Financial security

Britain’s Scandal-Battered Banks Paralyzed as Election Looms

Whatever the outcome of Britain’s election next week, the outlook for the country’s banks is worsening. Almost seven years since the industry received the biggest taxpayer bailout in history, public confidence in banks is near an all-time low and lenders’ efforts to boost profit are being frustrated by investigations into alleged currency and interest rate-rigging. Since the coalition government took power in 2010, U.K. bank stocks have lost 7 percent. Their U.S. counterparts have returned 46 percent.