TSB Banking Group, the lender spun out of Lloyds Banking Group last year, said on Thursday that it had received a preliminary takeover offer from Banco Sabadell of Spain, the International New York Times DealBook blog reported. The deal, if completed, would greatly expand Sabadell’s presence in Britain, where it primarily offers business accounts and banking services to Spanish companies. Under the terms of the offer, Sabadell would pay 3.40 pounds in cash for each share of TSB, valuing the company at £1.7 billion, or about $2.6 billion, TSB said.

The Bank of England is facing an unprecedented criminal investigation by the Serious Fraud Office over emergency lending measures it took at the height of the credit crisis to inject cash into financial markets, The Guardian reported. In late 2007 and early 2008, as the authorities struggled to prevent financial markets from freezing up, banks were invited to bid to borrow funds from the Bank of England, in exchange for collateral, in a series of so-called “auctions”.

As many as 14,000 staff in the investment banking arm of Royal Bank of Scotland face the axe in the coming years as the bailed-out bank retrenches from its expansion into the US and Asia, The Guardian reported. The scale of the cutbacks – which would represent four in five jobs in investment banking – emerged after last week’s remarks by Ross McEwan, the boss of the 81%-taxpayer bank, that substantial numbers of jobs would be lost.

Barclays chief executive Antony Jenkins is on Tuesday set to accept his first bonus since taking charge three years ago, in a sign that bankers are showing less restraint even though pay remains a political flashpoint, the Financial Times reported. Of the UK’s biggest banks only one chief executive — Ross McEwan of Royal Bank of Scotland — has declined to take an award for 2014. HSBC rejected calls for bonuses to be cut in response to the tax evasion scandal at its Swiss private bank, arguing this dated back to 2005-2007, before the current management team took over.

British regulators have exempted junior non-executive directors of banks and insurance companies from a tough new personal liability regime which could make them criminally liable for bank failures, the Financial Times reported. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), had originally planned to include all non-executive directors of banks and insurers in its new rules, after criticism that those running collapsed UK banks could not be held personally liable for their institutions’ demise.

Investment banks in the UK face an investigation by the Financial Conduct Authority regulator into possible conflicts of interest and anti-competitive practices, the Financial Times reported. However, the probe is unlikely to lead to an overhaul of the sector, say financial experts, and some of its intended beneficiaries question whether it is needed at all. The FCA announced on Thursday a review of investment and corporate banking, invoking new powers that could force banks to stop selling products and be more transparent about how they charge clients.

The board of Petropavlovsk PLC warned Wednesday that it could face insolvency should its proposed refinancing plan not be passed by shareholders and urged shareholders to vote in favour of the plan, following a call to oppose the proposals from Sapinda Holdings BV Tuesday.

Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland are set to impose a cap on cash bonuses for the sixth consecutive year, in line with previous agreements made with the Government body that holds the taxpayer’s shares in the banks, The Telegraph reported. The two banks negotiate with UKFI each year before setting their bonuses. As well as adhering to European rules that cap bonuses at a maximum of 200pc of base salary, Lloyds and RBS are expected to limit cash rewards to £2,000 per employee, in line with a long-standing agreement with UKFI.

Petropavlovsk PLC suffered a blow Tuesday when an investment vehicle representing a sizable number of the Russia-focused gold miner’s shareholders said it would vote against the company’s financing package, which is aimed at staving off the threat of bankruptcy, The Wall Street Journal reported. Sapinda Holdings B.V. told the U.K.-listed miner that shareholders representing 10.7% of Petropavlovsk’s equity intend to vote against the company’s restructuring proposal after concluding that it unfairly favors bondholders over shareholders.

British bank HSBC Holdings Plc admitted failings by its Swiss subsidiary in response to media reports it helped wealthy customers dodge taxes and conceal millions of dollars of assets. The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), which coordinated the reporting, said a list of people who held HSBC accounts in Switzerland included soccer and tennis professionals, rock stars and Hollywood actors. Reuters could not independently verify any of the names listed by the ICIJ. Having a Swiss bank account is not illegal and many are held for legitimate purposes.