“HSBC hit with £57 million fine for not protecting deposits…”

HSBC neglected to adequately protect customer deposits from around 2015 to 2022, leading to the PRA issuing its second largest fine ever.

HSBC, Europe’s biggest bank, was served with a massive £57 million (€66.73 million) fine on Tuesday by the Bank of England’s Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), due to the bank failing to do enough to protect customer deposits.

The PRA said that two units of London-based HSBC Holdings Plc violated rules. 

HSBC Bank plc (HBEU) and HSBC UK Bank plc (HBUK) both failed to accurately identify which deposits fell under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). This scheme entitles customers to have up to £85,000 (€99,505) of their deposits protected.

The failings occurred for HBEU between 2015 and 2022, and for HBUK between 2018 and 2021.

The authority found that HBEU wrongly classified about 99% of eligible customers as ineligible for the purposes of the scheme. Not only this, but once the problem was identified, the bank also failed to swiftly inform the appropriate regulators about the matter.

This was the second-largest fine ever imposed by the authority, pointing to the severity of the matter. The largest one, about £87 million, was to Credit Suisse in July 2023.

Initially, the fine was supposed to be even larger, at about £96.5 million. However, due to the firm cooperating with the investigation and showing willingness to fix the issue, the fine was reduced to its current level.

Deutsche Bank to cut 3,500 jobs and reward shareholders

Deutsche Bank said on Thursday it would cut 3,500 jobs, buy back shares and pay dividends, in its latest pitch to investors that its turnaround remains on track.

The news came as Germany’s biggest bank, seeking to put years of turmoil behind it and focus on steadier retail banking, reported a 30% drop in fourth-quarter profit that still beat analyst expectations.

The bank had already announced plans to cut jobs, but this was the first time it had put a number on the layoffs, equivalent to just under 4% of its global workforce of about 90,000. The jobs affected will be back-office roles.

The share buyback and dividends will total 1.6 billion euros ($1.7 billion) and will take place during the first half of the year. The bank also raised its forecast for revenue growth, and its shares rose 4% in early Frankfurt trade.

The announcements and earnings come at a significant turning point for Deutsche Bank.

Deutsche Bank’s retail unit overtook the investment bank as the main revenue driver in 2023, overturning the latter’s pole position over the previous three years as the retail division benefited from higher interest rates and global deals fizzled..

Analysts expect the retail operations to keep up its streak ahead of the investment bank this year and next even as central banks gear up to cut the interest rates that have supercharged banks’ bottom lines.

The drop in quarterly profit came as restructuring costs and other one-off expenses outweighed revenue gains, but the fall was not as steep as analysts feared.

Net profit attributable to shareholders was 1.26 billion euros in the quarter. That compares with profit of 1.803 billion euros a year earlier and is better than analyst expectations for profit of around 700 million euros.

Malta Company Announcements:

MEDSERVREGIS P.L.C.

In anticipation of the publication by the Company of its financial statements on or before the 30 April 2024, the Company wish to provide a trading update based on unaudited figures for the financial year ended 31 December 2023.

During 2023:

• the energy sector began to experience the benefits of the resurgence in energy oil prices, driving increased exploration and production activities by the International Energy Companies;

• digitalization and sustainability efforts gained prominence, with a focus on ESG initiatives and carbon reduction;

• supply chain challenges persisted; and

 • the geopolitical and macro-economic tensions contributed to creating a challenging environment, both in terms of interest and exchange rates.

In this context, the Group’s unaudited revenues for 2023 are anticipated to be in the region of EUR73m, an increase of 9% compared to the EUR66.9m achieved in 2022 and an increase of 13.2% against the revenue forecast disclosed in the 2022 Updated Financial Analysis Summary. Unaudited cash and bank deposits at the end of 2023 were in the region of EUR16m, leaving the group well-funded as we enter 2024.

MALITA INVESTMENTS P.L.C.

The Board of Directors of the Company hereby announces that, in pursuance of the aforesaid, it has submitted an Application for Authorisation for Admissibility to Listing to the Malta Financial Services Authority requesting approval of a prospectus (the “Prospectus”) in relation to the issue of rights to Eligible Shareholders to subscribe to up to 65,825,806 new ordinary shares of a nominal value of €0.50 per share in the Company (the “Rights Issue”).

Subject to regulatory approval, further information on the Rights Issue shall be provided in the Prospectus (once published on the Company’s website), and in further company announcements.

‘Disclaimer: The information provided on this website is being provided solely for educational and informational purposes and should not be construed as investment advice, advice concerning investments or investment decisions, or tax or legal advice. Similarly, any views or options expressed on this website are not intended and should not be construed as being investment, tax or legal advice or recommendations. Investment advice should always be based on the circumstances of the person to whom it is directed, which circumstances have not been taken into consideration by the persons expressing the views or opinions appearing on this website. Timberland Finance has not verified and consequently neither warrants the accuracy nor the veracity of any information, views or opinions appearing on this website. You should always take professional investment advice in connection with, or independently research and verify, any information that you find or views or opinions which you read on our website and wish to rely upon, whether for the purpose of making an investment decision or otherwise. Timberland Finance does not accept liability for losses suffered by persons as a result of information, views of opinions appearing on this website. This website is owned and operated by Timberland Invest Ltd.’