Britain’s two biggest High Street banks dragged into the FIFA bribery and corruption scandal

From Mail Online -
Two of Britain’s biggest High Street banks have been dragged into the bribery and corruption scandal engulfing football’s world governing body.

Barclays and HSBC have been named in legal papers filed by the US Department of Justice after millions of dollars in suspect transactions linked to Fifa were allegedly moved through their accounts.

On Wednesday the Americans charged 14 officials following a four-year FBI probe into bribes to obtain lucrative marketing rights to football tournaments.

The corruption allegations were set out in a 160-page dossier. The documents also name London-based Standard Chartered Bank, which focuses largely on developing countries.

All three British-based banks are said to have handled suspicious transactions linked either to FIFA or its officials and connected companies.”

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Will HSBC move its Headquarters from the U.K?

From The Wall Street Journal –

“HSBC Holdings PLC said Friday it was reviewing whether to move its headquarters outside the U.K., a high stakes decision which comes as the bank faces tighter regulatory scrutiny and higher taxes in the country.

The review comes as bank faces tighter regulatory scrutiny and higher taxes.”

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More Evidence that HSBC is now Too Big to Regulate

From GARP –

“There's nothing necessarily illegal about setting up a company in Panama into which you channel your bonus payments. There's similarly nothing inherently dubious about living in Hong Kong, having Hong Kong citizenship, and opening a Swiss bank account to store some of your wealth. But when you're the chief executive of a British bank embroiled in a scandal about helping customers dodge taxes by hiding money in its Swiss private-wealth unit, it sure looks bad.

HSBC Chief Executive Officer Stuart Gulliver oversees Europe's biggest bank by market value, a global banking behemoth that's celebrating its 150th birthday this year. There's not much cause for celebration in the bank's results published today, however, or in the various wrongdoings regulators around the world have found it guilty of. And the timing of the latest revelations about Gulliver's personal banking arrangements come at a tricky time; the bank's chairman Douglas Flint has been summoned by members of Parliament to testify to the Treasury Select Committee on Wednesday about his time as finance director.”

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Dad's Army banker visits the branch of the future: So were things REALLY better in his day?

From Mail Online -

A retired bank manager recently checked out the changes (technological and other) inside an HSBC branch.

Brian Fielder worked there almost fifty years ago when there were no computers - today bank-advisers wonder round the branch armed with iPads.

Brian reminisces on what working in a bank branch was like almost 50 years ago.

Worldwide bank branches are closing as technology takes a hold.

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HSBC rolls out Paym for business customers

From Finextra

“HSBC business customers can now take payments using just a mobile phone number, as the UK bank rolls out the Paym service for Business Internet Banking subscribers.

Until now HSBC’s Paym service, which launched in the UK in April this year, has been limited to personal current account holders, but now the bank's 6000,000 online business customers will also be able to sign up to receive payments direct to their accounts.”

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