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☆ HSBC cuts staff bonus pool, lifts CEO Quinn's total pay
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Lawrence White | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, Feb 21 (Reuters) - HSBC cut its annual bonus pool by 4% to $3.4 billion in 2022, the bank said on Tuesday, as a global slump in dealmaking led it to trim awards for its bankers. Despite the overall bonus cuts for staff, Chief Executive Noel Quinn saw his pay package jump 14% to 5.6 million pounds ($6.7 million), from 4.9 million pounds the prior year. Once long-term incentive awards are included, Quinn's total pay could reach 10.5 million pounds, the bank said. The bank's bonus pool for staff was slightly smaller than the $3.5 billion paid last year. Rival NatWest raised its bonus pool by nearly a quarter to 368 million pounds in earnings last week, and almost doubled CEO Alison Rose's pay package to 5.2 million pounds.

☆ HSBC CEO: China property market outlook on the mend
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

SINGAPORE, Feb 21 (Reuters) - HSBC (HSBA.L) Group CEO Noel Quinn said the outlook for China's troubled property sector had improved in January, despite the lender booking higher charges in the fourth quarter related to its exposure to the country's commercial real estate sector. "The sentiment in the fourth quarter was more negative than the sentiment that emerged in January," Quinn told Reuters, adding that there were positive developments both on the demand side and the supply side linked to big policy measures. Reporting by Anshuman Daga and Lawrence White4Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

TOUGH TASK AHEADStanChart, which makes most of its profit in Asia, reported statutory pretax profit of $4.3 billion for 2022. That came below the $4.73 billion average of analyst forecasts compiled by the bank but beat the $3.35 billion it made in 2021. On Wednesday, Barclays (BARC.L) reported a 14% fall in full-year pretax profit as earnings were pole-axed by surging costs and a collapse in deal fees, among other factors. StanChart's financial markets trading business reported record income, up 21%, as accelerating inflation and Russia's invasion of Ukraine made for volatile markets, driving frenzied activity by institutional clients throughout 2022. StanChart also took a $308 million hit on its investment in China Bohai Bank (9668.HK), which it attributed to "industry challenges".

Say hi to Snow White," Staley emailed Epstein in July 2010, according to filings on Wednesday with the U.S. District Court in Manhattan. "Beauty and the Beast," Staley allegedly responded, to which Epstein replied: "Well one side is available," according to the filing. According to the lawsuit, Staley exchanged around 1,200 emails with Epstein from his JPMorgan email account between 2008 and 2012. Staley allegedly wrote to Epstein on Nov 1, 2009, describing his relationship with Epstein as "profound". One month later, Staley allegedly wrote to Epstein to say how great it had been to give him "a long, heartfelt hug", after which Epstein allegedly sent Staley two pictures of young women.

The British lender reported a pretax profit for 2022 of 7 billion pounds ($8.5 billion), down from 8.2 billion pounds the year before and just below the 7.2 billion pounds average analyst forecast, as compiled by the bank. Profits before tax in that division also tumbled by 23% to around 5 billion pounds. In its annual report also published on Wednesday, Barclays said it had docked top executives' pay by a combined 1 million pounds to reflect the regulatory misteps. Barclays' results were further marred by 1.2 billion pounds in credit impairment charges as Britain's economy continued to slow. ($1 = 0.8239 pounds)Reporting By Lawrence White and Iain Withers, editing by Sinead CruiseOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ NatWest to buy workplace savings fintech Cushon for $174 mln
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, Feb 13 (Reuters) - NatWest will buy an 85% stake in workplace savings account provider Cushon for 144 million pounds ($174 million), the British bank said on Monday, as it seeks to grow its product offering to businesses. Cushon's primary products are savings accounts and pensions, NatWest said, allowing the bank to offer a new range of financial products to commercial customers and to their staff. NatWest Chief Executive Alison Rose last year said the bank was on the hunt for such deals, especially in the wealth management sector. Cushon products will at first be offered to NatWest's mid-market corporate customers, following a succesful test last year, the lender said. ($1 = 0.8264 pounds)Reporting by Lawrence White; Editing by Jan Harvey and Mark PotterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ First Abu Dhabi Bank could renew $35 billion offer for StanChart -Bloomberg News
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Lawrence White | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Feb 9 (Reuters) - First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB.AD) (FAB), the United Arab Emirates' biggest lender, could renew a potential offer for Britain's Standard Chartered (STAN.L), once lock-up rules from its previous aborted bid expire, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday. A StanChart spokesperson declined to comment on the report, while FAB could not immediately be reached for comment. News of the potential offer first came on Jan. 5, when FAB said it had considered a bid for London-listed Standard Chartered but was no longer doing so. The Abu Dhabi lender is considering reviving the bid once a lock-up period that prevents it immediately doing so expires, offering $30 billion to $35 billon compared with StanChart's market value of $24 billion, Bloomnberg reported. Saudi National Bank in October announced it was investing up to $1.5 billion in Credit Suisse, representing a stake of up to 9.9%.

