Lehman sues JP Morgan in assets dispute May 27, 2010 LEHMAN Brothers Holdings has sued JP Morgan Chase, accusing the bank of illegally siphoning billions of dollars of assets in the days leading up to the record bankruptcy. The lawsuit filed in a Manhattan bankruptcy court accused JP Morgan of using its “unparalleled access” to inside details of Lehman’s distress to extract $8.6bn (£5.9bn) of [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING May 27, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES COMMODITIES SURGE AFTER WARNING ON HURRICANE SEASON Oil and natural gas prices surged on Thursday as the US government said this year’s hurricane season could rank among the most active to date, comparable to years that brought such devastating storms as 2005’s Katrina and Rita. The outlook raises the possibility of damage to [...]
Pru tries to cut AIA price as bid falters May 27, 2010 PRUDENTIAL was last night trying to lower the $35.5bn price tag of its planned purchase of the Asian assets of American International Group in a list ditch attempt to avoid a “no” vote on the deal. The UK life insurer is hoping it can reduce the price to $30bn, it is understood, amid rising investor [...]
Prudential May 27, 2010 THESE negotiations are Prudential’s last chance to salvage the deal, but even with a $5bn price discount on Asian insurer AIA’s $35.5bn price-tag it is likely to prove too expensive. After all, if this game changing deal was so attractive, why aren’t any of Pru’s rival insurers who also lack Asian market share showing any [...]
Geithner: US and EU agree on bank risk May 27, 2010 US treasury secretary Timothy Geithner said there is agreement on both sides of the Atlantic over limiting the risks banks are allowed to take – but he warned against hampering competition. Speaking with German finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble in Berlin yesterday he said: “I think we all agree we want more conservative restraints on capital [...]
Directors must be re-elected annually, says new FRC code May 27, 2010 THE CITY has widely welcomed new corporate governance rules set out by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC). Replacing the former Combined Code, the FRC is introducing the new UK Corporate Governance Code in a bid to make companies more accountable to their shareholders. Among the changes are recommendations that all directors at FTSE 350 companies [...]
G20 GLOBAL BANK TAX PLANS May 27, 2010 Q. WHAT’S BEEN PROPOSED AT THE GLOBAL LEVEL? A. The IMF has proposed two new bank taxes: a financial stability contribution (FSC) would be linked to a resolution mechanism to pay for the fiscal cost of any future government support to the sector. Any further contributions would be raised by a financial activities tax (FAT) [...]
Greek banks’ earnings hit by recession May 27, 2010 THE sharp profit fall Greek banks so far reported in the first quarter offers a first glimpse of what will be wrenching their bottom lines this year as an austerity-induced recession to repair public finances deepens. Two of Greece’s largest lenders – National Bank and Alpha – both lost money at home in the first [...]
Spanish austerity plans just scrape through parliament May 27, 2010 SPAIN’S governing Socialists won approval for a €15bn (£12.6bn) austerity package by just one vote yesterday, avoiding a defeat that would have rattled markets and potentially brought down the government. The bill was approved by 169 votes in favour to 168 against, after the opposition Popular Party voted against, even making sure one of its [...]
Franco-German moves needed on short-selling, says regulator May 27, 2010 FRANCE’S financial watchdog yesterday called for urgent Franco-German initiatives to combat short-selling, a week after it slammed its neighbour for taking unilateral action to ban naked short-selling of some instruments. Jean-Pierre Jouyet, head of French financial markets regulator AMF, said he wanted to see better supervision of the market for credit default swaps (CDS), which [...]