europe banks face rising fines bill

Europe’s biggest banks are facing estimated fines of $103.5bn from regulators around the world, according a briefing note from analysts at Credit Suisse.

europe banks face rising fines bill

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The 10 banks in the report, including HSBC, UBS and Societe Generale, have paid $37bn (€27bn, £22bn) to date, with a further $28bn already factored in, and a further $38bn not so far set aside.

HSBC faces the highest estimated bill at $16.9bn, followed by Lloyds ($11.1bn), RBS ($10.6bn), Barclays ($10.2bn) and UBS ($9.8bn).

However, Credit Suisse said the situation is fluctuating. For example, BNP Paribas’s estimated $3.1bn costs could yet rise pending the outcome of US investigations into allegations it broke sanctions against Iran.

Standard & Poor’s yesterday put its A+ credit rating of BNP Paribas on creditwatch “negative” as a result of the investigation.

The other four banks in the report were Deutsche Bank, with an estimated total bill of $9bn, Societe Generale ($2.7bn), Credit Agricole ($1.2bn)  and Julius Baer ($750m).

Meanwhile, the eurozone banks are expected to pay €260m in 2015 to cover European Central Bank (ECB) supervisory costs, under its draft proposals.

Each of the eurozone's largest banks would be required to pay fees of around €15m a year to help cover the ECB’s expenditure on supervising the eurozone banking area, under draft proposals published by the bank.

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