Banks still in the crosshairs of the US authorities. The US SEC, the Authority that supervises the financial markets equivalent to the Italian Consob, has indeed fined Credit Suisse and Barclays on the so-called "dark pools", the ultra-fast exchanges where operators exchange shares without having to disclose the price and the quantities that change hands. They are really "dark tanks" designed for large blind trading operations, a way that guarantees anonymity, even if the opacity of these exchanges has introduced high volatility on the markets, often causing the intervention of the investigating authorities.
Barclays has admitted to the improprieties and will pay $70 million, while Credit Suisse will pay $84,3 million. In a statement, the Commission informs that these are the highest penalties ever ordered in investigations into alternative brokerage activities. In detail, the Swiss institute agreed to pay a fine of 30 million dollars to the SEC, another 30 million to the Office of the Attorney General of New York and a further 24,3 million for other reasons to the same to the SEC, for a total precisely 84,3 million dollars. The investigation started to verify the level of transparency of the banks towards their customers, leading then to the agreement with the credit institutions.
The bad news doesn't stop at these two banks, however. Pour into serious difficulties, for other reasons, too Hsbc, who today declared that cwill freeze 2016 hiring and wages as part of plan to save at least $5 billion in costs, by the end of 2017. Employees were informed in a memo on Friday, while the company made it public over the weekend. The goal of the number a Stuart Gulliver, according to the plan announced last June, plans to cut the 'dead branches' in the international presence of the group, which must "grind more profitability to meet the costs associated with adaptation and compliance with regulations".
