May 31 (Reuters) – European Union lawmakers approved a draft
law on Thursday making it easier to channel funds into start-up
companies from next year, inserting a safeguard the venture
capital industry fears will make the regime too expensive.

The European Parliament’s economic affairs committee voted
in favour of the law which creates the first pan-EU “passport”
for venture capital (VC) funds, allowing them to market
themselves to potential investors across the 27-country bloc.

BRUSSELS/LONDON (Reuters) – European Union countries could be obliged to bail out one another’s struggling banks, according to a draft EU law that marks a big step towards greater EU financial integration likely to upset some members, particularly Germany.

Spain’s banking troubles and the risk that a bank run in a country such as Greece could spread have given new impetus to delayed EU proposals for a law to deal with failing banks.

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s market watchdog has chalked up its first criminal convictions for cross-border insider dealing after a transatlantic effort to bring a husband and wife team to court.

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) said James and Miranda Sanders, along with colleague James Swallow, had admitted insider dealing by profiting from information about U.S. mergers and acquisitions obtained from a family connection in the United States.

LONDON, May 28 (Reuters) – Britain’s banks must post
information in branches and on websites by September spelling
out clearly who will reimburse customer deposits if the lender
goes bust, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) said on
Monday.

The regulator said the move is part of a long-term
initiative to improve battered public confidence in banks.

LONDON, May 24 (Reuters) – A UK competition probe could
define the future of the “Big Four” accounting firms after the
European Union delayed its reform of the multi-billion euro
sector until after it reports.

KPMG, PwC, Deloitte and Ernst &
Young check the books of nearly all blue-chip
companies in the world and many policymakers want this
“oligopoly” cut down to size so that the EU’s 8,300 listed
companies have more choice of auditor.

LONDON, May 24 (Reuters) – Britain may need to call time on
free bank accounts as poor transparency on fees could be
fuelling the mis-selling of financial products, a top banking
regulator said on Thursday.

Bank of England executive director for banking supervision
Andrew Bailey also hinted Britain’s main interest rate would
remain at a record low 0.5 percent for the foreseeable future,
and that domestic banks were ready if Greece ditched the euro.

LONDON, May 24 (Reuters) – Trading losses of $2 billion at
JPMorgan were due to poor risk management and indicate
no local rule breaches for the moment, Britain’s top banking
supervisor said on Thursday.

“It’s bad risk management,” Andrew Bailey, Bank of England’s
executive director for banking supervision, told reporters.

LONDON, May 24 (Reuters) – Public intervention could
increase competition in UK banking and end the “dangerous myth”
of free accounts, which may be fuelling product mis-selling, a
top Bank of England official said on Thursday.

BoE Executive Director Andrew Bailey also hinted that
Britain’s interest rates would remain at their record low of 0.5
percent for the foreseeable future, and that domestic banks were
ready if Greece ditched the euro.

LONDON, May 21 (Reuters) – A British court has upheld the
Financial Services Authority’s decision to fine and ban two
former advisers at Swiss bank UBS for unauthorised
trading worth billions of pounds.

The penalties signal there will be no let-up in the
watchdog’s tougher approach to abuses. UBS has already paid over
$42 million compensation to customers affected.

LONDON, May 16 (Reuters) – The prospect of a common
transatlantic approach to curbing settlement risk in securities
trading was boosted on Wednesday after a senior European Union
lawmaker signalled backing for a core element of draft EU law.

The bloc’s executive European Commission has proposed that
the time taken to settle trades should be no more than two days
– known in the industry as T+2 — compared with three days in
nearly all EU countries at present.