Barclays’ ‘dark pool’ saw a 33% weekly drop in the number of shares traded, suggesting a US lawsuit alleging it misled customers continues to weigh on volumes while threatening revenue at its investment bank.

Lloyds Banking Group Plc, Britain’s biggest mortgage lender, said its Irish loan impairment charge was cut by half to £897m (€1.115bn) in the first six months compared with a year earlier as the pace of increase of home-loan arrears slowed.

Royal Bank of Scotland Group, Britain’s largest state-controlled lender, may need to set aside additional provisions to cover rising mortgage losses at Ulster Bank over the next two years, according to Espirito Santo Investment Bank.

ROYAL Bank of Scotland Group Plc (RBS) dropped in London trading yesterday because of investor concerns about its exposure of £42.2 billion (€50bn) of loans to Ireland.