Foreign news: Wheatley quits FCA, Bank M&A prospects strong

The chief executive of the United Kingdom Financial Conduct Authority, Martin Wheatley, has announced his resignation. Wheatley, who has had the top job at the FCA since 2012, will step down in September. His tenure has been notable for large fines imposed on a number of banks for misconduct, including foreign exchange market rigging, breaches of custody rules and interest rate benchmark fixing.
Merger and acquisition levels among banks over 2015 so far suggest the value of bank takeovers for the year may exceed 2014. Data compiled by SNL Financial lists 16 takeovers by Asia Pacific banks over the first half totalled US$10.4 billion, compared with 14 deals with a disclosed deal value of US$10.7 billion for the whole of last year. Deal activity in the first half was dominated by China, with seven deals announced, accounting for 44 per cent of the deals in the region. Since the beginning of 2012, China has been the most active Asian country in terms of deal volume.