StanChart declined to comment on the reports of a fresh bid, while FAB did not respond to requests for comment. While StanChart's balance sheet, staff numbers and global footprint dwarf FAB's, it is worth half as much. StanChart's shares rose by 11% on Thursday after Bloomberg News reported that a possible FAB bid would value its target at $30 billion to $35 billion, a significant premium to the Asia-focused banking powerhouse's $24 billion market value. A second shareholder questioned whether FAB's shares would be attractive to British-based holders of StanChart stock. "I can't think shareholders would relish adding a small Gulf bank to Stan's current geographic mix," the investor added.

☆ Here's why it's always a good time to start a business, despite inflation, layoffs, and a possible recession
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Jennifer Ortakales Dawkins | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

That momentum is expected to continue in 2023, despite inflation, layoffs, and recession fears. Experts say that momentum could continue in 2023, despite inflation, layoffs, and fears of a possible recession. "We're in a period of a relatively strong economy," said Lawrence White, an economics professor at New York University. White expects to see a return of the service industries this year, from pent up demand during the pandemic. "It's usually easier to start a services business than to start a goods business," he said.

☆ Barclays replaces co-heads of equities business
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, Feb 6 (Reuters) - Barclays' (BARC.L) co-heads of equities, Todd Sandoz and Paul Leech, have stepped down from their roles and left the bank, a company spokesperson said on Monday, as the British bank continues a reshuffle of its investment bank's management. Stephen Dainton, who has run the business in the past, has taken over as interim global head of equities, the spokesperson said, in addition to keeping his current role as co-head of global markets. The bank now needs a single leader for the business to keep growing market share and returns, the memo said. Barclays is conducting a search for a permanent leader for the equities business, it added. The move is the latest in a series of changes at the top of Barclays' investment bank, after it last month appointed former Credit Suisse dealmaker Cathal Deasy and Taylor Wright as co-heads of investment banking.

☆ Jupiter declines to comment on cancelled Adani share offering
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

LONDON, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Jupiter Fund Management (JUP.L), an anchor investor in Adani Enterprises' (ADEL.NS) cancelled $2.5 billion share offering, told Reuters on Thursday it had no immediate comment on the deal being withdrawn. Jupiter was notable as being the sole UK-listed fund manager to back the share offering for the subsidiary of embattled Indian conglomerate Adani Group, which has lost some $100 billion in market capitalisation in recent days following a short seller's report. Adani Enterprises its $2.5 billion stock offering on Wednesday. Reporting by Lawrence White; editing by Jason NeelyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ HSBC embarks on Saudi Arabia hiring spree amid deals boom
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Feb 2 (Reuters) - HSBC (HSBA.L) is hiring dealmakers as "fast as it can" in Saudi Arabia to capitalise on a wave of financing activity in the country, the global head of its investment bank told Reuters. The lender aims to increase headcount in its global banking and markets business in Saudi Arabia by 10-15% this year, Greg Guyett, the division's chief executive, told Reuters. HSBC declined to comment on how many such bankers it already employs in Saudi Arabia. HSBC's investment banking business made $65 million in profit in Saudi Arabia in 2021, according to company filings, the smallest such contribution among named countries aside from loss-making France. Saudi Arabia also sold $5 billion in bonds last October, its first international debt sale in almost a year.

