial

crisis and various mis-selling scandals.


32. Investors and companies have suggested that the

FCA's plan to change equity research would result

in a reduction of liquidity and analyst coverage

which in turn would limit the effectiveness of

small companies trying to raise money through

IPOs on the stock market.

Financial Times, 25 November 2014

33. The Treasury is to drop its challenge to EU rules

on a bonus cap following a ruling from the

advocate-general of the European Court of Justice

that Britain's challenge had "no legitimate

grounds".


34. Lawyers and banking industry figures have

warned that plans from Bank of England governor

Mark Carney to force bankers who misbehave to

pay back their salaries, and not just bonus

payments, could clash with the EU's bonus cap

and could face serious legal challenges. Mr

Carney has expressed an interest in "performance

bonds" being used to pay bankers.


35. In a new report, MPs from the Parliamentary

Committee on Banking Standards have said that

more bank employees, including more staff in the

mid-tier, should be subjected to a tougher pay

regime by regulators. The report argues that the

current rules need to be broadened as they apply to

too few.


36. As regulators look to improve their understanding

of the "culture" at investment banks, as well as

how bankers in the City carry out their business on

a day-to-day basis, the FCA has begun holding

unscheduled site visits with bankers and traders in

an effort to ensure employees are not coached to

give certain answers ahead of interviews.


EUROPEAN BANKING

COMMERZBANK

37. Commerzbank will begin charging negative

interest on big deposits. For the moment

the charges will not be levied on private

customers, only on "single large corporate clients

with high balances" in addition to "large

corporations and institutional investors". The rate

at which penalty interest is charged will be

discussed with individual clients. The charges

could apply from as early as December.


CREDIT SUISSE

38. The owner of the Daily Express and OK!

magazine has settled with two City giants in a £42

million court case regarding a derivative swap he

claimed was "incomprehensible". In a joint

settlement with Credit Suisse and hedge fund

group GLG, Richard Desmond is understood to

have won a considerable amount, believed to

be over £10 million. A trial had been scheduled

for January 2015.


DEUTSCHE BANK

39. Deutsche Bank has completed its withdrawal from

the buying and selling of physical commodities

following investigations by authorities that it had

participated in alleged abuse. The bank has ended

its involvement in trading in precious metals and

follows other banks, such as Barclays, JP Morgan

and Morgan Stanley on reducing or withdrawing

from the commodities trading sector.


EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK

40. In a move that will bring it more into line with

other central banks, the European Central Bank

("ECB") has confirmed that, from January 2015, it


intends to publish accounts of its monetary policy

deliberations.


41. Whilst uncertainty remains over the impact that

plummeting oil prices will have, the ECB has

outlined a wait-and-see approach to pumping

money into the eurozone's struggling economy.

Officials have "stepped up" preparations for a

stimulus, according to ECB president Mario

Draghi, but the bank is waiting to see if the

economy is improved by spending over the

Christmas period. A bond-buying programme

could be started at the ECB meetings in January or

March if deflationary pressures in the Eurozone

economies are reinforced by the drop in the oil

price.


SANTANDER

42. Santander UK has issued a convertible debt worth

£300 million to its Spanish parent Company

Banco Santander to strengthen its capital position

ahead of further stress tests from the Bank of

England next year. It is expected that the stress

tests in 2015 will look at banks' accounts as they

stand at the end of December 2014 to assess their

financial strength.

Sunday Telegraph, 21 December 2014

43. Santander UK has announced that Baroness

Vadera will join its board on 1 January 2015 as

joint deputy chairwoman and replace the current

chairman, Lord Burns, on 30 March 2015. The

former investment banker will be the first woman

chair of a British bank.


44. After recently taking over as executive chairman,

Ana Botín has put her stamp on Santander. Chief

financial officer José Antonio Álvarez will replace

Javier Marín, who is leaving the Spanish lender, as

chief executive effective from 1 January 2015.

The position of lead independent director will be

filled by Bruce Carnegie-Brown, a non-executive

director of the lender's British arm, Santander UK,

when Ms Botín was at the helm.


