Finland gives its backing to EFSF extension September 28, 2011 THE FINNISH parliament yesterday backed extending the powers of the Eurozone bailout fund as members of the ruling coalition sought to keep the country on a pro-Europe course. Lawmakers comfortably supported the new powers for the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), with 103 in favour, 66 against and 30 absent from yesterday’s vote. The Finnish [...]
Unicredit execs declare that the euro is finished September 28, 2011 THE EURO is dead and cannot be saved, while Greece will inevitably default, Attila Szalay-Berzeviczy, head of global securities services at UniCredit Group wrote in an article on a Hungarian website yesterday. And Unicredit chief executive Federico Ghizzoni was reported to have said that US banks are withdrawing from the region entirely. “Having today US banks [...]
Short selling ban extended until November September 28, 2011 BANS on short-selling stocks in France Italy and Spain have again been extended. The Italian and French bans will remain until 11 November, while the Spanish curbs would remain until market conditions changed, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) said in a statement. The three countries introduced the bans on 12 August in a [...]
Lloyds gets just one bid on branches September 28, 2011 LLOYDS has received just one formal bid on the 632 branches it is selling. NBNK Investments, the buy-out vehicle set up by Lord Levene, bid substantially below the £2bn that Lloyds is hoping to get. As part of the conditions of the bid, City A.M. understands that NBNK would agree to buy only a portion of [...]
CITY VIEWS: DO WE NEED ANOTHER RETAIL BANK? September 28, 2011 JASON PHILLIPS | REED PROFESSIONAL “It’s definitely a good idea to open up to another bank. All we have at the moment is the big four, and they’re doing an awful job. The regulations on them are too lax, so they can pull in huge profits.” ANDREW CUSKELLY | EMC “I think another bank would [...]
Barclays is top of the league for complaints September 28, 2011 BRITISH customers made more complaints about Barclays than any other banking brand in the first half of the year, according to data released by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) yesterday. Barclays was the subject of 251,563 complaints, with 53 per cent of closed cases upheld in customers’ favour, the regulator’s figures showed. Next on the [...]
Man shares plunge after $2.6bn pulled September 28, 2011 INVESTORS are pulling money from Man Group at the fastest rate since early 2009, the world’s largest listed hedge fund said yesterday. Man shocked the City when it said clients withdrew a net $2.6bn (£1.67bn) between the start of July and the end of September. Analysts at Singer Capital Markets had expected net outflows of [...]
Hedgie fee model is not fit for such volatile times September 28, 2011 THE reaction to yesterday’s Man Group statement was a tad overdone. Prior to the announcement, its market cap was £5.7bn, roughly eight per cent of its £71bn of assets under management (last stated at the end of June). Following the revelation that assets under management had fallen to £65bn, its market cap plunged to £4.5bn, [...]
Liontrust tamed by slumping equities September 28, 2011 UK funds house Liontrust Asset Management said its assets fell more than six per cent in its first-half, despite pulling in new client money in August, after slumping stock markets hit its core range of equity funds. Liontrust, which is trying to rebuild its business after the exit of two star managers — and the [...]
Losses soar at Ambrian Capital after write-down September 28, 2011 LOSSES at precious metals specialist Ambrian Capital more than doubled after it made a £2.15m goodwill write-down on its broking business. The impairment charge on Ambrian Partners, a corporate finance and research subsidiary, pushed the group to a £1.18m pre-tax loss for the half-year to 30 June, up 156 per cent on the same period [...]