LONDON/FRANKFURT, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Rising borrowing costs are giving a long-awaited lift to Europe's beleaguered banks, but they come with a sting in the tail. Last year central banks ended a decade of rock-bottom interest rates as the U.S. Federal Reserve and then the European Central Bank moved towards tightening. But while rising rates are good news for bank profits, they herald a slowdown in an economy hit by war and runaway prices that squeeze borrowers and could prick pricing bubbles, most notably in property. "On the one hand, interest rates are going up, which is good and helps banks," said Jerome Legras of Axiom Alternative Investments. Germany's financial regulator BaFin recently warned that a rapid rise in interest rates could weigh on some banks, and that loans may sour.

☆ Barclays names former Credit Suisse dealmaker Deasy as investment banking co-head
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Jan 24 (Reuters) - Barclays (BARC.L) has appointed former Credit Suisse (CSGN.S) dealmaker Cathal Deasy as co-head of investment banking, the lender said on Tuesday, as Chief Executive C.S. Deasy left Credit Suisse a few weeks ago, just months after being promoted to regional co-head of its investment banking & capital markets (IBCM) unit. JF Astier and John Miller, who currently lead investment banking, are in "active dialogue" with Barclays about what roles they might now take, a Barclays spokesperson said. Astier and Miller were promoted in 2021 to lead investment banking as part of a new management team. Barclays' investment bank has had a strong performance in recent quarters, thanks in part to a boom in fixed income trading, which has traditionally been one of its core strengths.

But this could present an opportunity to address shortages of homes, property bosses said. "Office buildings need to be converted to residential," said Howard Lutnick, chairman and CEO of New York-based investment firm Cantor Fitzgerald, during a panel discussion. Offices are emptier than official data suggests as most buildings are still generating income for landlords. However, as these rental contracts expire, cities like New York will have a significant number of obsolete buildings, said Christian Ulbrich, CEO of global property consultancy JLL Inc. (JLL.N). Millions of workers were forced to work from home during lockdowns aimed at stalling the spread of COVID-19 in 2020.

☆ U.S.-China friction stokes concern among some top finance bosses
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Carmine Di Sibio, Global Chairman and CEO of EY, speaks at the 2022 Milken Institute Global Conference, in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., May 2, 2022. Anne Richards, CEO of the $610 billion money manager Fidelity International, put her level of worry about a potential decoupling of the two economies at 6 out of 10 when asked during a panel discussion. EY global chair and CEO Carmine Di Sibio put his own level of concern at 9 out of 10. EY's Di Sibio told the event U.S. administration officials were "extremely aggressive" about the extent of business with China particularly in technology, adding this was the case across much of the West. But the politics are really in the way and I am worried that they're not getting better," Di Sibio said.

☆ Factbox: Global banks cut jobs as cost pressures mount
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The British investment bank has performed well in recent quarters, especially in fixed income trading, but a blunder in the United States that saw it sell more securities than permitted has cost it hundreds of millions of dollars in penalties. CITIGROUPCiti (C.N) eliminated dozens of jobs across its investment banking division, as a dealmaking slump continues to weigh on Wall Street's biggest banks, Bloomberg News reported on Nov. 8. The cost savings reported are likely to involve more job cuts than previously announced for the first wave of reductions, including in its wealth business, Reuters reported. DEUTSCHE BANKDeutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE), Germany's largest bank, cut staff in its investment bank's origination and advisory teams in October, in a move than affected mostly junior bankers. MORGAN STANLEY (MS.N)In December, the investment bank slashed about 2% of its workforce, a source familiar with the company's plans told Reuters.

Bloomberg had earlier reported that FAB had been exploring an offer for Standard Chartered as part of a plan aimed at building an emerging markets bank, driving StanChart shares up as much as 20%. The Abu Dhabi lender said it had been in "the very early stages of evaluating a possible offer" for the emerging markets-focused bank. Furthermore, the mooted combination of FAB and StanChart would have been subjected to more onerous capital requirements that would burden the resulting lender, a banking source said. FAB was created via a merger between National Bank of Abu Dhabi and First Gulf Bank in 2016. The lender sources around half its deposits from the Abu Dhabi government and reported total assets of 1.15 trillion AED ($313.1 billion) as of end-September 2022.