SOCIETE GENERALE

45. Societe Generale has advised its clients to

liquidate British assets and dump sterling before

the UK general election in May 2015. Alain

Bokobza, head of the bank's global asset team has

warned that much of Britain's growth is driven by

excess leverage and a housing bubble and that

"this is due to lax monetary policy that needs

tightening".


EUROPEAN GENERAL

46. A lawsuit has been filed at the European Court of

Justice by a group of investors who lost hundreds

of millions of euros when Banco Espírito Santo

collapsed. The suit challenges the decision by the

European Commission to approve a bailout by the

Portuguese state. Brazilian investment bank BTG

Pactual, hedge fund Third Point, and the other

investors have previously filed a legal challenge

over the lender's restructuring. The main entity

left after the restructuring, Novo Banco, is due to

be sold off by Portugal, but the new lawsuit could

cast doubt on the sale.


47. A failure to reach an agreement on the basic

elements of a proposed financial transactions tax

by the end of 2014, ahead of its proposed start in

2016, means it is likely that the EU's 'Tobin' tax

will be postponed, possibly indefinitely.


48. A referendum in Switzerland has seen voters

overwhelmingly reject proposals that would have

forced the Swiss National Bank to hold 20 per cent

of its assets in gold. The rejection, by 77 per cent

of voters, has given the National Bank space to

protect the Swiss franc against an ECB blitz of

quantitative easing.


INTERNATIONAL BANKING

BANK OF AMERICA

49. A move by George Osborne in his Autumn

statement to reduce the amount of corporation tax

banks can avoid, intended to recoup money from

the bailed-out banks Lloyds and RBS, will also

affect Bank of America. Unusually for a foreign

bank, Bank of America has $7 billion of deferred

tax losses in the UK resulting from its purchase of

Merrill Lynch in 2009.



CITIGROUP

50. Citigroup has set aside £1.7bn in anticipation of

regulatory fines related to manipulation of the

foreign exchange market, Libor and money

laundering. Michael Corbat, the bank's chief

executive, announced the provision at a financial

conference in New York.


CLOSE BROTHERS

51. Close Brothers has said that another rise in

business lending has counterbalanced the tough

conditions in its market-making operation keeping

it on track for the year. The merchant banking

group attributed an increase of 2.3 per cent in its

loan book to £5.4 billion in the three months to the

end of October to robust demand for property and

asset finance. Reduced funding costs are also

making its margins better while the level of bad

debts dropped.


GOLDMAN SACHS

52. John Waldron, who worked on the Fox and News

Corp demerger, has been appointed as co-head of

investment banking by Goldman Sachs. He

replaces John Weinberg, who is moving to a new

post at the bank.


NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK

53. National Australia Bank, which has signalled it

intends to withdraw from the UK market, is

reported to have appointed Morgan Stanley to

lead a flotation of subsidiaries Yorkshire Bank

and Clydesdale Bank which could value the

banks at over £2bn in total. A flotation could be

delayed by the 2015 UK general election and low

appetite for listings.

Sunday Times, 23 November 2014

NOMURA

54. Jeremy Bennett has stepped down as Nomura's

European CEO. Yasuo Kashiwagi will take over

as acting European CEO.


INTERNATIONAL GENERAL

55. In a move which is largely symbolic, restrictions

on market access for foreign banks have been

loosened by China, as it looks to make good on

earlier promises to allow more competition in its

domestic financial sector. The waiting period for

foreign banks to make an application to conduct

renminbi business once they establish operations

in China, has been reduced from three years to

one, with a two consecutive years of profitability

requirement dropped. Foreign currency business is

restricted for those foreign banks not in possession

of a renminbi licence.


