A changing global balance of power September 19, 2010 IT should have been cause for some (modest) celebration – yet nobody even noticed as another milestone on the road to recovery was finally passed the other day. The total industrial output of the G7 – the UK, the US and five other top nations – added to that of the seven largest emerging economies [...]
Greek stress tests delayed September 19, 2010 BANK stress tests on Greece have been delayed while the international community gauges the success of the country’s capital raising programme. The International Monetary Fund (IMF), European Commission and European Central Bank (ECB) – known as the “troika” – has agreed with Greece’s central bank to postpone testing banks’ solvency by one month to the [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING September 19, 2010 THE SUNDAYS The Sunday Telegraph CHEYNE CAPITAL SHUTS EQUITY FUND AFTER POOR PERFORMANCE London-based hedge fund Cheyne Capital has closed a much-heralded equities fund only a year after it opened. The fund, which it is believed was equivalent to around 1 per cent of the approximate £5bn Cheyne has under management, closed after a dissapointing [...]
Emerging markets M&A high September 19, 2010 Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in emerging markets has pushed above the European level of deal-making for the first time. This year, emerging market targeted M&A volume is up by more than two-thirds to $575.7bn (£368bn) while the European level has increased by just 20 per cent to $550.2bn, according to Dealogic data. Figures show emerging [...]
US TARP cases set to continue September 19, 2010 The US Treasury’s $700bn bailout fund officially expires in two weeks, but Neil Barofsky, the top cop for the Troubled Asset Relief Programme, is still hard at work. He is hiring new staff and opening four regional branch offices to pursue TARP-related fraud cases and monitor remaining taxpayer investments for years to come. Barofsky, the [...]
HSBC nearing a verdict on chairmanship September 19, 2010 A SUCCESSOR to HSBC chairman Stephen Green could be announced as soon as next week, it emerged over the weekend. Former Goldman Sachs investment banker John Thornton is still widely tipped as one of the favourites to step into Green’s shoes after he resigned to become trade and investment minister in the coalition government. However, [...]
Unite to clash with BMI in High Court September 19, 2010 BMI, the British carrier, is to come face to face with trade union Unite in the High Court today over a pay freeze dispute. Unite, which has also launched legal action against British Airways, is taking the BMI to court for a “breach of contract” over failure to increase pay for 3,000 BMI staff. The [...]
Investec plans to launch £250m securitisation to test the market September 19, 2010 SOUTH African banking group Investec plans to test the market with a £250m securitisation of “non-standard” mortgages, including some subprime loans. If it is successful, the deal would mark the first time subprime mortgages have been securitised in Europe since the financial crisis. People familiar with Investec’s plans said they had lined up a selection [...]
Commission prepares to reveal agenda September 19, 2010 SIR John Vickers, the chairman of the government’s independent commission on banking, has privately outlined his desire to tone down the “fictional and emotive” nature of the banking debate ahead of the release of an issues paper this week. Vickers, the former boss of the Office of Fair Trading, believes that presenting a logical and [...]
Default risks keep cost of lending high September 19, 2010 AN INCREASE in financial institutions’ perceived riskiness and their need to shore up balance sheets in the wake of the credit crisis has kept the cost of borrowing high despite the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) slashing headline interest rates to historic lows, the Bank of England will say today in its latest quarterly bulletin. Despite [...]