Last year, the industry handed out the biggest awards since 2006 as the economy roared back from the pandemic. It's a head-spinning reversal for dealmakers who racked up record profits for their firms last year and clinched eye-watering payouts for themselves. Compensation for FICC traders will probably rise slightly or stay flat, said Bell at Sheffield Haworth, while stock traders could see a small drop. Worsening economic conditions have already prompted firms including Morgan Stanley (MS.N) and Citigroup Inc (C.N), to trim their workforces. In the United Kingdom, most big firms are discussing and allocating bonuses now, with decisions not usually announced until early next year.

HSBC "underperforms its peers, violates dividend commitments (and) ignores shareholders' interests," Ken Lui, convener of the group , said in a Thursday newspaper advertisement. London-headquartered HSBC, which is opposed to breaking up its business, dismissed the possibility of the proposal gaining traction among large shareholders. Hong Kong is HSBC's biggest market and home to many retail shareholders. DIVIDEND SUSPENSIONHong Kong retail shareholders were particularly upset when HSBC scrapped its formerly stable dividend in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the Bank of England asked lenders to conserve capital. It has resumed paying a dividend but not quarterly, and retail investors are dissatisfied with payouts that, overall, are smaller than before.

LONDON, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Britain's Financial Conduct Authority said it had fined Santander (SAN.MC) 107.7 million pounds ($132 million) for "serious and persistent" gaps in the Spanish bank's anti-money laundering controls for more than 560,000 business customers. The FCA said on Friday that between Dec. 31 2012 and Oct. 18 2017, Santander's UK arm failed to properly oversee and manage its anti-money laundering systems. Santander UK said it accepted the FCA's civil regulatory findings in relation to anti-money laundering controls in its business banking division. The FCA has stepped up action against failings in bank money laundering controls in recent years. The FCA has also fined Standard Chartered and HSBC in the last three years for anti-money laundering breaches.

LONDON, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Barclays (BARC.L) has promoted 85 people to managing director in its investment bank, it said on Thursday, with by far the majority of the coveted titles this year being taken by men. Nor did it give a breakdown of which part of the investment bank those promoted worked in, as it had in previous years. Meanwhile, Barclays Bank PLC, which houses the lender's investment bank, had a mean average pay gap of 43% in favour of men in 2021, the bank's pay gap report states. Barclays' investment bank has been a source of contention in recent years, after previous CEO Jes Staley fended off an activist investor who wanted the unit shrunk. Recent performances have tended to vindicate the investment bank, as in the third quarter this year, when a fixed income trading boom helped it beat market estimates.

☆ Barclays appoints Currie as chief operating officer
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Lawrence White | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, Dec 7 (Reuters) - Barclays (BARC.L) said it has appointed Alistair Currie as its chief operating officer on Wednesday, as CEO C.S. Currie replaces Mark Ashton-Rigby, who will step down and advise the bank on a part-time basis. Currie had headed the lender's consumer banking and payments business, and will be replaced in that role by Vim Maru, who joins from Lloyds Banking Group. The changes come at a time when Barclays' executive committee of senior managers has taken on increased prominence in the running of the bank, while Venkatakrishnan is treated for cancer. New chief operating officer Currie will in addition to that role take on the running of BX, the bank's name for its firm-wide company providing technology and other support services to all parts of the business.

☆ Barclays announces new Chief Operating Officer
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

LONDON, Dec 7 (Reuters) - Barclays (BARC.L) announced a reshuffle of its executive committee on Wednesday, with Chief Operating Officer Mark Ashton-Rigby stepping down from the role. He will be replaced by Alistair Currie, who currently heads the lender's consumer banking and payments business, the British bank said. Currie in turn will be replaced in that role by Vim Maru, who joins from Lloyds Banking Group. Reporting by Lawrence White, Editing by Louise HeavensOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

FTX's implosion has heightened the need for more trustworthy, regulated cryptocurrency players, and big banks see an opportunity to pick up business, Mathew McDermott, Goldman's head of digital assets, told Reuters. Goldman is doing due diligence on a number of different crypto firms, he added, without giving details. HSBC (HSBA.L) CEO Noel Quinn, meanwhile, told a banking conference in London last week he has no plans to expand into crypto trading or investing for retail customers. Goldman Sachs has also together with MSCI and Coin Metrics launched data service datonomy, aimed at classifying digital assets based on how they are used. The firm is also building its own private distributed ledger technology, McDermott said.

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