56. The US Financial Industry Regulatory Authority

has handed out fines totalling more than $40

million to ten banks over breaches of conflict of

interest rules, after the banks - either implicitly or

explicitly - promised Toys "R" Us better research

coverage by their market analysts in exchange for

a place on the retailer's stock market listing in

2010. The float did not go ahead.


57. Benjamin Lawsky, head of the New York

Department of Financial Services is to write to

banks with a New York state charter or licence,

including Barclays, Deutsche Bank and Standard

Chartered, asking them to look on cyber security

as a key part of their overall risk management

strategy. The banking regulator is to issue new

guidance that will include increased scrutiny of

banks' cyber security procedures.


58. Following the most comprehensive review of the

country's financial systems since 1997, the

Australian government has told the country's

banks that, in order to make sure they are

"unquestionably strong" and robust enough to

survive any future financial crisis, they need to

hold extra capital running to billions of dollars.

The review also recommended that, to make

competition easier for new entrants and smaller

banks, extra capital on mortgage lending should be

set aside by Australia's four "pillar banks".


59. As banks look to crack-down on staff behaviour

which could be illegal, they are moving away from

traditional monitoring systems and instead looking


to state of the art surveillance software, new data

sources and behavioural science. This follows the

use by regulators of the analysis of electronic

messages to help them catch bankers accused of

rate-rigging.


60. As a result of the recent drop in oil prices, a

number of banks, including Barclays and Wells

Fargo, could experience huge losses from an $850

million loan made by the banks to two oil and gas

companies.

Financial Times 27 November 2014

61. Diamond Bank, one of the biggest banks in

Nigeria, has sold an 18 per cent share to the

private equity house Carlyle Group for £150

million.


62. With penalties for misconduct soaring, the year to

the end of September 2014 saw the US

Department of Justice collect a record $24.7

billion in fines on behalf of itself and other US

regulators, compared to $8 billion in 2013 and $13

billion in 2012.


63. Following a review by the Australian Securities

and Investment Commission, seven staff involved

in a regulatory investigation looking at benchmark

interbank interest rate fixing have been suspended

by Australia and New Zealand Banking Group.


64. In one of the most significant moves by China in a

decade in terms of the opening of the country's

capital account, the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock

Connect has been launched. The trade channel

will enable wealthy Chinese investors to trade

hundreds of stocks in Hong Kong, giving greater

freedom with regard to overseas investments.


65. Bank of England governor Mark Carney has

warned private equity firms, hedge funds and

other areas of the unregulated "shadow banking"

sector that the next year will see them being

closely scrutinised by financial regulators, due to

concerns over the risks they may pose to financial

stability.


PRESS RELEASES

66. FCA to regulate seven additional financial

benchmarks

The FCA will regulate seven additional major UK

-based financial benchmarks in the fixed income,

commodity and currency markets from 1 April

2015. This extends the FCA’s initial regulation of

LIBOR (the London Interbank Offered Rate), as

introduced by HM Treasury in 2013, and

implements the recommendations of the Fair and

Effective Markets Review.

Financial Conduct Authority, 22 December 2014 http://www.fca.org.uk/news/fca-to-regulate-seven-

additional-financial-benchmarks

67. Chancellor confirms manipulation of key

FOREX benchmark to be made a criminal

offence

The Chancellor George Osborne has confirmed

that the government will extend the legislation

originally put in place to regulate LIBOR to cover

seven further financial benchmarks, including the

main foreign exchange benchmark, with those

found guilty of manipulating these benchmarks

facing up to seven years in prison.

HM Treasury, 22 December 2014 https://www.gov.uk/government/news/chancellor-

confirms-manipulation-of-key-forex-benchmark-to-be-

made-a-criminal-offense

68. Government makes recommendations to

strengthen financial regulators’ enforcement

decisions

The government has published a number of

recommendations to ensure that the way the

financial regulators, the FCA and the PRA make

enforcement decisions continues to be fair,

transparent and efficient, following a review.

HM Treasury, 18 December 2014

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-makes

-recommendations-to-strengthen-financial-regulators-

enforcement-decisions

69. Government to sell part of its remaining

shareholding in Lloyds through a trading plan.

