Plans to stop money laundering, illegal tax evasion and corporate tax avoidance have been agreed upon at the G8 Leaders’ annual Summit in Northern Ireland, where Heads of State and Government of member countries are meeting to discuss and attempt to reconcile global issues, the BBC reported today.

Designed to fight illegal evasion of taxes, as well as legal tax avoidance by large corporations that make use of loopholes and tax havens, the measures include an agreement by participating Governments to provide automatic access to information on their residents’ tax affairs. Also, in order to prevent aggressive tax avoidance, shell companies, which are often used to exploit tax loopholes and make anonymous investments, will be required to establish the identity of their effective owners.

Following disclosures about the ways in which certain large firms such as Google, Apple, Starbucks and Amazon have minimised their tax bills, the G8 summit agreed that multinational companies should be required to inform all tax authorities about how much and where they pay their taxes. Illegal activities, including tax evasion and money laundering, will be tackled by automated sharing tax information.

Plans for a UK register of companies and their owners where revealed today by UK Chancellor George Osborne, while the US Government also announced a similar plan. Osbourne is quoted as saying: “I think we have probably made more progress in the last 24 hours than people have made in at least 24 years”.

The BBC added that mining firms will be asked for more transparency, as a large number of major mining companies use complex ownership structures in the Netherlands and Switzerland to avoid paying taxes on the minerals they extract in developing countries.

UK newspaper The Times has reported that Lloyds Banking Group Banking Group, a UK financial institution, has been found to have failed in its customer complaints service following an undercover investigation by a Times reporter.

According to The Times, contractors employed at a Lloyds centre, that was set up to deal with Payment protection insurance (PPI) selling, were advised to play the system and ignore possible fraud by Lloyds salesmen. Call centre staff were encouraged to delay or reject compensation claims in the hope that customers would drop their claim.

PPI was intended to cover loan repayments for policyholders who became ill, had an accident or lost their jobs, however these policies are said to have been mis-sold by banks to customers who did not require them or would not even have been able to make a claim. It is alleged that there were numerous instances of malpractice and that bank salesmen faked PPI information in agreements on loan sales. Also customers were not made aware that policies had been attached to their credit cards or loans.

Lloyds was the first bank to agree to start paying PPI compensation in 2011 and has reportedly paid out £4.3bn to 1.3 million victims of the PPI mis-selling. It stated to the BBC that it independently identified issues at the centre called Royal Mint Court earlier this year, which are now being addressed. The bank has ended its contract with Deloitte, which has operated the complaints unit since 2011 and Royal Mint Court employees are being re-trained by a new supplier in line with Lloyds policies and procedures.

Claimants can take their disputes with a bank to the Financial Ombudsman Service, an independent service in the UK. Recent figures from the ombudsman are said to reveal that it received 42,195 PPI claims relating to Lloyds in the second half of last year, the highest number of any bank or building society. In 86% of these cases the customer claim was found to be correct.

The BBC reported that the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which regulates UK banks,is carrying out reviews of PPI complaint handling procedures and will publish its findings later in the summer. Major UK banks are also said to have reserved £15bn to cover potential PPI compensation costs. 

UK Mortgage lender Halifax, part of Lloyds Banking Group, on Thursday released its House Price Index for May 2013, which showed a rise in UK house prices of 0.4%.

According the Halifax, this was the fourth consecutive monthly rise in 2013, with house prices in the three months to May 2013 being 1.5% higher than in the preceding three months and 2.6% higher than in the same three months last year. The index also shows that this was slightly higher than the 1.3% increase in the three month-on-three month measure in April.

Home sales remain low by historical standards and despite the continued gradual increase, the current economic situation and low income growth is said be a significant constraint on the demand for housing. However there has been an improvement in market conditions since autumn 2012, with the ratio of house sales to the stock of unsold properties rising since then.

