Alarm hits US as county seeks $5bn bankruptcy November 9, 2011 LEGISLATORS in Alabama’s Jefferson County yesterday voted 4 to 1 to file for bankruptcy court protection in what would be the biggest municipal bankruptcy in US history. Despite a tentative deal with creditors reached in September to settle $3.14bn (£1.97bn) of debt, county commissioners this week resurrected the threat of a Chapter 9 bankruptcy filing [...]
WHAT IS ITALY’S PROBLEM? November 9, 2011 Q.WHY DO HIGH YIELDS ON ITALY’S DEBT MATTER? A.A large proportion of Italian GDP is spent on debt interest. Earlier this year the European Commission forecast Italy’s budget would be in what economists call a primary surplus to the tune of 0.75 per cent of GDP. However, once interest payments are added, this falls to [...]
French bank taps ECB funds November 9, 2011 THE EUROPEAN Central Bank’s (ECB) second covered bond purchase programme is underway, with Banque de France making an order in the taps of Credit Mutuel Arkea’s outstanding French Obligations à L’Habitat, according to a syndicate banker. CM Arkea opened books yesterday morning, tapping a €1.25bn 2.5 per cent June 2015 issue at mid-swaps plus 100 basis [...]
World faces risk of a lost decade November 9, 2011 THE EUROZONE debt crisis risks plunging the global economy into a Japan-style “lost decade”, the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned yesterday. “If we do not act boldly and if we do not act together, the economy around the world runs the risk of downward spiral of uncertainty, financial instability and potential collapse of [...]
Police crush new tent city November 9, 2011 POLICE arrested 24 people yesterday as thousands of tuition fee protesters marched through London, but attempts to set up a new “tent city” were quickly foiled. Widespread violence failed to materialise after the Met swamped the capital with 4,000 officers. Activists were held on suspicion of offences including violent disorder, affray and breach of the [...]
Cameron: I’ll crack down on RBS bonuses November 9, 2011 PRIME Minister David Cameron said he would not allow RBS to pay out £500m in bonuses – which the bank never intended to do. He was asked in parliament by Labour MP Lindsay Roy whether it is “right and proper and in any way defensible” that the 83 per cent state-owned bank would shell out [...]
Goldman lost on 21 days in three months November 9, 2011 GOLDMAN Sachs lost money trading in 21 days out of the third quarter of this year, it revealed yesterday in regulatory fillings. That compares to losses on just two days in the same quarter last year on its proprietary trading desk, which recorded net negative revenues of $2.48bn (£1.56bn) for the third quarter of this [...]
HSBC: Vickers cost too high to stay in UK November 9, 2011 HSBC will leave London if there are not substantial changes to the policies proposed by the Vickers Commission, its chief financial officer Iain Mackay said yesterday. Speaking during the bank’s third-quarter results presentation, Mackay said that Vickers’ demand that bank issue billions in senior unsecured debt in order to absorb losses if it fails would [...]
Co-op bids on smaller Lloyds asset package than NBNK November 9, 2011 THE CO-OPERATIVE Group insisted on a drastically slimmed down package of assets when it put in its second-round bid for 632 Lloyds branches yesterday. City A.M. understands that the Co-op has demanded that Lloyds narrow the funding gap between the loans and deposits of the package by significantly more than its rival bidder NBNK had. [...]
Bailed-out Dexia reveals €6.3bn loss on Belgian and Greek arms November 9, 2011 STRICKEN Franco-Belgian bank Dexia reported a one-off €6.3bn (£5.36bn) loss in the third quarter as its break up continued. It faced costs of €4bn on the nationalisation of Dexia Bank Belgium and a loss of €2.3bn on its holdings of Greek government debt. The group, which last month received a €90bn bailout, yesterday also listed [...]
