Receiving Wide Coverage ...
Take that
Barclays reported better than expected results for the fourth quarter, sending “a strong message” to activist investor Edward Bramson “that its current strategy is working," according to the Wall Street Journal. "Chief Executive Jes Staley said the earnings potential of the bank is coming through and future excess capital will be used to pay dividends and buy back shares.”
The tax man always wins
A French court ordered UBS to pay
“If the verdict stands, France could set a new standard for higher tax and
“The trial cast a spotlight on how UBS used its operations in France to identify clients interested in moving funds to Switzerland to avoid scrutiny from French tax authorities,” the Journal added. “UBS bankers in Switzerland used methods ‘worthy of James Bond,’ prosecutors argued in court, to travel surreptitiously to France and meet with French clients at parties and other events organized by UBS bankers in France.” The bank denied the charges and said it would appeal.
“If upheld, the fine would be the largest for any tax case in French history and
“UBS
Meanwhile, Danske Bank said the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has
Separately, Swedish bank Swedbank saw its stock drop 13% following a television news report that it “handled billions in suspicious funds, some of which could be traced to the massive money-laundering scandal at Danske Bank.” Sveriges Television “cited classified documents detailing Danske Bank’s dealings with Swedbank as the basis for its report.”
Moving on
HSBC’s co-head of global banking, Robin Phillips, is leaving the bank this summer. Phillips, who has been head or co-head of the division for the last 13 years, “was thrust into the spotlight in August after a letter, purportedly written by employees,
Greg Guyett, who HSBC
Rough day for blockchain
Blockchain “has
To add insult to injury, MIT Technology Review is reporting that blockchains, previously touted as unhackable, are being hacked. “We shouldn’t be surprised. Blockchains are
Wall Street Journal
Bad timing
Deutsche Bank, which has had plenty of other problems to deal with over the past several years,
The bank “resisted for years reducing the value of those bonds and related derivatives on its books to a level that markets suggested they were worth, and it brushed aside concerns raised by the bank’s financial auditors about how it was valuing the trade. Behind the scenes, the badly timed bet exerted a sustained drag on the bank’s finances.”
Payback time
Gladius Network, a startup that helps companies defend against cybersecurity attacks, agreed to pay back investors to settle Securities and Exchange Commission charges that its sale of digital tokens may have
Quotable
“It will be several years before four or five