LONDON, Nov 1 (Reuters) – Banks will have to hold more
capital after recent hefty fines, trading losses, money
laundering and rate-rigging showed that operational risks are
not being covered properly.

Finance ministers from the Group of 20 (G20) economies meet
in Mexico this weekend to consider what else needs to be done to
ensure that the world’s biggest banks do not come calling for
fresh taxpayer bailouts.

LONDON, Nov 1 (Reuters) – The world’s top accounting
rulesetter unveiled plans on Thursday aimed at buttressing its
authority and independence in the face of calls from European
groups for a greater say in how new standards are shaped.

The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) writes
rules used in over 100 countries, giving it clout that critics
say calls for much greater accountability.

LONDON (Reuters) – Regulators have been told to work faster to iron out cross-border spats over new rules to reduce risks in the $650 trillion derivatives market as progress stalls ahead of a December deadline.

The vast market has traditionally been opaque, with contracts traded between big banks like Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank and HSBC. The reforms will alter the sector’s economics and business models while raising costs for customers.

LONDON, Oct 30 (Reuters) – Britain would turn to the
European Union’s top court if plans for a euro zone banking
union harm the country’s financial sector or the wider single
market, a UK government minister said on Tuesday.

EU leaders meet in December to formally vote on making the
European Central Bank supervisor for the euro zone’s 6,000 banks
from 2013.

LONDON, Oct 29 (Reuters) – Global banking regulators are
investigating why banks use such a wide variety of ways to
assess risk amid fears the current method for calculating
capital safety cushions is not safe and is being gamed.

Totting up risks from assets such as derivatives and
government bonds is central to working out how much capital a
bank must hold to meet new requirements, known as Basel III.

LONDON, Oct 29 (Reuters) – Britain’s banks are on the way to
delivering a more “socially useful” banking system after
becoming a focus of public anger in the financial crisis, the
Bank of England’s director of financial stability said on
Monday.

Andrew Haldane told a meeting organised by Occupy, the
campaign group seeking to reform finance, it had played a key
role in changing attitudes.

LONDON, Oct 26 (Reuters) – Europe’s first direct curbs on
ultrafast trading and investors who take bets on commodity
prices moved a step nearer on Friday when the EU’s parliament
backed new securities rules.

Lawmakers want to tighten regulations on so-called high
frequency trading (HFT), which uses computers to dart in and out
of markets in the blink of an eye and exploit tiny price
differences, because they fear it makes markets more volatile.

LONDON, Oct 26 (Reuters) – Britain may need to cap the size
of banks or fully separate their retail and investment
operations to curb the risks “King Kong” lenders pose to the
financial system, a senior Bank of England official said.

Andrew Haldane, the central bank’s director of financial
stability, said tackling “too-big-to-fail” banking is essential
to end the implicit funding subsidies big lenders receive from
markets betting that no government will allow them to collapse.

LONDON, Oct 25 (Reuters) – Tougher jail sentences would help
Britain crack down faster on market abuse, such as the rigging
of the Libor interest rate, by encouraging suspects to
cooperate, the head of Britain’s financial watchdog said.

Disgraced former Goldman Sachs director Rajat Gupta was sent
to prison in the United States for two years on Wednesday for
what the judge said were “disgusting” insider trading crimes.

LONDON (Reuters) – Most Britons seeking a home loan after next year will be required to get professional advice to establish whether they can afford the repayments, the Financial Services Authority said on Thursday.

Only people who earn 300,000 pounds a year, have assets worth three million pounds or only want minor changes to an existing loan will be exempt from a consultation.