Lloyds

Lloyds Banking Group is being investigated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) over commission payments on its retail product sales, according to the Financial Times.

Jessica Harper, a former head of security at Lloyds Banking Group, has admitted carrying out a £2.4m fraud.

Lloyds Banking Group has reported a loss of £439m in the first half of the year, after the bank was forced to set aside an additional £700m for payment protection insurance (PPI) claims.

Leading fund managers including Richard Buxton at Schroders have been increasing their exposure to major UK banks following the LIBOR scandal which has rocked the sector.

Sanlam's Kokkie Kooyman has been capitalising on the plunge in bank shares caused by the LIBOR scandal, buying into Lloyds, Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays.

Lloyds Banking Group could have to pay out as much as £1.5bn if found guilty of manipulating the LIBOR rate, analysts at Liberum Capital have warned.

The reputation of the UK banking sector hit a new low last week after the FSA hit Barclays with its largest ever fine of £59.5m for breaching LIBOR regulations.

Barclays record FSA penalty for LIBOR manipulation will be superseded by other banks' fines as the investigation deepens, according to Schroders' Richard Buxton.

Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds and RBS have agreed settlements with the FSA after the regulator found "serious failings" in their sales of interest rate hedging products.

RBS and Lloyds, the two UK tax-payer backed banks, are among a dozen financial groups being investigated for manipulating the LIBOR rate, which resulted in a record £290m regulator fine for Barclays, it was revealed yesterday.