A majority of Britons do not trust banks and think they did not face severe enough penalties for their part in the 2008 financial crisis, a survey showed on Thursday.
Next month will mark the tenth anniversary of the collapse of investment bank Lehman Brothers, as a bubble in the United States sub-prime mortgage market burst.
The poll of 2,250 adults by YouGov on behalf of campaign group Positive Money underlines the extent to which banks still have to work to rebuild public trust, despite years of restructuring and paying fines and compensation for misbehaviour.
The survey found 66 per cent of adults in Britain do not trust banks to work in the best interests of society.
"The finance sector takes its responsibility to wider society extremely seriously and has undertaken significant reform in the last 10 years to ensure that the taxpayer should never need to bail out a bank again," a spokesman for UK Finance which represents the banking industry said.
Those reforms include increasing the levels of capital banks hold, separating depositors' money from riskier investment banking activity, and making senior bankers more accountable.
British banks including Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays and HSBC had in common with US banks sold risky securities tied to home loans, and were blamed by regulators, politicians and the public for the crisis.
Banks globally have paid the price financially and reputationally, paying out more than $320 billion in fines since 2008 as regulators probed them for mis-selling securities and rigging interest rate and foreign exchange rate benchmarks.
The US Justice Department on Tuesday said RBS will pay $4.9bn to settle claims that it misled investors on mortgage-backed securities between 2005 and 2008.
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The survey released on Thursday said 72 per cent of adults believe banks should have faced more severe penalties, despite tough post-crisis regulations which have crimped profits.
Many people are critical of RBS's £45.5bn bailout at the height of the crisis, on which Britain is unlikely ever to recoup its investment.
But politicians from both major parties have said the consequences of not rescuing RBS and its rival Lloyds would have been far worse.
Some investors still doubt the banks have fully fixed themselves, suggesting the damage from the crisis will weigh on their share prices for some time to come.
RBS on Wednesday resumed paying dividends for the first time since its bailout, broadening its appeal to investors who require dividend income before they will even consider buying a stock, but some remain unconvinced.
"We haven't looked at RBS for ten years...I would take some persuading that a company that been as comprehensively ruined as RBS, was fully restored to health," said Tony Yarrow, fund manager at Wise Funds.
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
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The bio
Who inspires you?
I am in awe of the remarkable women in the Arab region, both big and small, pushing boundaries and becoming role models for generations. Emily Nasrallah was a writer, journalist, teacher and women’s rights activist
How do you relax?
Yoga relaxes me and helps me relieve tension, especially now when we’re practically chained to laptops and desks. I enjoy learning more about music and the history of famous music bands and genres.
What is favourite book?
The Perks of Being a Wallflower - I think I've read it more than 7 times
What is your favourite Arabic film?
Hala2 Lawen (Translation: Where Do We Go Now?) by Nadine Labaki
What is favourite English film?
Mamma Mia
Best piece of advice to someone looking for a career at Google?
If you’re interested in a career at Google, deep dive into the different career paths and pinpoint the space you want to join. When you know your space, you’re likely to identify the skills you need to develop.
The White Lotus: Season three
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How to apply for a drone permit
- Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
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What are the regulations?
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PROFILE
Name: Enhance Fitness
Year started: 2018
Based: UAE
Employees: 200
Amount raised: $3m
Investors: Global Ventures and angel investors
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