The Chancellor has set out the next stage in the

government’s plan to return Lloyds Banking

Group to private ownership and get taxpayers’

money back, by announcing that the government

http://www.fca.org.uk/news/fca-to-regulate-seven-additional-financial-benchmarks

http://www.fca.org.uk/news/fca-to-regulate-seven-additional-financial-benchmarks

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/chancellor-confirms-manipulation-of-key-forex-benchmark-to-be-made-a-criminal-offense



https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-makes-recommendations-to-strengthen-financial-regulators-enforcement-decisions




will sell part of its remaining shareholding in the

firm through a trading plan.

HM Treasury, 17 December 2014 https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-to-sell

-part-of-its-remaining-shareholding-in-lloyds-through-a-

trading-plan

70. Bank of England announces results of UK

stress test

The Bank of England has announced the results of

the first concurrent stress testing exercise of the

UK banking system. Alongside the stress test

publication, the Bank of England also published

its Financial Stability Report, which sets out the

Financial Policy Committee’s assessment of the

outlook for the stability and resilience of the

financial sector, and the Systemic Risk Survey,

which quantifies and tracks market participants’

perceptions of systemic risks.

Bank of England

http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/publications/Pages/

news/2014/169.aspx

71. Bank of England announces results of UK

stress test

Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne,

has welcomed Mark Carney’s proposals to

strengthen transparency and accountability of the

Bank of England, and the recommendations of the

Warsh review to improve decision making and

transparency of the Monetary Policy Committee.

HM Treasury, 11 December 2014

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/bank-of-england-

proposals-to-bolster-transparency-and-accountability-

welcomed-by-chancellor

72. Bank of England announces measures to

bolster transparency and accountability

The Bank of England has published an

independent report by former Federal Reserve

Board Governor Kevin Warsh, following his

review of the Monetary Policy Committee’s

transparency practices and procedures.

Bank of England, 11 December 2014


news/2014/168.aspx

73. Bank of England maintains Bank Rate at 0.5%

and the size of the Asset Purchase Programme

at £375 billion

The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy

Committee has voted to maintain Bank Rate at 0.5

per cent. The Committee also voted to maintain

the stock of purchased assets financed by the

issuance of central bank reserves at £375 billion.

Bank of England, 4 December 2014


news/2014/012.aspx

74. Funding for Lending Scheme: Bank of England

and HM Treasury announce extension

The Bank of England and HM Treasury have

announced a one-year extension to the Funding

for Lending Scheme (FLS). This extension will

provide lenders with continued certainty over the

availability of cheap funding to support lending to

small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)

during 2015, even in the event of stress in bank

funding markets.

HM Treasury & Bank of England, 2 December 2014

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/funding-for-

lending-scheme-bank-of-england-and-hm-treasury-

announce-extension

75. FCA publishes terms of reference for credit

card market study

The FCA has published the terms of reference for

a credit card market study. The FCA announced

the market study in April 2014 after its own

research showed that the credit card market was

not working well for some consumers.

Financial Conduct Authority, 25 November 2014

http://www.fca.org.uk/news/fca-publishes-terms-of-

reference-for-credit-card-market-study

76. PRA fines RBS, Natwest Bank and Ulster Bank

£14 million for IT failures

The PRA has fined RBS Plc, National

Westminster Bank Plc and Ulster Bank Ltd £14

million for inadequate systems and controls which

led to a serious IT incident in 2012. This is the

first financial penalty the PRA has imposed since

it came into being in April 2013. The FCA has

separately fined the banks for the same incident

Prudential Regulation Authority & Financial Conduct

Authority, 20 November 2014


news/2014/152.aspx

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-to-sell-part-of-its-remaining-shareholding-in-lloyds-through-a-trading-plan



http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/publications/Pages/news/2014/169.aspx


https://www.gov.uk/government/news/bank-of-england-proposals-to-bolster-transparency-and-accountability-welcomed-by-chancellor







https://www.gov.uk/government/news/funding-for-lending-scheme-bank-of-england-and-hm-treasury-announce-extension



http://www.fca.org.uk/news/fca-publishes-terms-of-reference-for-credit-card-market-study

