Stress test fail puts RBS sale of Citizens at risk March 28, 2014 HOPES of an early sale for RBS’s US arm Citizens were knocked yesterday after it failed the Fed’s stress tests. Although the main plan is to float the bank, starting later this year, RBS has been in early-stage talks with other banks including Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui over a trade sale. But failing the stress test [...]
Bottom Line: Ofgem probe is for all the wrong reasons March 28, 2014 THE UK’S regulatory authorities are supposed to be independent. Ofcom, Ofwat, Ofgem – all were set up to oversee our utilities markets and protect the interests of consumers. After yesterday’s referral of the energy market to the new Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) for a full-scale investigation, many will no longer see Ofgem as objective, [...]
UBS suspends six more traders as forex fixing probe deepens March 28, 2014 SWISS bank UBS has suspended another six of its traders across the world, it emerged yesterday, as it investigates allegations of misbehaviour in the foreign exchange markets. The staff work in Singapore, Switzerland and the US, according to Bloomberg News. Around 25 staff in investment banks around the world have been suspended or fired by [...]
Boom time for LSE after equity raising doubles March 28, 2014 THE LONDON Stock Exchange, the 300 year old trading venue, yesterday said new cash raised on the equity market almost doubled last year to £28bn. The group, which in a strange quirk is listed on its own exchange, said 162 new issues in the 11 months between April 2013 and February 2014 raised £28.3bn – [...]
Analyst Views: What did you think of yesterday’s results? March 28, 2014 DANIEL GARROD | BARCLAYSThe tone of the release is positive, particularly on improvement in primary and secondary cash equity volumes. Yield on secondary equities is highlighted as having come down as would be expected, but nevertheless we believe the net result is positive. PHILIP MIDDLETON | BANK OF AMERICA MERRILL LYNCHThe company reports good performance [...]
High frequency trading to carry on, says Nasdaq March 28, 2014 US REGULATORS are unlikely to put rules in place that would harm high-frequency trading (HFT) as doing so would make trading more difficult and expensive for all investors, Robert Greifeld, chief executive officer of Nasdaq OMX Group said yesterday. HFT is a practice carried out by many hedge funds, banks and proprietary firms using sophisticated [...]
Inside Track: JP Morgan is outpacing rivals in UK equity transactions March 28, 2014 WHEN the venerable David Mayhew sold 50 per cent of Cazenove to JP Morgan 10 years ago, there were many who predicted the gradual demise of the influence of that august stockbroking house. After all the City memory bank is filled deep with the names of institutions, such as Warburg, Kleinwort Benson and Smith New [...]
Tyrie presses Osborne on Co-op March 28, 2014 TREASURY select committee chair Andrew Tyrie wrote to chancellor George Osborne yesterday, after former Co-operative bank head Paul Flowers alleged the bank was pushed into the deal that revealed a huge capital hole. Flowers, who late last year was arrested on drugs allegations, said Osborne applied pressure on the bank to buy Lloyds branches. Tyrie [...]
UK retail sales grow for 12th straight month March 28, 2014 RETAIL sales bounced in February, with the quantity of purchases jumping by 3.7 per cent against the same month last year, marking the 12th month of continuous growth. According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the UK economy’s recent upturn has prompted the longest unbroken run of monthly retail sales growth since the end [...]
Pay starts creeping back up after five bad years of high inflation March 28, 2014 PRIVATE sector pay is beginning to increase, according to payroll processing firm VocaLink. For the average worker in a FTSE 350 company, real monthly pay in the three months to February was down £130 compared with the same period five years ago. By contrast public sector workers’ monthly pay fell £118 from 2009 to 2014. [...]