UK's big five banks see 2012 profits 'wiped out'

The UK's five major banks could see their profits take a significant hit in 2012 as regulatory pressures and a series of recent scandals take their toll, according to KPMG.

In a report, the audit firm said the biggest UK banks actually saw core profits increase by 45% in 2012, but these gains were erased by factors such as the PPI and LIBOR scandals which saw the banks having to set aside redress. KPMG said Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, RBS and Standard Chartered had combined core profits of £31.5bn last year, the BBC reports. However, this was eliminated by the "cost of past mistakes and increased creditworthiness of their own debt", the report said, causing a 40% fall in statutory profits on the previous year. Payment Protection Insurance ...