“The banks are too big to fail.” Is that why they continue with their dodgy dealings and scams, despite the massive fines?

SOURCE GUARDIAN: BNP Paribas regrets misconduct that led to record $8.8bn fine

US prosecutors said the bank had engaged in a "long-term, multi-jurisdictional conspiracy" involving currency trades for clients in Sudan, Iran and Cuba that was known at the highest levels at the company. Jean-Laurent Bonnafe, the bank's chief executive, said the misconduct was "something that goes against the grain of the bank", and insisted that the settlement did not undermine the solidity of its finances. BNP Paribas shares rose 3.4% on Tuesday, after the bank announced it would pay a dividend of €1.50 a share – a surprise for some analysts who had assumed BNP's 2014 dividend would be wiped out by the enormous fine.

SOURCE BBC NEWS: Barclays shares fall 6.5% on new fraud accusation

The New York attorney general has filed a fraud lawsuit against Barclays. The lawsuit alleges the bank falsified documents and misrepresented benefits it was offering to big institutional clients, including pension funds. It relates to the bank's "dark pool" trading operations, which allow clients to trade large blocks of shares while keeping prices private. Barclays has begun an internal probe into the allegations. In an email to staff, Barclays chief executive Antony Jenkins said: "I will not tolerate any circumstances in which our clients are lied to or misled and any instances I discover will be dealt with severely.” Barclays has been the subject of several investigations, fines and settlements in recent years. In May it was fined £26m by UK regulators after one of its traders was discovered attempting to fix the price of gold. In April, Barclays agreed to a $280m (£167m) settlement with the US Federal Housing and Finance Authority (FHFA), which claimed that Barclays misled US mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac during the housing crisis. In 2012 it was fined £290m by UK regulators for attempting to manipulate an important lending rate, known as Libor.

SOURCE JAPAN TIMES: London has more billionaires than any other city in the world while Britons’ use of food banks rises 163%

The survey of Britain’s superrich compiled annually for the Sunday Times newspaper is likely to prompt debate in a country where many still struggle financially and where food banks are a fact of life despite economic growth recently returning to levels not seen since the 2008 financial crash. London is home to 72 of Britain’s 104 billionaires, well ahead of Moscow in second place with 48 people. New York is in third place with 43. Britain also has more billionaires per head of population than any other country. The Trussell Trust, Britain’s largest food bank network, said the number of people who they had served had risen 163% in the last year to just over 913,000 people. The group labeled the figure “shocking,” particularly as it does not include those helped by other food providers or the large number of people too ashamed to seek help and who cope by eating less food.

SOURCE TELEGRAPH: Living Wage Commission calls for moves to end 'national scandal'

The Archbishop of York John Sentamu said: "Working and still living in poverty is a national scandal. For the first time, the majority of people in poverty in the UK are now in working households.” A year-long study by the Living Wage Commission recommended a series of "low-cost" moves to tackle low pay, by building on the UK's economic recovery. The commission, chaired by Dr Sentamu, said increasing the pay of half a million public sector workers to the Living Wage could be more than met by higher tax revenues and reduced in-work benefits from a similar number of employees in private firms. Also on the Living Wage Commission is Dr Adam Marshall, director of policy and external affairs at the British Chambers of Commerce. He said: "The return to economic growth means that many employers are now looking again at increasing levels of pay for their employees after a tough period for business... Some businesses simply cannot afford to pay a Living Wage just yet - which is why the Commission rejected a compulsory Living Wage. The task now is to support as many employers as possible to make this transition, because paying the Living Wage can benefit employers as well as their staff."

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