http://www.fca.org.uk/news/fca-publishes-terms-of-reference-for-credit-card-market-study



www.dlapiper.com

DLA Piper UK LLP is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. DLA Piper SCOTLAND LLP is regulated by the Law Society

of Scotland. Both are part of DLA Piper, a global law firm operating through various separate and distinct legal entities. For further information

please refer to www.dlapiper.com

UK switchboard: +44 (0) 8700 111 111

Copyright ©2015 DLA Piper. All rights reserved. | JAN 15 | Ref: 20168699

This publication is intended as a general overview and discussion of the subjects dealt with. It is not intended to be, and should not be used as, a substitute for taking

legal advice in any specific situation. DLA Piper UK LLP and DLA Piper SCOTLAND LLP will accept no responsibility for any actions taken or not taken on the basis of

this publication. If you would like further advice, please speak to your DLA Piper contact on 08700 111 111.

77. Historic rupee bond issued in London

The government has welcomed the International

Finance Corporation’s announcement that it has

issued an Indian rupee 10 billion bond in London.

It is the largest ever rupee bond to be issued on the

London Stock Exchange, and is the longest issue

ever for an offshore rupee bond with a maturity of

10 years.

HM Treasury, 18 November 2014

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/historic-rupee-

bond-issued-in-london

78. Regulating individual conduct in banking: UK

branches of foreign banks

A Treasury consultation seeks views on the draft

Financial Services and Markets Act 2000

(Relevant Authorised Persons) Order 2015, which

would apply the Senior Managers and

Certification Regime to UK branches of foreign

credit institutions and to foreign investment firms

that carry on the regulated activity of dealing in

investments as principal in the UK and are

regulated by the PRA. Comments by January 30,

2015.

HM Treasury, 17 November 2014

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/regulating-

individual-conduct-in-banking-uk-branches-of-foreign-

banks

79. The FCA and industry agree to improve the

way consumer complaints are dealt with

Financial firms have collaborated with the FCA

on a thematic review and, as a result, have agreed

to make improvements to the way they deal with

consumer complaints. The FCA will be consulting

on possible changes to its dispute resolution rules

later.

Financial Conduct Authority, 17 November 2014

http://www.fca.org.uk/news/fca-and-industry-agree-to-

improve-the-way-consumer-complaints-are-dealt-with

80. European banks call on policy makers to show

commitment to enabling growth and

calibration of regulations

The European Banking Federation (EBF) has

stated that the current fixation on tighter and

continuous regulation on banks needs to be set

against requirements to boost the economy. EBF

president Christian Clausen stated that the Board

remains firmly opposed to the proposed

mandatory separation of trading activities as it

would damage both the functioning of the

financial sector and the economy.

European Banking Federation, 14 November 2014

http://www.ebf-fbe.eu/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/EBF-

Board-press-release-November-2014-FINAL.pdf

This bulletin is intended as a general overview and

discussion of the subjects dealt with. It is not

intended, and should not be used, as a substitute for

taking legal advice in any specific situation. DLA

Piper UK LLP will accept no responsibility for any

actions taken or not taken on the basis of this

publication. If you would like further advice, please

contact:

LEEDS: HUGH EVANS

T 0113 369 2200

E [email protected]

LONDON: JEAN-PIERRE DOUGLAS-HENRY

T 020 7153 7373

E [email protected]

MANCHESTER: STEWART PLANT

T 0161 235 4544

E [email protected]

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/historic-rupee-bond-issued-in-london

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/historic-rupee-bond-issued-in-london

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/regulating-individual-conduct-in-banking-uk-branches-of-foreign-banks



http://www.fca.org.uk/news/fca-and-industry-agree-to-improve-the-way-consumer-complaints-are-dealt-with

http://www.fca.org.uk/news/fca-and-industry-agree-to-improve-the-way-consumer-complaints-are-dealt-with

http://www.ebf-fbe.eu/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/EBF-Board-press-release-November-2014-FINAL.pdf

http://www.ebf-fbe.eu/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/EBF-Board-press-release-November-2014-FINAL.pdf




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