Greek-German threat to new tensions pose bailout deal February 13, 2012 POLITICAL grumblings in Greece and Germany cast doubt over prospects of a successful bailout agreement yesterday, marring the relief from an austerity deal passed by Greece’s MPs on Sunday. Despite parliament’s endorsement, the main party leaders must sign a pledge that they will stand by the measures if victorious in upcoming elections – one of [...]
ECB keeps bond purchases low February 13, 2012 THE EUROPEAN Central Bank kept its controversial government bond purchases to an absolute minimum last week, spending less than €150m for the third week running and shrugging off anxieties surrounding Greece’s strained debt deal. The ECB has all but halted its purchases of troubled Eurozone debt over the last month and a half, following both [...]
Spain’s banks hit by downgrade February 13, 2012 FITCH and Standard & Poor’s both downgraded Spanish banks yesterday, following earlier downward revisions to the sovereign’s credit rating. Fitch took notches off four Spanish banks, including BBVA, while S&P downgraded 15 financial groups. And S&P went even further, by slashing the rating of Spain’s entire lending sector. The Banking Industry Country Risk Assessment (BIRCA) [...]
A DONE DEAL? THE NEXT STEPS FOR THE GREEK BAILOUT PLAN February 13, 2012 It’s all in the detail Greece’s government must persuade international lenders that it has detailed €325m of additional cuts, on top of existing measures – and that its political leaders pledge to carry out the austerity reforms. Private bond holders await A deal for private debt holders to take a 70 per cent haircut has [...]
Austerity vote gets through but ordinary citizens despair February 13, 2012 ATHENIANS spent yesterday inspecting the damage to their city after yet another night of social unrest left its mark on Greece’s capital. City authorities said 150 shops were looted and 93 buildings were wrecked or seriously damaged. Youth unemployment is running at 50 per cent and groups from the provinces have flocked to the capital [...]
CITY VIEWS: DO YOU THINK GREECE WILL CUT SPENDING AS IT HAS PLEDGED? February 13, 2012 BEN BALLARD | CITY OF LONDON “Yes, I think they will follow through with the government spending cuts, despite the public feeling. It is their only possibility to survive.” MICHAEL SCOTT | SJ BERWIN “I do not think they will be able to; the government doesn’t have sufficient par to follow through. Realistically they will [...]
Economists: Merlin data is worthless February 13, 2012 ECONOMISTS have dismissed the government’s Project Merlin figures as bearing no relation at all to the availability of credit in the economy. The government struck a deal with banks last year under which they agreed to boost lending in return for less anti-bank rhetoric from ministers. The Bank of England released figures yesterday showing that [...]
New payout for clients of failed broker MF Global February 13, 2012 THE administrators of the British arm of MF Global said payments to clients of the defunct brokerage will reach $31m (£19.6m) in the coming days. KPMG said $19m will be released this week after it agreed on Friday to hand back $12m. The interim payouts will affect about 1,900 clients in total. Staff from KPMG [...]
Lords demand facts on EU veto negotiations February 13, 2012 A PARLIAMENTARY committee has slammed the government’s inability to explain what “safeguards” it was demanding from European nations when Prime Minister David Cameron vetoed an EU treaty in December. The House of Lords EU Committee said that it has “repeatedly” asked ministers what exactly was at stake at the summit and has yet to get [...]
Confirmed: Vodafone eye on CWW deal February 13, 2012 SHARES in Cable & Wireless Worldwide (CWW) soared 45 per cent yesterday as Vodafone admitted it was weighing up the benefits of a bid to buy the dwindling telecoms group. Following reports over the weekend, Vodafone released a statement confirming it is in “the very early stages of evaluating the merits of a potential offer [...]
