Financial Regulatory Forum

LONDON, Feb 17 (Reuters) – Top global banks will need an extra $221 billion of capital and see annual profits slump by $110 billion if all proposed regulations to reform the industry are brought in, leading analysts said on Wednesday.

If all the initiatives from regulators are implemented it would cut the average return on equity to 5.4 percent from 13.3 percent next year, hurt economic growth and raise costs for bank services, JPMorgan analysts warned.

“The cumulative impact of all the proposed regulation suggests that there is a real risk that we may move from a system that was under regulated to one that is over regulated and that that could cause a significant increase in lending costs and a negative impact on the economy,” Nick O’Donohue, head of research at JPMorgan, said in a research note.

The capital needs of banks would be $221 billion higher in the extreme event that all the reforms were brought in.

British banks alone would need $91 billion, other European banks would need $86 billion and U.S. banks would need $44 billion, JPMorgan estimated.

By Kirstin Ridley

LONDON, Dec 4 (Reuters) – The price tag for bailing out UK banks has hit 850 billion pounds ($1.4 trillion) but Britain’s spending watchdog says the final cost to taxpayers will not be known for years.

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By Jane Merriman
LONDON, Nov 20 (Reuters) – Investment bankers are already pitching to clients a new form of hybrid bond that financial regulators see as a potential saviour of troubled banks, but it is uncertain if they will work or if investors will buy them.The bonds, which convert to equity if a bank’s capital runs low, have been created for Lloyds as part of a 21 billion pound ($34.63 billion) capital raising to free the UK bank from a government insurance scheme for bad loans.

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LONDON, Nov 17 (Reuters) – Britain’s government has batted away complaints from three top brokerages about “bullying” and unfair competition by bailed-out lenders, telling them to make a virtue of their independence or seek help from the consumer watchdog.

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    By Clara Ferreira-Marques and Steve Slater
LONDON, Nov 3 (Reuters) – Britain’s two largest retail banks secured another 31 billion pounds ($50.5 billion) from the government on Tuesday and agreed to sell branches and key businesses to appease EU competition concerns over state aid.

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  LONDON, Nov 3 (Reuters) – Britain is set to announce on Tuesday a long-awaited deal with its bailed-out banks, including a record rights issue for Lloyds Banking Group and hefty disposals for Royal Bank of Scotland to appease the EU competition regulator and boost competition.

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    By Kirstin Ridley and Steve Slater
LONDON, Oct 27 (Reuters) – Investors are shunning European bank shares after an EU-imposed break-up and retrenchment of Dutch ING Groep sparked fears Belgium’s KBC and UK peers face tougher-than-expected sanctions in return for state aid.

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   LONDON, Oct 6 (Reuters) – The European Commission wants Royal Bank of Scotland <RBS.L> to shed up to 10 percent of its small business customers as the penalty for receiving billions of pounds of state aid, The Times reported on Tuesday. (more…)

LONDON, Aug 19 (Reuters) – Lloyds Banking Group, Britain’s largest retail bank, said on Wednesday it was reviewing a decision to close all branches of its Cheltenham & Gloucester unit, surprising employees and investors.

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LONDON, July 29 (Reuters) – Britain’s consumer watchdog vowed on Wednesday to ensure the government did not harm long-term banking competition in its efforts to shore up financial markets and sell state-owned bank assets.

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