Signs of a returning confidence in the UK housing market have been recently reported by lenders, estate agents, surveyors and property websites. The Government has also launched schemes to make it easier for people to get onto the property ladder and The Homebuilders Federation has said that 4,000 new homes have been sold since the introduction of the Government’s Help to Buy Scheme earlier this year.

There has also been an increase in number of mortgages on the market, reportedly because banks and building societies have been offering some of their lowest ever mortgage rates, while certain lenders are taking part in the Government and Bank Of England’s Funding For Lending Scheme, which offers lenders discounted loans in return for boosting the flow of credit to the economy.

Zurich-based bank Credit Suisse Group AG (NYSE:CS), which aims to reduce spending by CHF4.4bn (USD4.7bn/EUR3.6bn) by the end of 2015, could dispose of part of its private banking business in Germany, according to an insider cited by Reuters.

The bank reduced in December 2012 its private bank network in Germany to nine branches from 12 previously and said it would cut 150 of the 500 jobs.

The informed source close to Credit Suisse told the news agency that the Swiss bank’s sale plans are in line with a strategy to concentrate on the business from its wealthiest clients.

Credit Suisse did not wish to comment to Reuters on its plans for Germany.

The Bank of England has released figures today that show UK bank loans to business are still decreasing, despite the UK government’s Funding for Lending Scheme (FLS).

According to the Bank of England, net lending declined by GBP300m in the first quarter of 2013, a drop in comparison to the fall of GBP2.4bn recorded in the previous quarter. However, while loans to businesses dropped, lending to individuals increased and the Bank said more loans would be available later in 2013 from banks and building societies participating in FLS. New lending is under scheme expected to expand, while legacy portfolios are phased out.

The Funding for Lending Scheme, designed to boost lending and get the economy expanding, was launched by HM Treasury last August and is currently available to 40 banks. The scheme allows banks and building societies to borrow money cheaply from the Bank of England, providing they pass that money to individuals or businesses. FLS has recently been extended until January 2015 and other financial bodies are expected to widen the scope of the FLS in 2014.

According to the Bank of England, banks had borrowed an additional GBP2.6bn under FLS in the first quarter this year and the amount that has been made available so far totals GBP16.5bn. The UK government reportedly expects GBP70bn to be available in the future.

According to reports, certain banks and building societies increased net lending in the first quarter, these were led by Nationwide, with the biggest rise in net lending of GBP1.2bn; Barclays net lending rose by GBP1.1bn; Coventry Building Society showed an increase of GBP581m; while Virgin Money increased by GBP561m and Tesco Bank on GBP558m. However, lending from other banks such as RBS, Santander and Lloyds has fallen, with Santander seeing a drop in net lending of GBP2.3bn; the Royal Bank of Scotland falling by GBP1.6bn; and Lloyds Banking Group lending decreasing by GBP983m.

Swiss private bank Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA has agreed to take over UK Lloyds Banking Group plc’s (LON:LLOY) international private banking arm for up to GBP100m (USD151.7m/EUR117m) in cash, the companies said in separate statements.

The target offers various personalised banking, investment and planning services to high net worth individuals and families. Last year it posted a loss of some GBP50m. The deal involves branches in Geneva, Zurich, Monaco and Gibraltar and a representative office in Montevideo. The agency office in Miami, as well as Lloyds’s UK offshore businesses, including the Channel Islands, Isle of Man and Gibraltar, are not part of the transaction, the vendor said.

The purchase price includes an initial payment of GBP65m, to be made at closing, with the remainder of the sum to be provided as a deferred payment over a period of two years, depending on the business’s performance.

The acquisition, which is in line with UBP’s growth strategy, will allow the company to enhance its presence in Switzerland, as well as in its core growth markets, including the Middle East and Latin America. The addition will bolster its assets under management by more than CHF10bn (USD10.4bn/EUR8bn). At the end of April, they stood at at CHF83.2bn, the buyer said.

On the other hand, Lloyds stated that the sale was part of a plan to shrink and simplify its international presence, while focusing on the UK, Channel Islands and the UK Expat marketplace.

