Kaupthing, one of Iceland’s viking marauders crippled banks is about to be investigated for fraud by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) . The bank collapsed last October whilst holding millions of pounds of UK customer deposits. What remains of the original is held under a different name by the Icelandic Financial Supervisory Authority.

According to the Times the SFO is investigating “suspected fraud offences committed within the UK jurisdiction, prior to the bank’s collapse in October 2008.”

The agency …

Goldmans has had an impressive year after navigating successfully through the near collapse of the financial system. Having deftly extricated itself from a federal bailout, the bank is enjoying one of the richest periods in its 140-year history. But with all the criticism and the recent dip in GS share price (down 16% since October) is there a chink in the armour of the golden child of banking?

The New York Times has interviewed Goldman Sachs alumni in an article …

Well merrier than this time last year at least…

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Former Galleon CEO Raj Rajaratnam, 52, was formally indicted yesterday, along with Danielle Chiesi, an associate who prosecutors allege was part of the insider trading ring.

The indictment – a formal accusation that moves the case to trial – charges them with conspiracy and securities fraud.

Some experts wondered why four other members of the ring weren’t indicted as the same time.

Rajaratnam meanwhile maintains his innocence on the basis Galleon wouldn’t have needed to gather and trade on inside information because …

The climate change talks have not exactly been blessed with luck. With economies around the world still reeling from the financial crisis, it was always going to be a tough week in Copenhagen.

But a prologue of leaked e-mails has been followed with continual mishaps. We’ve had campaigners arrested and tear gas used, African nations have walked out of talks and a world renowned physicist collapsed with a heart attack live on Danish TV. (The somewhat disturbing footage can be …

Although a large part of Alistair Darling’s supertax plan was aimed at making banks rethink bonus payments, it may have simply boosted tax receipts. The tax plan in the PBR put the bonus onus on banks making them responsible for the extra tax – in the hope it would reign in some of the excess.

But far from putting off the banks, it seems that most of the payments will be made anyway. The only bank likely to be showing …

The heads of the leading US banks were summoned to the White House yesterday for a “frank and candid” discussion with Barack Obama about the lack of loans being made to small and medium sized businesses.

The “very, very serious” meeting was attended by the bosses of nine banks including JP Morgan, Bank of America, Wells Fargo and American Express.

However, some notable figures failed to turn up including the heads of Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and Morgan Stanley. Lloyd was getting …

The bankers know it’s aimed at them. The brokers want to leave anyway. Although the Treasury has indicated that it doesn’t intend to include brokers in the new supertax, the enabling legislation is less clear. And one broker has decided to give its employees the opportunity to choose more comfortable tax jurisdictions just in case, from the Times:

Tullett Prebon, the specialist broker for investment banks, said it will help relocate any of its 700 London-based broking …

In its latest quarterly reserach update, the Bank of England acknowledged the recent spike the cost of credit protection on UK gilts.

The Bank noted that the cost of UK sovereign credit default swaps – a type of insurance against a nation failing to pay back its debts – has risen ‘both in absolute terms and relative to other triple-A rated sovereign borrowers’.

Accordingly the Mail reported that the Bank of England warned Britain is in danger of losing its ‘credit …

After Alistair Darling’s 50% bonus tax announcement last week, here’s what some think Stateside. The old lady thinks US politicians are pussies (or was it chickens?) for not following suit…

Meanwhile, back in the UK, there’s bonus chaos. Confused bankers aren’t sure if they might have to pay some bonus tax. The British Bankers’ Association raised this with the government which is set to issue a statement today in response and clarify who it is that will be affected.

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When it comes to macho investing hedgies often get the accolades…

In the light of the bonus controversey, here’s an interesting question. To what extent does what we get paid confer ‘worth’? The new economics foundation (NEF) an “independent think-and-do tank that inspires and demonstrates real economic well-being” have looked at this and concluded that…

Bankers destroy £7 of value for every pound they create. Ouch. But banking folk can console themselves that they are not the worst offenders – advertising executives destroy £11 and tax accountants £47 per £1 created.

So who …

Brown may have started a new trend and not for his taste in badly fitting suits. Punishing bankers is catching on, well Sarky’s obviously impressed anyway…

Bloomberg: Dec. 10 (Bloomberg) — French President Nicolas Sarkozy is considering a tax on 2009 banker bonuses exceeding 27,000 euros ($39,800), following U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown move to impose a one-off levy in the U.K., said two French government officials.

Doesn’t solve the problem of threats to leave the City though. Paris wasn’t really …

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Is that the sound of light switches going off as furious masses flee the City on their way to Switzerland, Hong Kong and New York?

BBC: He [Darling] introduced a temporary levy of 50% on any individual discretionary bonus paid above £25,000.

Mr Darling said the banks, rather than the bankers, would pay the levy, with anti-avoidance measures introduced immediately.

The move could raise £550m, which would be used to help reduce unemployment.

The temporary measure comes into effect immediately and will cover …

It’s 2015, the City is deserted replaced by market stalls selling still unwashed vegetables. Your average Brit drives a tractor to work and has a couple of goats where the BMW used to be parked up. Empire guilt and social envy have given way to despondent misery.

It might not get that bad but according to the Centre for Economics and Business Research the UK economy may no longer be one of the 10 largest in the world by 2015. …

If you can’t stop one, hit them all.

Having run into problems trying to reign in the banks of which UK taxpayers are signifcant shareholders, Darling is trying another tactic. A one-off windfall tax. Not enough to send banks running for Switzerland immediately and not disadvantaging one or two individual banks in isolation. Penalising high earners across the board in the run up to an election… you can see the logic even if the pill is bitter.

The windfall tax, versions of …

It’s not just the climate agenda that’s hotting up in Denmark this week. Yes Gropenhagen has become the new nickname for the UN climate change conference apparently. German magazine Der Spiegel reports that:

Copenhagen Mayor Ritt Bjerregaard sent postcards to city hotels warning summit guests not to patronize Danish sex workers during the upcoming conference. Now, the prostitutes have struck back, offering free sex to anyone who produces one of the warnings.

The postcards used the catchy slogan ‘Be sustainable – don’t …

Stimulus plus falling tax receipts = uncomfortable reading for policymakers.

From Morgan Stanley’s recent UK Economics and Fixed Income Strategy (via Clusterstock)

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Lloyds whipped off its shorts and jumped unashamed into the bonus controversey alongside RBS today.

Lloyds is looking to pay 200 executives one-off payments worth up to 80 per cent of their annual salaries. That equates to £2.4 million for the Lloyds board. And comes despite the fact that the government, which is a little anti-bonus at the moment, is one of the bank’s largest shareholders.

There’s going to be some angry folk not getting much rest this weekend.

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