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The UK is reportedly cancelling a planned sale of NatWest Group shares to the general public due to the country’s upcoming July general election.
The sale, aimed at promoting wider retail ownership of UK stocks and returning the bank to full public ownership, was planned by finance minister Jeremy Hunt, but the earlier-than-expected election means the decision on the sale will fall to the next government.
NatWest Group, formerly known as Royal Bank of Scotland, has been working to move past its partial state ownership following a £46bn bailout in 2008. The UK government currently holds just under 27 per cent of NatWest’s stock.
Shares in NatWest, which have risen by over 40 per cent this year, fell by 1.4 per cent as investors awaited official confirmation of the sale’s postponement.
Some market commentators had expressed concerns about the proposed sale, suggesting that bank stocks might not be suitable investments for inexperienced investors amid ongoing economic pressures.
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A former managing director at Citigroup has filed a lawsuit against the bank and its chief operating officer claiming she was fired for opposing attempts to provide US regulators with false information.
Kathleen Martin, hired by Citi in 2021 to address data issues, alleges that COO Anand Selva pressured her to hide critical data governance information from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to avoid making the bank “look bad”. Martin contends that she was terminated in September 2023 in retaliation for her objections.
The lawsuit is linked to a 2020 OCC consent order demanding Citi rectify deficiencies in risk management, data governance and internal controls.
In a statement, Citi dismissed the lawsuit as meritless and vowed to “vigorously defend against it”. Martin seeks reinstatement with the same seniority and back pay, including bonuses.
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JPMorgan is set to pay a $100mn settlement to the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission following lapses in its trade reporting.
As reported by Reuters citing a source familiar with the matter, the Wall Street bank has also agreed to admit that it violated the CFTC’s rules as part of the settlement.
This settlement comes after JPMorgan previously agreed in March to pay $348mn to US bank regulators for related issues, where the bank failed to properly monitor billions of trades across at least 30 global trading venues between 2014 and 2023.
Spokespersons for both the CFTC and JPMorgan declined to comment to Reuters on the upcoming settlement. However, JPMorgan referred to past statements indicating that the bank had self-reported the violation and determined that there was neither misconduct nor harm to customers.
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South Korea has announced a Won26tn ($19bn) support package for its semiconductor industry. The package will include a Won17tn financial support programme administered by the state-run Korea Development Bank to back investments in the country’s semiconductor companies.
In a meeting with government officials, President Yoon Suk Yeol said, “As we all know, semiconductors are a field where all-out national warfare is underway. Win or lose, that depends on who can make cutting-edge semiconductors first.”
South Korea is home to leading memory chipmakers Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, but lags in areas such as chip design and contract manufacturing. Industry minister Ahn Duk-geun said the support package is part of government plans to increase South Korea’s global market share in non-memory chips from 2 per cent to 10 per cent.
