Barclays fined £38m for putting clients' money 'at risk'

Barclays has been fined a record £38m by the City regulator for failing to keep its clients' money separate from its own.

The fine comes three years after Barclays paid out £1.1m for a similar issue.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said the bank's investment arm had put £16.5bn of clients' money "at risk" between November 2007 and January 2012.

Barclays said it did not profit from the issue and no customers lost out.

"Clients risked incurring extra costs, lengthy delays or losing their assets if Barclays had become insolvent," the FCA said.

And FCA director of markets David Lawton said safeguarding client assets was "key" to maintaining market confidence.

"Barclays lack of focus on the rules was unacceptable," he added.

Barclays, which

Wigwe Seeks Banks’ Collaboration to Tackle Fraud

The Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Access Bank Plc, Mr. Herbert Wigwe has called for greater collaboration among deposit money banks in the country in order to tackle the rising incidence of fraud in the sector.

Wigwe stated this in an address presented at a stakeholders’ workshop anti-fraud and compliance tagged: “Combating fraud and money laundering –the need for collaboration amongst stakeholders,” organised by the bank in Lagos yesterday.

The workshop was part of events lined up to mark the bank’s compliance and anti-fraud awareness week.

According to the Access Bank boss, banking and financial services play a vital role in any economy.  They spawn growth, create investment opportunities, facilitate the creation of jobs and generally drive economies, he pointed out.

However, he stressed that the sector is susceptible to

Expert Highlights Looming Risk in Banking Sector

The Managing Director, Afrinvest Securities Limited, Mr. Ike Chioke has expressed concern about the possibility of banks not being able to recoup their investment in the power sector and its likely consequence on the financial system.

Chioke noted that with the current revenue profile of the power companies, if they are not able to service their debts, the indebtedness would have severe consequence on the banking system.

Speaking at the launch of the ‘2014 Nigerian Banking Sector’ report by Afrinvest, Chioke said: “Our view, as you think about the issues in the industry, with the lending that the industry has done, particularly to the power sector, if there is a problem in the problem in the power sector and they are not able to service all these loans they have taken, we are definitely going to see a problem in the balance of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).”

The CBN balance sheet, he added, “may not

FirstRand Earmarks $924m for Expansion in Africa

FirstRand Limited, Africa’s biggest bank by market value has said it is setting aside 10 billion rand ($924 million) for expansion across the continent, as profit increases from regions outside its home market, South Africa.

“We’ve got a provisional licence in Ghana and should be up and running there in early 2015,” Chief Executive Officer of the Johannesburg-based bank, Sizwe Nxasana told Bloomberg yesterday.

He added: “In time, we’ll set up operations in Kenya and Angola.”

South African and international banks are targeting expansion in West and East Africa to take advantage of accelerating economies and population growth.

Robert Diamond’s Atlas Mara Co-Nvest Ltd, last week increased its stake in

Santander's chairman Emilio Botin dies

Emilio Botin, chairman of the Spanish banking giant Santander, has died aged 79, the company has announced.

The bank said Mr Botin died of a heart attack on Tuesday night.

The appointments and remuneration committee and the board of directors will meet on Wednesday to appoint a new chairman.

Mr Botin, a scion of a banking dynasty, was credited with building a small regional bank into the global brand it is today.

The group's shares fell