BNP Paribas offloads dollar assets to Wells February 22, 2012 WELLS Fargo is buying an energy lending business from BNP Paribas, in the US bank’s latest acquisition from a European bank seeking to shrink its balance sheet. The San Francisco-based bank is buying $9.5bn (£6.1bn) of total loan commitments, including $3.9bn in funded balances. BNP said the premium paid by Wells and other terms of [...]
Profit at St James’s Place up on turmoil February 22, 2012 THE chief executive of St James’s Place has said many FTSE-listed firms are undervalued, as the upmarket wealth manager reported a rise in profits and its dividend. “There has been a disconnect between the fundamental value of companies and their share price … 2011 was not a good year for markets,” David Bellamy told City [...]
Investment bank revenues improving over first quarter February 22, 2012 BUSINESS has been better than expected for investment banks so far this year, according to research by JP Morgan analysts, offering a glimmer of hope for the troubled industry. But the analysts, led by Kian Abouhossein, are still expecting the first quarter of this year to show a marked drop in revenues compared to the [...]
Volatility no trouble as traders push London Capital to income growth February 22, 2012 TRADERS rushed to cash in on global turmoil last year, boosting profits at spread betting firm London Capital Group. The firm said pre-tax profits for the year ending December 2011 rose nine per cent to £7.1m. London Capital, which specialises in spread-betting and online trading, reported a 13 per cent revenue rise to £39m. Chief [...]
UBS prepares new move on capital rules February 22, 2012 UBS might struggle to attract big institutional investors for more loss-absorbing bonds it wants to sell, after investors voiced distaste for the structure and price of an initial $2bn (£1.3bn) deal announced yesterday. UBS’s new bonds are designed to help bolster the bank in tough times by absorbing losses. Their value can be written down [...]
Fitch: Bailout is likely to fail February 22, 2012 GREECE has received a fresh blow as ratings agency Fitch downgraded the government, warning a “default is highly likely in the near term.” Even the shaky €130bn (£109.9bn) bailout deal, agreed by Eurozone leaders in the early hours of Tuesday morning, may not be implemented as parliamentarians in Germany’s ruling parties threatened to vote against [...]
Obama brings firms’ tax simplification to campaign February 22, 2012 PRESIDENT Barack Obama launched a dialogue with US companies yesterday over business tax reform, offering his first clear plan to cut the corporate tax rate, though with little prospect of it becoming law in an election year. The President proposed cutting the top corporate tax rate to 28 per cent from 35 per cent. This [...]
Hungary faces EU budget punishment February 22, 2012 THE EUROPEAN Commission (EC) yesterday proposed suspending some of its payments to Hungary because it is not satisfied that the country is trying hard enough to bring down its budget deficit. Hungary is set to lose €495m (£418.26m) next year, representing 0.5 per cent of the country’s GDP and 29 per cent of its income [...]
PM to hit out at anti-business snobbery in UK February 22, 2012 PRIME Minister David Cameron will attack “anti-business snobbery” in a speech to the Business in the Community conference today. Business is “the most powerful force for social progress the world has ever known”, he is expected to say, just two days after the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) accused some government policies and ministers of [...]
ECONOMICS | IN BRIEF February 22, 2012 IFS hits out at pension plan Changing employer pension schemes from the current “opt in” system to an auto-enrolment system will result in firms pushing up prices, reducing dividends and – mostly likely, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) believes – reducing wages. Making the switch between systems is a case of “bad timing” from [...]
