BofA names investment banking chief January 30, 2012 BANK of America Merrill Lynch has appointed the Austrian-born former Lehman Brothers banker Christian Meissner to head up its investment banking operations. Bank of America, which has gradually taken Merrill Lynch forwards after a rocky start for the merged operation, will be hoping that Meissner can at least consolidate on recent gains. Since joining from [...]
Nothing but praise for the new man at the top January 30, 2012 IT’S not often that rival investment bankers say nice things about each other, but when news broke of Christian Meissner’s appointment as sole head of investment banking at Bank of America Merrill Lynch yesterday it was greeted with almost universal approval. “He’s a really good guy,” said a source at Goldman Sachs, where the Austrian-born [...]
RAB boss exits after hedgie goes private January 30, 2012 THE CHIEF executive of RAB Capital has left the hedge fund manager, it emerged yesterday, marking the latest chapter in a long saga of tumbling assets and defecting clients. Former Credit Suisse executive Charles Kirwan-Taylor left RAB at the end of last year, having joined in September 2010. Michael Alen-Buckley, executive chairman of RAB, told [...]
Eurosceptic fury over PM climbdown January 30, 2012 EUROSCEPTIC Tory MPs last night convened in Westminster to plot how to fight back against the Prime Minister’s perceived U-turn over a new Eurozone fiscal compact. David Cameron was hailed last month for appearing to protect European Union institutions from being utilised as part of increased fiscal union between euro member states. Yet despite describing [...]
Debt talk delays pull down euro January 30, 2012 TALKS to agree a haircut and bond swap with private sector holders of Greek debt failed again to reach a conclusion last night, senior Bundesbank official Andreas Dombret confirmed. The euro fell 0.9 per cent against the dollar to $1.31, and 0.9 per cent against the yen at 100.55 yen. Equities also dropped globally. A [...]
US makes cuts to boost saving January 30, 2012 US HOUSEHOLDS saw income growth accelerate to 0.5 per cent in the month to December, but cut back spending by 0.1 per cent in real terms in the month, the Commerce Department said yesterday. Spending is now at its weakest since June 2011, though economists were cautiously optimistic that rising wages will keep supporting demand [...]
Germany slows EU nosedive January 30, 2012 STRONG German and British confidence figures out yesterday helped stabilise the EU’s economic outlook – though other states are still weakening. The European Commission’s economic sentiment indicator rose 0.6 points in the Eurozone to 93.4 in January – the first rise since March 2011, though the index remains well below the long-term average of 100. [...]
Commerzbank chief: bonus cut was right January 30, 2012 THE handling of 9,000 job cuts was a bigger concern than the decision to renege on a “promise” to pay €50m (£41.8m) in bonuses, the chief executive of Commerzbank told the High Court yesterday. Martin Blessing (pictured) said the redundancies were “more important than the bonus pool” at that time and insisted he acted with [...]
CITY VIEWS: SHOULD POLITICIANS BE ALLOWED TO RUN BANKS?* January 30, 2012 CARLOS SANTOS | BREWIN DOLPHIN “Personally I don’t think that the politicians have a right to run the banks. But they definitely have the right to express their opinions if they might be able to possibly help the banks.” ANTHONY WHITTAKER | NATIXIS “No, definitely not. Politicians aren’t qualified to make those sorts of decisions. [...]
City watchdog boosts wholesale banking team January 30, 2012 THE FSA has brought in another senior investment banker to be an adviser on its regulation of investment banks. Will Samuel will be seen as another poacher-turned-gamekeeper, joining the regulator to beef up its wholesale expertise. Samuel, a vice chairman at Lazard since 2003, has been in banking 30 years, including stints at Citigroup and [...]
