World's big banks set to be sued in London over forex rigging

From The Independent –

“The world’s biggest banks face being pursued through the UK civil courts this autumn for billions of pounds in compensation payments for the actions of its traders in rigging foreign exchange rates.

Five multinational banks – which include Britain’s Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays and HSBC – agreed this week to pay off aggrieved investors in order to settle a class action brought in New York.

They joined four other global banks that settled earlier in the year. The total compensation pledged to investors, which are made up of hedge funds and pension funds, has now reached $2bn, according to Hausfeld, the law firm that brought the case on behalf of the investors.”

Read more>>

Sealed HSBC Report Shows U.S. Managers Battling Cleanup Squad

From Bloomberg Business –

“HSBC Holdings Plc, smarting from a $1.9 billion fine for providing banking to money launderers and sanctions-dodgers, promised U.S. officials it would clean up its act.

Within a year, its reform efforts met resistance from leaders of HSBC’s U.S. investment-banking unit - some of whom mounted a campaign of bullying, footdragging and discrediting against in-house watchdogs, according to previously unreported details from a report by the bank’s court-appointed monitor.

HSBC agreed to submit to the monitor’s oversight in late 2012, as part of a pact with the U.S. Justice Department that required it to bolster its in-house controls. Armed with that directive, HSBC compliance officers singled out a half-dozen clients whose activities could put the London-based bank at risk --including a Saudi bank that had been linked to Sept. 11, 2001, hijackers - and advised the U.S. investment-banking division to consider dropping those relationships.”

Read more>>

HSBC to Cut About 50,000 Jobs in Major Overhaul of Global Business

From The New York Times -

“The British bank HSBC, in a major revamping of its global strategy, said on Tuesday that it would shed as many as 50,000 jobs as it sells several underperforming businesses, reduces the size of its global investment banking business and aims to cut billions of dollars in costs.

The bank said it would eliminate 22,000 to 25,000 full-time jobs, or about 10 percent of its work force, through restructuring by the end of 2017. It also plans to reduce its head count by an additional 25,000 positions through the sale of its underperforming businesses in Turkey and Brazil.

HSBC said that it would increase its investment in Asia, where it generates more than half of its earnings, while it seeks to cut costs by up to $5 billion annually within two years. The bank said it would complete a review of whether to move its headquarters from Britain by the end of the year.”

Read more>>