Europe's banks are slipping up
Losses are limited so far on the day, with most indexes lower by less than 0.3%, however on an individual basis, financial stocks look shaky, thanks to warnings from both the International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank over the weekend that the financial sector needs major reforms.
In the UK, banks are also having to contend with fears about a "hard Brexit" continuing to increase.
Royal Bank of Scotland is feeling the pain for a different reason however, slipping substantially after a number of businesses claimed the lender pushed them into default for profit, and leaked documents to Buzzfeed and the BBC. As a consequence, shares are down by more than 2% on the day, dropping to £1.7825 per share.
Here is the chart:
Elsewhere, Lloyds has lost 2.61% so far, while Barclays is lower by 2.56%, following reports that Germany could change its employment laws to make it a more attractive place for banks to do business once Britain leaves the EU.
Over the weekend, the CEOs of two major US banks, JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley, said that the expect much of the banking business potentially lost by London to move not to Europe, but to New York, post-Brexit.
Overall, the European financial sector is not enjoying a good day so far, with the Stoxx Banks index of financial firms across the continent down by 1.2%. On a bank-by-bank basis, Deutsche Bank is the worst performer across the channel, sliding 2.65%, while Germany's second-largest lender, Commerzbank is down around 2.3%. Belgian lender KBC is off 2.1%.
Here is how the Stoxx Banks index looks:
