The UK Treasury yesterday announced its intention to sell at least £2bn worth of shares in Lloyds Banking Group to private retail investors in spring 2016 to return the bank to full private ownership.

Lloyds Banking Group has set aside an extra £900m (€1.1m) for mis-sold insurance.

HSBC Holdings Plc, Europe’s largest bank by value, said third-quarter pretax profit rose 30% as the lender cut costs and focused on its most lucrative markets.

Lloyds Banking Group, Britain’s biggest mortgage lender, posted a wider third-quarter loss after setting aside an additional £750m (€875m) to compensate clients wrongly sold loan insurance.

HSBC’s interim results reveal that the company made a $250m (€188m) settlement in the Irish High Court as a result of investments in Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme.

Concerns about a multi-billion pound share issue and more provisions for mis-selling weighed heavily on Barclays today.

Barclays will, this week, say how it plans to meet tougher UK rules on capital, while strong earnings from Lloyds Banking Group will pave the way for Britain to sell some of its shares in the bank.

First quarter figures from Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland come amid intense scrutiny on the taxpayer-backed players after Lloyds revealed the collapse of its planned sale of 632 branches.

Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group will reveal the impact of another year of scandal when they report further big losses.

Bailed-out UK bank Royal Bank of Scotland saw its shares come under pressure today as investors weighed up the impact of its collapsed £1.65bn (€2bn) branch sale with Santander.

The rate-rigging scandal that has rocked the banking industry showed no signs of abating as US authorities summoned three British banks for questioning.

The rate-rigging scandal that has rocked the banking industry showed no signs of abating today as US authorities summoned three British banks for questioning.

Britain’s biggest banks were tonight embroiled in a criminal investigation after the Serious Fraud Office opened an official inquiry into the rate-rigging affair.

Barclays was accused of ignoring anger over bonuses and running “business as usual” as it revealed a £1.5bn (€1.8bn) pot for investment bankers yesterday.

BP shares rose by 8% today despite the oil giant’s announcement that it will axe dividend payments for the first time since the Second World War.

James Crosby has been on a winning streak since leading Halifax into its transformational tie-up with Bank of Scotland in 2001.

Ian Gordon