D-DAY FOR RATINGS AGENCIES September 23, 2009 RATING agency Moody’s will enter the firing line today, when one of its former executives tells a congressional hearing that the company was giving inflated ratings to securities as early as this year. Eric Kolchinsky will also tell the US House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that Moody’s puts revenues from its clients before the [...]
Fed sounds upbeat on economy September 23, 2009 US CENTRAL bank the Federal Reserve yesterday left interest rates unchanged, as it issued a statement boosting hopes that the world’s biggest economy is emerging from recession. The Fed said it is to keep rates ultra-low for some time to support the post-slump recovery. Short-term interest rates were kept at an all-time low of 0 [...]
Ernst &Young in Akai payout September 23, 2009 ERNST & Young (E&Y) was forced to make a “substantial” payout to the liquidator of failed consumer electronics firm Akai Holdings yesterday, after being accused of falsifying documents in a long running court battle. The Big Four accountancy firm has made a settlement to Hong Kong liquidator Borrelli Walsh after it admitted documents it used [...]
There is more to risk than credit ratings September 23, 2009 SLOWLY but surely, regulators are turning their fire on the credit rating agencies. These hapless firms are rightly being accused of having failed to assess risk correctly during the bubble years. Ludicrously risky financial products were routinely awarded the safest ratings, with ultimately disastrous consequences. It is important to point out that the overwhelming majority [...]
Geithner backs watchdog September 23, 2009 US TREASURY secretary Timothy Geithner yesterday threw his weight behind a proposal to slim down plans for a financial consumer protection watchdog to ensure it passes into law. Geithner said a plan by House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank for paring back the scope of the Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA) should be adopted. “The [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING September 23, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES SIEMENS IN BRIBERY ULTIMATUMSiemens yesterday told several former executive board members, including former chief executives Heinrich von Pierer and Klaus Kleinfeld, to agree to pay damages relating to a multibillion euro bribery scandal. The firm, Europe’s largest engineering group, said seven former managers would face legal action if they failed to show willingness [...]
OECD: Swiss to leave tax list September 23, 2009 The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) signaled that Switzerland would soon be taken off a list of financial centers judged to fall short of international standards of cooperation in tax evasion inquiries due to bank secrecy rules. On the eve of a meeting of G20 leaders who want to tighten the noose on [...]
Mandelson in concern over Opel September 23, 2009 UK business secretary Lord Mandelson is thought to have voiced concerns over the plans by MagnaInternational, the Canadian carmaker, to buy Opel in a letter to Neelie Kroes, the head of Europe’s competition regulator. Lord Mandelson is understood to have said Magna’s plan is not the most commercially viable. He has said that the firm’s [...]
EU unveils its banking plans and watchdog September 23, 2009 THE European Union yesterday unveiled its blueprint for an overhaul of the way banks and financial markets are policed, a central plank in new rules designed to prevent a repeat of the global economic crisis. It plans to create a banking super-watchdog, with powers to overrule countries such as Britain, and a pan-European supervisor that [...]
Cadbury chief executive softens his stance towards Kraft’s takeover bid September 23, 2009 CADBURY chief executive Todd Stitzer appeared to further soften his stance towards a tie-up with US rival Kraft yesterday when he said a deal would make “strategic sense”. Speaking at a Bank of America Merrill Lynch conference, Stitzer said his job “is to get as much value as possible”, marking a shift from his pledge [...]