HSBC gets loophole in Vickers proposals December 19, 2011 HSBC scored a major lobbying victory yesterday after the government inserted a loophole into the Vickers Commission proposals that could exempt the bank from its most onerous capital requirements. The bank had warned that issuing a swathe of new debt instruments as per the Vickers recommendations could cost it $2.1bn extra a year. In response, [...]
Basel clarifies disclosure rules on bank capital December 19, 2011 BANKS across the world will have to use a common format for disclosing the size and quality of their capital safety buffers from 2013 to help reassure investors they are stable. The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, made up of regulators from nearly 30 countries, including the US, China, Japan and large EU countries, published [...]
VICKERS: WHAT HAPPENS NOW? December 19, 2011 Q. Do we finally have all the details of the coalition’s bank reform? A. No. All we have are the main outlines of its response to the Vickers Commission. Although some elements are clear, the most important details, such as precisely where the Treasury will come down on capital requirements and how the ring-fence will [...]
Saudi prince buys $300m Twitter stake December 19, 2011 SAUDI Prince Alwaleed has bought a $300m (£193m) stake in social networking company Twitter, leading to speculation that the micro-blogging site is inching closer to a public offering. However, it has been revealed that this transaction will not affect Twitter’s bank balance, as the shares were bought in a secondary purchase from existing stakeholders and [...]
Lucky 888 as gamers stay in December 19, 2011 BRITISH online gaming business 888 yesterday said its full-year earnings are set to be “significantly ahead of market expectations” due to an increasing trend of cash-conscious Britons staying at home and gambling online. The rosy forecast comes despite rising gaming duty and the company’s plans to invest in several newly-regulated markets across Europe. 888, which [...]
Yell gets time to sort its debt December 19, 2011 SHARES in directories business Yell rose yesterday, although they remain at a fraction of the 592p peak they reached five years ago, as the group’s lenders agreed to amend financial covenants. The new deal will see Yell’s creditors increase the headroom under the search company’s £2.6bn net debt, giving Yell more time to deliver on [...]
Gulf Keystone soars on talk of Exxon bid December 19, 2011 SHARES in oil explorer Gulf Keystone closed up 7.7 per cent yesterday on reports that Exxon Mobil was lining up a takeover bid. Its shares had rocketed as much as 32 per cent during the day, and was the second most-traded stock on AIM, with 46.8m shares changing hands. Gulf released a statement at 16.10 [...]
Qatar waiting on sidelines in Goldfields deal December 19, 2011 QATAR Holdings could yet provide some of the financing for the development of European Goldfields’ mining assets despite its deal being wrecked by a Canadian takeover. Eldorado Gold announced yesterday that it will acquire European Goldfields for C$2.5bn (£1.55bn) through a share swap that it aims to complete by the end of February. The deal [...]
Ocado slumps after grocery profits go off December 19, 2011 SHARES in Ocado took a battering yesterday after the online grocer warned that full-year profits would come in below expectations, due to problems at its main distribution centre in north London. The company, which sells goods from high-end supermarket chain Waitrose, said underlying earnings for the year would be within a range of £27.5m–£28.5m, down [...]
Delivery pioneer lacks capacity to grow December 19, 2011 EIGHTEEN months post float, and those distinctive delivery vans just aren’t looking so special anymore. Yesterday’s profit warning from chief executive Tim Steiner may have been expected at some point, but analysts clearly thought the company had some breathing room – now it’s going to be more under scrutiny than ever. And it’s not as [...]