The transaction hinges upon regulatory approvals, among other conditions. It is seen to be completed in stages. The vendor said it expects to transfer the bulk of the business in the second half of 2013 and the remaining part by the first quarter of 2014. It added that in line with its strategy, it will also intended to exit South Africa.

UBP took counsel from Caurus Partners Sarl and MilleniumAssociates AG on the transaction.

UK private equity firm 3i Group plc (LON:III) on Friday said it had put in an irrevocable bid to buy Barclays Infrastructure Funds Management Ltd (BIFM), the European infrastructure fund management business of Barclays Bank plc, without disclosing the value of the offer.

The deal is contingent on regulatory conditions, including the finalisation of an employee information and consultation process, the buyer said.

Through the takeover of BIFM, whose managed assets total some GBP780m (USD1.2bn/EUR910m), 3i delivers further on its plan to expand its infrastructure business and boost income from third party assets under management, the company said. The target complements 3i’s European infrastructure product offering, which is centred on core infrastructure, the buyer added.

BIFM, which has offices in London and Paris, currently manages two active unlisted funds that invest in public private partnership and energy projects in the UK and continental Europe.

UK’s Lloyds Banking Group plc (LON:LLOY) said it would dispose of some 15% in domestic wealth manager St James’s Place plc (LON:STJ) as part of efforts to meet capital requirements.

Lloyds aims to sell about 77m St James’s Place shares to institutional investors through an accelerated bookbuild.
The vendor expects to realise a gain of some GBP40m (USD60.2m/EUR47m) on the sale, which it anticipates to boost its core tier 1 ratio by about one basis point. The price of the placing will be agreed with the sole bookrunner at the end of the process.

After this disposal, Lloyds will hold some 21% in St James’s Place, it said, adding that the 365-day lock-up period agreed after a prior sale in March will remain valid, with no possibility of being waved for a minimum of 180 days.

The wealth manager has GBP39bn worth of funds under administration on behalf of some 140,000 clients. Lloyds will continue to back the firm’s management.

Greece’s rescue fund Hellenic Financial Stability Fund (HFSF) intends to divest Hellenic Postbank SA (ATH:TT) and Proton Bank SA by the middle of July, Reuters said, citing an inspection review by the European Union (EU) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The disposal is part of the ongoing restructuring of Greece’s banking sector, which was launched following a severe six-year economic recession in the country. HFSF received an aid package of EUR50bn (USD64.2bn) from the EU and IMF to carry out the process, which includes the recapitalisation of Greece’s four big banks and the gradual closure of others.

According to the review, the Greek authorities are due to work out a strategy by mid-July to privatise HFSF-owned banks and consolidate the banking sector. HFSF is expected to have enough funds to perform stress tests of the sector by the end of this year.

Greece’s top banks National Bank of Greece SA (NYSE:NBG), EFG Eurobank Ergasias SA, Alpha Bank SA and Piraeus Bank SA are seen to complete their recapitalisation by 14 June. HFSF will provide most of the needed EUR27.5bn for the restoration of the lenders’ capital bases.

Vikram Pandit, the former chief executive of Citigroup Inc (NYSE:C), will acquire a stake in JM Financial Limited (BOM:523405) and participate in several new initiatives planned by the Indian financial services company.

Pandit and his business partner Hari Aiyar will acquire a 3% stake in JM Financial via warrants.

The Indian company also announced that it was looking to set up a bank, a non-banking financial company (NBFC) and a distressed asset fund. Pandit will be nominated to the post of non-executive chairman of the bank provided that JM Financial obtains a licence from the Reserve Bank of India. Pandit and Aiyar will be given the right to buy shares in the bank up to the limit imposed by the central bank.

In addition, Vikram will be nominated as non-executive chairman of the NBFC and JM Financial will provide USD100m (EUR77.5m) worth of capital to funds raised and managed by a Vikram-led firm. A further USD100m will go towards the initial capitalisation of a distressed asset fund that JM Financial and Vikram will establish together.