British MPs Accuse US of Anti-London Agenda

According to the Financial Times several senior British MPs accused U.S. regulators of pursuing an anti-City of London agenda in its assault on Standard Chartered, suggesting it was part of an apparent campaign to weaken a rival financial center.  John Mann, a Labour member of the Treasury select committee, said he detected an “increasing anti-British bias by U.S. regulators and politicians” which could have been influenced by a desire to shift business from the City to Wall Street. “This is a real power grab [by U.S. authorities] and the stakes are very high,” he said.

Unease is growing among MPs – even among opposition Labour politicians who have been severely critical of the banking industry – about the spate of negative headlines about Barclays over its involvement in the Libor scandal, HSBC over money laundering, and now StanChart.  Pat McFadden, another Labour member of the Treasury committee, said all banks should abide by the rules. “But we have to be careful after all the recent reports not to think of London as the Wild West and New York as some kind of perfect financial nirvana; that would not be accurate.”

Read all about it at http://www.cnbc.com/id/48563045