FSA admits it joined market mass delusion December 12, 2011 THE FINANCIAL Services Authority (FSA) participated in a mass “delusion” that drove markets and underlay a flawed regulatory regime in the run-up to RBS’s collapse, the authority concluded yesterday in its long-awaited report on the collapse of the bank. The FSA had “a tendency to share the delusions of the then conventional confidence”, the report [...]
RBS REPORT: AT A GLANCE December 12, 2011 ● Why publish this report? Last year the FSA caused a public outcry by saying it would take no action against RBS chief executive Fred Goodwin and others despite a 17-month investigation. After pressure from MPs such as Andrew Tyrie, it agreed to produce a full report. ● Cause of RBS’ losses The FSA said [...]
INVESTIGATION OF A BANK FAILURE December 12, 2011 “Two lever arch folders and a CD” – the amount of information given to RBS by ABN Amro in April 2007 On management failures: “RBS management and board undoubtedly made many decisions which, at least in retrospect, were poor” On the ABN Amro acquisition: “the board decided to go ahead with it on the basis [...]
Regulator also shared investors’ hubris December 12, 2011 MARKETS are very good at telling us there’s a problem – like ratings agencies – when it’s bleeding obvious,” FSA chair Lord Turner opined yesterday. Unfortunately, if there is one thing the FSA’s 450-page report made obvious yesterday, that adage could just as well apply to regulators. Determined readers of the tome were treated to [...]
CITY STILL WITHIN OUR GRASP, SAYS REHN December 12, 2011 BRITAIN’S veto of a new European treaty to tighten fiscal oversight of states will not stop Europe regulating the City, Olli Rehn, the European Union’s economic and monetary affairs commissioner, said yesterday. Rehn said the UK’s veto was a matter of “regret” as Europe did not want it “on the sidelines”. The European Commission, meanwhile, [...]
FSA vows no repeat of ABN Amro fiasco December 12, 2011 THE CITY regulator has vowed to get “deeply into the guts” of any future financial services takeover on the scale of Royal Bank of Scotland’s acquisition of ABN Amro. Chairman Lord Turner said the Financial Services Authority would take a far more proactive approach today to the €71bn (£47bn) takeover of the Dutch bank, led [...]
RBS: WHO TAKES THE BLAME? December 12, 2011 Sir Fred Goodwin The FSA had harboured worries about Fred the Shred’s internal dominance as far back as 2003. It criticised the ABN Amro deal, his brainchild, as a “gamble” and dismissed the due diligence carried out as little more than “two lever arch folders and a CD”. Goodwin’s relationship with the FSA slumped to [...]
Cash bid for Endemol in face of debt December 12, 2011 TIME Warner has revised its bid for the debt-ridden television production company Endemol, restating its previous proposal of €1bn (£859m) as an all-cash offer. This comes amid talks of debt restructuring at the Dutch company behind Big Brother and Deal or No Deal, which has racked up €2.8bn of debt. It is expected that Endemol’s [...]
Intel sales hit by Thai hard drive drought December 12, 2011 SHARES in US chip maker Intel fell more than four per cent in trading yesterday as it warned that supply shortages of computer hard drives caused by floods in Thailand would hurt its revenue in the current quarter. More than 600 people have died in the flooding, which has caused billions of dollars in damages [...]
Virgin wades back into the fight for BMI December 12, 2011 VIRGIN Atlantic has muscled into the auction for BMI, a month after British Airways parent IAG agreed to buy the airline. Lufthansa, which owns BMI, said yesterday it has also reached an agreement in principle to sell the carrier Virgin, stressing that its deal with IAG had not been exclusive. Virgin, which has shown interest [...]
