Property debt hits 30bn December 3, 2009 THE value of commercial real estate debt in default or in breach of key lending agreements more than doubled to about £30bn in the first six months of the year, according to a study. Banks have also extended or refinanced an extra £16bn in the first-half of the year, the report from De Montfort University [...]
Bernanke defends his post at the Fed December 3, 2009 FEDERAL RESERVE chairman Ben Bernanke staunchly defended his role as head of the US central bank in front of the Senate Banking Committee yesterday. He admitted the Fed could have done more to avoid the crisis but said that without the strong action taken, the consequences could have been markedly worse. The Senate is currently [...]
Selling bonds on the cards at the Bank December 3, 2009 IN WHAT has been interpreted as its first steps towards ending the £200bn quantitative easing (QE) programme, the Bank of England yesterday set out proposals to allow it to sell as well as buy corporate bonds in the secondary market.The Bank said: “The focus of the corporate bond secondary market scheme is to facilitate market-making [...]
ECB prepares for the exit as it unwinds crisis measures December 3, 2009 THE European Central Bank (ECB) announced yesterday it would start to unwind some of its monetary support for the Eurozone, although it gave no indication of when interest rates might start to rise. Speaking after the ECB’s monthly monetary policy meeting, President Jean-Claude Trichet outlined the plans for tightening. He confirmed that December’s 12-month liquidity [...]
US services industry contracts while growth in the UKslows December 3, 2009 THEservices industry in America unexpectedly contracted in November, while growth in the services sector in the UK eased.The US ISM non-manufacturing survey posted a reading of 48.7, below the 50 point that separates growth from contraction. This cast a cloud over the better news that has been emerging from the US jobs market over recent [...]
BarCap puts up salaries as bonuses fall December 3, 2009 BARCLAYS Capital is planning to significantly crank up the basic pay it gives its 22,000 investment bankers in a move to keep pace with salary hikes from competitors. The bank is said to be preparing salary rises of up to 150 per cent, with the cap on basic pay to increase from £120,000 to £300,000 [...]
US taxpayers start to reap good returns December 3, 2009 US taxpayers have so far made about $11bn (£6.7bn) from the state bailout of troubled banks, with Bank of America becoming the latest firm to repay its bailout money. Bank of America surprisingly said on Wednesday night it would repay the entire $45bn it received from the government under the Troubled Asset Relief Programme (Tarp), [...]
Goldman justifies its bonus pool December 3, 2009 GOLDMAN SACHS has been holding talks with shareholders to justify its pay policy, which has seen the US investment bank set aside a $16.7bn (£9.4bn) bonus pool for staff over the first nine months of 2009, it emerged yesterday. Goldman has also put a detailed 14-page memo up on its website, detailing its remuneration scheme. [...]
CITY VIEWS: WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF THE ROW OVER BONUSES AT RBS? December 3, 2009 ANDREW CRAWFORD INTUITION“I think RBS is stuck between a rock and a hard place and government should never have bought up the bank in the first place. Now RBS can’t award the bonuses, but without them it will lose its ability to remain competitive.” BEN REED AXIS CAPITAL “I think that the most the government [...]
SARKOZY BOTTLES IT December 3, 2009 FRENCH President Nicolas Sarkozy sparked a fresh diplomatic spat with London after he pulled out of a visit to Number 10 Downing Street yesterday. Sarkozy had been due to meet Prime Minister Gordon Brown after a tumultuous week in which he crowed over the appointment of Frenchman Michel Barnier to the EU finance brief. French [...]
