Banks attempted to defy calls to scrap dividends - reports

Four of the UK's five largest banks

HSBC, Barclays, Lloyds and Standard Chartered all resisted calls from the Bank of England to voluntarily cancel their dividends, according to people familiar with the matter, the Financial Times has reported.

Taxpayer-owned RBS was the only one of the UK's five largest banks to accept the recommendations without pressure, with the rest only following suit when the BoE issued public direction. Major banks agree to scrap dividend payments during crisis An individual briefed on the talks told the FT: "Making the Bank of England force our hands was the only way of protecting ourselves from a shareholder revolt. If we had done it of our own volition, then we would have faced legal challenges." On 31 March, the day after a series of phone calls between bank executives and deputy governor and ...