French banks boost their deposit base by €130bn January 18, 2012 FRENCH lenders brought in €130bn (£108bn) more in customer deposits last year, according to ratings agency Fitch, shoring up their ability to weather difficult European funding conditions. The agency said the new cash had come “partly at the expense of European money market funds”, with lenders offering attractive introductory interest rates to lure deposits away. [...]
Charles Schwab meets forecasts January 18, 2012 CHARLES Schwab’s quarterly profit last night met analysts’ lowered expectations, amid a tough environment of shrinking interest rate margins and a pullback in trading by retail investors. The bank and brokerage, which has offices throughout the US and in London, earned $163m (£105m) in the fourth quarter, compared to $119m a year earlier. Asset management [...]
700 will go in Lloyds job cuts January 18, 2012 LLOYDS bank is axing 700 jobs as part of a move which will ultimately see 15,000 employees made redundant. This has been expected since last June, when Lloyds chief António Horta-Osório announced a restructuring plan to save £1.5bn a year by halving the bank’s global presence by 2014. The job cuts will be made across [...]
BNY Mellon’s earnings plunge as its fees slide January 18, 2012 BANK of New York Mellon yesterday posted a 26 per cent fall in fourth quarter earnings, blaming a drop in fees and a restructuring charge for the slump. BNY Mellon reported net income of $505m (£327m), compared with $679m a year earlier. The results, which fell short of analyst forecasts, included a $107m restructuring charge. [...]
State Street’s cautious outlook hits share price January 18, 2012 STATE Street’s shares fell over eight per cent yesterday, as the firm posted a sharp rise in fourth quarter results but warned it was ramping up its cost cutting plan to compensate for clients taking less risk. State Street, one of the world’s biggest service providers for institutional investors, said income available to common shareholders [...]
Profits and loans rising at Bancorp January 18, 2012 BANCORP, one of America’s biggest regional banks, posted a 40 per cent rise in net income yesterday on the back of its core banking business. Net income was $1.35bn (£875m), up from $974m a year ago and ahead of Wall Street estimates. Net interest income – the difference between what the bank earned on loans [...]
Fresh hopes over deal for Greek debt January 18, 2012 HOPES of a deal to avoid a disorderly Greek default grew yesterday, as participants in crunch talks suggested a compromise was nearing. Private holders of Greek government debt returned to the table in Athens, after discussions with Greek authorities broke down at the end of last week. One source close to the talks said logic [...]
Non, non, non: Britain may wield its veto over tax plan January 18, 2012 BRITAIN is prepared to use its veto to stop harmonised tax rates being introduced across the European Union. A Whitehall official told City A.M.: “We won’t agree to anything that surrenders control over tax policy.” It is understood that France and Germany are pushing the EU to speed up efforts to coordinate corporate tax rates [...]
Monti: there will be no return to EU treaty of 27 January 18, 2012 THERE is no prospect of going back to a European treaty signed by all 27 members of the union, Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti said yesterday during a visit to the London Stock Exchange (LSE). His view dashes the hopes of some Europhiles that Britain could extract enough concessions to reverse its veto of an [...]
McKinsey in warning on British debt January 18, 2012 THE UK may miss out on long term economic growth if it does not speed up the rate of debt reduction, according to a report by McKinsey Global Institute (MGI). Researchers compared the UK’s current deleveraging with historic debt reduction efforts and concluded Britain may face an extended period of restrained growth, similar to that [...]
