What will the Libor review entail? July 30, 2012 Q Why is the government in such a hurry to review the Libor rate? A The Treasury admits four weeks is a “challenging” timeframe. But it wants to feed the review’s conclusions into legislation that is currently before parliament. Q Who is leading the review and what format will it take? A Martin Wheatley, managing [...]
Credit Suisse finds bond buyers July 30, 2012 Credit Suisse said yesterday that major shareholders bought 64m of contingent convertible bonds not taken up by shareholders in its recent capital-raising. The Swiss bank’s shareholders soaked up SFr1.833bn (£1.19bn) of the instruments, which corresponds to a take-up rate of 96.6 per cent. The securities were backed by existing major investors such as Qatar and [...]
Private equity funds hit record July 30, 2012 Private equity firms managed over $3 trillion of funds for the first time at the end of last year, according to research released by Preqin yesterday. This reflects a nine per cent rise in assets by December compared to a year earlier, and comes after the bumper period in 2004-2007 when mega buyout funds drove [...]
Cheap money aids mortgage deals July 30, 2012 NatWest launches its first ever 2.95 per cent five year fixed rate mortgage today, after HSBC and Santander offered similar deals. But the offer is only for mortgages with loan to value ratios of 60 per cent or below, and comes with a £2,495 arrangement fee. Cheap money is finding its way into the mortgage [...]
HSBC penalty costs may rise to over $2bn July 30, 2012 EMBATTLED bank HSBC apologised for its failure to control money laundering yesterday as it admitted that a $2bn (£1.3bn) provision set aside to pay for a string of regulatory fiascos could shoot up in future. The bank, criticised by the US Senate two weeks ago for lax controls on payments between Mexico and the US, [...]
Forget the scandals for a moment July 30, 2012 LOOK beyond the huge numbers that HSBC has said it is putting aside for fines, and you might just find something that looks like a banking success story. While the world’s attention has understandably been distracted by Libor, PPI and tax accusations, Stuart Gulliver has been getting his house in order. This is most evident [...]
Westfield co-chief plans £3bn future investment into Britain July 30, 2012 AUSTRALIAN shopping mall developer Westfield plans to invest some £3bn expanding its presence in Britain, its co-chief executive said yesterday, providing a vote of confidence in the country’s struggling retail sector. The figure include the expansion of £2bn Westfield London in Shepherd’s Bush, proposals to redevelop Croydon’s Whitgift Centre and the development of the Broadway [...]
Sentiment dips in the Eurozone as talks roll on July 30, 2012 ECONOMIC sentiment in the beleaguered euro area has continued to sink in July, it emerged yesterday, as US Treasury secretary Timothy Geithner flew in for a crisis meeting with a senior German official. Business morale in the single currency area hit a 34-month low this month, according to official European Commission data, the pace of [...]
Italian yields stay high despite ECB leader’s words of comfort July 30, 2012 A RALLY in Italian government bonds showed signs of flagging yesterday as investors waited for European policymakers to back up pledges to safeguard the euro with new anti-crisis measures, while data showed Spain falling deeper into recession. Italy’s borrowing costs fell at a debt sale but remained elevated in a sign that nervousness was setting [...]
Troika stays to ensure Greece’s coalition agrees on €11.5bn cuts July 30, 2012 AUDITORS from the troika, made up of IMF, EU and European Central Bank officials, will remain in Greece to make sure politicians in the embattled Eurozone country agree on the cuts necessary for its aid package. Greece needs to find €11.5bn (£9bn) worth of cuts to get a €130bn bailout, but the governing coalition is [...]
