Record $5.7bn paid by banks for FX and rate rigging

Barclays was fined the most at $2.4bn. The fines were primarily for cartel-style operations in the FX market between 2008 and 2012. Barclay's CEO Antony Jenkins who hails from the British town of Stoke on Trent and has a Cranfield MBA expressed regret at the bank's actions. His stock rallied 3.4%. The fines were from a number of regulators with the US Department of Justice raking in a record windfall in fines. JP Morgan's problems apparently resulted from an ex RBS hire who was brought in as head of G10 spot trading.

RBS Plans Complete Exit from Commodities, JPM Charges In

Eighty percent of the precious metals trading at RBS is in gold, and now RBS wants to disband this business too (in 2010, non-US assets of RBS Sempra Commodities were sold to JP Morgan for $1.7bn). RBS is one of the banks marred in the interest rate rigging scandal.

In contrast, JP Morgan, a licensed depositary for precious metals, has asked the CME for approval for additional vault space and applied to be a weight master for silver. Value chain optimisation - here we come!

RBS - Focusing on Home Markets, ANZ - expanding in Asia

RBS has sold off its Asia businesses to ANZ for a paltry $550m. This makes ANZ more able to compete with rivals HSBC and Standard Chartered in the fast-growing markets of Asia. ANZ will get closer to its goal of generating a fifth of its revenue from Asia by 2012.

Treasury Orders Probe into Banks and Outrageous use of Bailout Money

The Treasury has ordered an inquiry into how banks are managed, Chancellor Alistair Darling has stated. Gordon Brown insisted Thursday that there should be "no reward for failure".

RBS, bailed out by £20bn by the government last year, will pay up to £1bn in bonuses to its 177,000 staff.

In Asia, Nomura has opened and equity sales, trading and investment banking office in India, which is becoming increasingly important for Japanese companies. For example, Nomura advised Daiichi Sankyo acquired generic drugs maker Ranbaxy in 2008.

Ranbaxy started its research program in the late 1970s.

RBS shares fall 67% to 11.6p (Low of the Day 10p), KBC drops 20%, $19m Compensation for Bartz

RBS, 58% owned by the government, slumped to a 23 year low today. FTSE closed at 4108.5 (38.6 points down).

KBC, whose stock trades on Euronext Brussels, slumped 20%, going from about 16 euro to 12 euro and finishing around 13 euro. The stock has been tumbling since a Moody's report Thursday said it had revised assumptions used to evaluate KBC's CDOs. KBC were forced to issue a statement saying the share price had come under pressure as a result of rumours circulating in the market.

In tech, Yahoo's new CEO, Carol Bartz, will reportedly get $19m in compensation, in addition to bonus and stock options (base == $1m). She will not be able to exercise her options until after 4 years. Carol's board memberships are detailed here. She made her career at Autodesk, her profile is here. In 2007 rumours of a Microsoft bid for Yahoo send YHOO stock up 18% in one day. Will Microsoft bid again for Yahoo in 2009?

RBS set to reveal "Biggest Loss in UK Corporate History"

"Royal Bank of Scotland is on Monday expected to announce it suffered a £20bn loss last year as the state-controlled lender unveiled further damage as a result of the credit crunch" reports the FT, exceeding Vodafone's record trading deficit of £15bn in 2006. £7-8bn comes from the writedown of complex debt-related securities and more than £19bn loss has been generated in the second half of 2008 alone.

UK High Street offers Opportunities for Retail Investment Bankers, Celebrations Pounced on by Card Factory

The Icelandic invasion of the British high street is under threat as investments turn sour for Icelandic giant Baugur, which controls House of Fraser, Hamleys ("the finest toys in the world"), Iceland, Whittard of Chelsea as well as having minority stakes in Debenhams PLC, Woolworths (12.4% stake via Unity Investments), French Connection and an 8.6% interest in Saks. Cheap Icelandic financing enabled Reykjavik-based company Baugur to expand into the UK and US. Woolies shares were suspended last week following talks of a sale. Retail billionaire Sir Philip Green, who bought a £6.7m for a stake in Moss Bros (which owns the Moss and Cecil Gee brands) from Baugur in November, and sold it a few days later for a £1m profit, is reported to be prowling for more assets (and liabilities, potentially taking over £1bn of Baugur's reported debt).

Menswear retailer Moss Bros said it will cut costs in the face of a "challenging" trading environment. Celebrations Group, the card-retailer, went into insolvency in October. Kroll Limited have been appointed as Administrators. Card Factory have bought over 80 stores.

More retail sector news can be found here: http://www.theretailbulletin.com/

Meanwhile, in the banking sector, new CEO of RBS, Stephen Hester, has announced a six month grace period for home loan defaulters. CSFB has also announced it is cutting 650 jobs in the UK, following a $1bn loss in Q3 2008. HSBC, "the world's local bank", said it will cut 500 UK jobs.

RBS Chairman Reports of "Unprecedented" Difficulties

RBS announced its expectation for its first full-year loss in nearly 300 years of existence. Chairman Sir Tom McKillop stated it was the worst experience in his 40 year working life.