Goldman Sachs to pay settlements in excess of $5bn over pre-crisis dealing of mortgage-backed securities January 14, 2016 Goldman Sachs has today warned its earnings in the final three months of 2015 will take a $1.5bn (£1bn) hit after-tax due to a settlement with regulators. The firm has agreed to pay to resolve actual and potential claims by the US Department of Justice, the New York and Illinois Attorneys General, the National Credit [...]
International Airlines Group and LATAM Airlines Group sign deal to make flying to South America easier January 14, 2016 International Airlines Group (IAG) has signed a joint agreement between its subsidiaries British Airways and Iberia and LATAM Airlines Group to make flights between Europe and South America easier. If they receive regulatory approval, the airlines plan to expand their codeshare agreements, which allow airlines to operate flights on another airline's routes. It allows firms to offer better [...]
Goldman Sachs agrees to pay $15m over improper securities lending practices January 14, 2016 Investment banking giant Goldman Sachs has agreed a $15m (£10m) settlement with US regulators over charges that its securities lending practices broke regulations. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said broker-dealers such as Goldman Sachs are regularly asked by customers to locate stock for short selling – a process where an asset is borrowed, sold, and [...]
Standard Chartered garners a rare analyst “buy” rating January 14, 2016 Analysts at Berenberg have upgraded their recommendation on troubled emerging markets focused bank Standard Chartered to “buy”, due to a strategy switch to return and risk. Standard Chartered has previously focused on growth alongside fast growing emerging markets. General analyst consensus has been moving against Standard Chartered in recent months, with the latest survey of [...]
European markets dragged down by car makers January 14, 2016 European stock markets lost more ground today. The German Dax closed down 1.67 per cent, lead by a 2.5 per cent drop in Volkswagen shares. It was the lowest close for the main German index since October last year. The French Cac 40 fell 1.8 per cent, with Renault and Peugeot among the top three fallers. [...]
M&C Saatchi share price closes down as management team eyes sale of advertising agency January 14, 2016 M&C Saatchi today revealed that it was in talks to sell a 30 per cent stake in its UK advertising agency, M&C Saatchi UK, to five members of its management team. In a short statement, the company revealed that the five potential purchasers are the advertising agency’s chairman Tim Duffy, chief executive Tom Bazeley, creative [...]
Twitter share price plummets to fresh low for third day in a row as lawsuit claims Twitter helped Isis terrorists January 14, 2016 Twitter shares have hit fresh all-time lows for a third day in a row, plummeting as much as seven per cent in early trading in New York. After touching $18.57 on Wednesday, shares today touched $17.27, the lowest they have ever traded at. They have closed down on every day of 2016 after sliding more than 30 [...]
Oil prices: The £36bn Royal Dutch Shell-BG Group mega-deal has won more support ahead of crucial vote January 14, 2016 Another investor advisory firm has come out in favour of Royal Dutch Shell's £36bn mega-deal with smaller rival BG Group, which goes to a shareholder vote at the end of this month. British shareholder advisory firm PIRC has advised shareholders to vote in favour of the deal. It comes after Institutional Shareholder Services, a proxy advisory body, recommended [...]
Is Tesco saved? A small victory for Dave Lewis in the supermarket’s Christmas results, but 2016 remains a challenge January 14, 2016 Tesco reported its best Christmas trading results since Dave Lewis has been at the helm but does this really mean that ‘Drastic Dave’ and his management team can breathe a little easier? The dynamics of grocery shopping has changed with value and convenience the two biggest factors for consumers. Competition has never been fiercer so it would [...]
BT’s EE takeover set to get a green light from Competition and Markets Authority January 14, 2016 BT’s £12.5bn takeover of rival EE is expected to get a thumbs up by the UK’s competition watchdog as the two prepare to merge in March. Anything other than a green light would be highly unexpected as the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) prepares to announce its final decision on the deal at 7am tomorrow, [...]