WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING June 18, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES Scrap free current accounts, says departing RBS retail head Regulators and polititicans should forcibly bring an end to popular free current accounts, the outgoing head of retail at Royal Bank of Scotland said in a parting shot to the industry. In comments that put him at odds with other senior banking executives, Brian [...]
Markets welcome Greek result June 18, 2012 The Nikkei opened sharply higher this morning as traders welcomed the Greek election result. The Japanese stock index jumped 1.7 per cent after opening, in the global markets’ first response to the Greeks handing the most seats in parliament to the pro-bailout New Democracy party. And the price of gold fell for the first time [...]
Egyptian Islamists claim slim lead June 18, 2012 Egypt’s Islamists claimed a narrow lead early today in vote-counting for the presidential election but the generals who have run the country since the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak issued new rules that made clear real power remains with the army. A decree from the ruling military council, published as the count got under way yesterday, [...]
Hollande’s left clinches victory in French vote June 18, 2012 FRANCOIS Hollande’s Socialist party won an absolute majority in France’s parliament yesterday, giving a boost to the President as he presses Germany to support debt-laden Eurozone states hit by austerity measures. The Socialists won between 296 and 321 seats in yesterday’s parliamentary election runoff, according to projections, giving him a comfortable majority to steer policies [...]
Q and A: What will happen in Greece now? June 18, 2012 Q How strong is the pro-bailout vote? A New Democracy got close to 30 per cent of the vote, followed by anti-bailout Syriza on 27 per cent. It may not sound like a big victory, but the winning party gets a bonus of 50 seats in parliament to give them an advantage in forming a [...]
Spanish banks may need ECB liquidity help June 18, 2012 SPAIN’S banks might need further help from the European Central Bank (ECB) after underestimating their losses, a top minister said yesterday. Deputy economy minister Inigo Mendez de Vigo told a Spanish newspaper that the extra liquidity injection from the ECB would help, just days after the IMF said the sector needed a €40bn (£32.2bn) recapitalisation. [...]
Europe’s plan to rescue Spanish banks will be an expensive mistake, our City panel warns June 18, 2012 OUR PANEL of City professionals has given a resounding thumbs down to Europe’s bailout of Spanish banks, with fewer than one in ten believing the rescue will work. Our Voice of The City panel, run with PoliticsHome, showed that close to 84 per cent of respondents think the €100bn bank bailout plan announced last week [...]
World Bank chief Zoellick says Europe doing too little too late June 17, 2012 EUROPEAN leaders dealing with the sovereign debt crisis have done too little, too late, outgoing World Bank chief Robert Zoellick said yesterday, warning that Europe risks losing influence and developing nations now face increasing market uncertainty. “European politicians always act a day late and promise one euro too little. Then, when it gets tight, they [...]
Greek election buys time for smaller Cyprus June 17, 2012 GREECE’S election has pulled its smaller neighbour Cyprus back from the precipice – for now – according to experts. “Not Armageddon just yet. Armageddon put off for another day,” said Fiona Mullen, a Nicosia-based economist for the consultancy firm Sapienta, who estimates Cyprus would need €10bn or more if Greece were pushed out of the [...]
Credit Suisse boss: no need for new shares June 17, 2012 CREDIT Suisse has no plans to issue new shares after the Swiss central bank called on it to improve its capital base, chief executive Brady Dougan was quoted as saying yesterday. “Of course I am disappointed. FINMA has given us directions as to how we should strengthen capital. We are fulfilling those,” said Dougan. “Even [...]