Chairman chooses the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of the first world war to say: ‘I do not think we have ever had to ask so much of so many. . . .

http://www.theguardian.com/business/blog/2014/aug/04/hsbc-banking-regulation-war-analogies

The Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) have today published two joint consultation papers aimed at improving individual responsibility and accountability in the banking sector. . .

http://www.fca.org.uk/news/pra-and-fca-consult-on-proposals-to-improve-responsibility-and-accountability-in-the-banking-sector

• Credit standards on loans to enterprises were eased by banks in net terms, for the first time since the second quarter of 2007.
• Banks reported a narrowing of their margins on riskier loans to enterprises, for the first time since the start of the survey.
• Loan demand was positive for all loan categories and recovered further.

http://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/pr/date/2014/html/pr140730.en.html

Portugal’s rescue of Banco Espirito Santo SA may have eased some doubts about Europe’s banking industry by showing investors how the European Union’s thinking has evolved on handling failing lenders.  . .

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-08-04/portugal-rescue-avoids-cyprus-style-pain-in-test-of-bank-rules.html

Lloyds Banking Group Plc (LLOY)’s manipulation of key interest rates was branded “reprehensible” by Bank of England Governor Mark Carney as the lender agreed to pay 226 million pounds ($383 million) in fines and redress . . .

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-07-28/carney-calls-lloyds-reprehensible-for-rate-manipulation.html

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has fined Lloyds Bank plc (Lloyds) and Bank of Scotland plc (BoS), both part of Lloyds Banking Group (LBG), £105 million for serious misconduct relating to the Special Liquidity Scheme (SLS), the Repo Rate benchmark and the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) . . .

http://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-releases/lloyds-banking-group-fined-105m-libor-benchmark-failings

Deutsche Bank, HSBC and Bank of Nova Scotia have been accused of attempting to rig the price of silver, in a lawsuit filed in the US . . .

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-28509979#

Bank of England officials are still concerned by the UK economy’s weakness while business leaders have urged that the “time has come” to raise rates . . .

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-28437532#

U.K. prosecutors are preparing to open a criminal investigation into alleged manipulation of foreign-exchange benchmarks, a person with knowledge of the matter said. . .

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-07-20/uk-sfo-said-close-to-opening-fx-rigging-investigation.html

Australia’s markets regulator on Monday said it had censured the Royal Bank of Scotland Group after an investigation found that RBS traders had sought to influence the setting of the country’s benchmark inter-bank interest rate. . .

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/07/21/uk-royal-bank-scot-australia-idUKKBN0FQ0BF20140721