ECB bought 24pc of bonds at Lisbon sale February 21, 2011 THE European Central Bank (ECB) was forced to restart its special bond purchasing programme at an auction of Portuguese debt two weeks ago, figures out yesterday revealed. It bought €711m (£559m) worth of debt in an effort to bring down yields during Portugal’s last €3bn sale on 10 February, during which the sovereign’s 10-year debt [...]
Weber fires parting shot February 21, 2011 OUSTED ECB president candidate and Bundesbank chief Axel Weber said yesterday that the Eurozone is only a quarter of the way through its debt crisis and fired a parting shot at the ECB, saying its bond purchasing programme is a “short-term” and a “counterproductive” solution. Telling an audience in Dusseldorf that indebted Eurozone states must [...]
Spain’s cajas hold £84bn in bad assets February 21, 2011 SPAINISH savings banks are holding around €100bn (£84.3bn) “potentially problematic” real estate assets, according to the country’s central bank. The figure, which for the first time puts a material sum on the extent of the holdings by the unlisted regional banks, known as cajas, is as high as €217bn in total. Governor of the Bank [...]
Cocos held up by lack of ratings February 21, 2011 REGULATORY uncertainty and reluctant ratings agencies are holding up the development of a multi-billion pound market in contingent convertible bonds (cocos). The UK is ahead of many other nations due to the FSA having approved Lloyds’ cocos issuance in 2009, but banks are still waiting for a signal from the EU. “Regulatory certainty is what’s [...]
IT’S HAPPY FAMILIES AS LIZ GOES IN-HOUSE February 21, 2011 BEFORE heading out to lunch yesterday, Elisabeth Murdoch, or “Liz”, fired off a quick, “confidential” email to her several hundred employees at Shine Group, the media group snapped up by News Corp. Luckily, it was quickly forwarded on to The Capitalist. “I did want to take a minute to thank you all for your patience while [...]
Four-match ban for Milan skipper Gattuso February 21, 2011 AC MILAN captain Gennaro Gattuso has been banned for an additional four matches by Uefa for his headbutt on Tottenham coach Joe Jordan during last week’s Champions League defeat at the San Siro. Meanwhile, Spurs have suffered a blow ahead of tonight’s Premier League trip to Blackpool after forward Rafael van der Vaart was ruled [...]
Inside Track February 21, 2011 IT’S been a good few days for some of the world’s investment banks, with merger mania hitting the stock exchanges, the final consummation of the drugs merger between Sanofi-Aventis and US biotech firm Genzyme and then yesterday’s £1.3bn spirits bid from the drinks group Diageo. It’s not quite an unrestrained takeover environment but it certainly [...]
Close buys Zurich deposit book February 21, 2011 Financial group Close Brothers is buying a £300m deposit book from Zurich Financial’s Dunbar Bank unit, helping improve Close Brothers’ short-term funding needs. Close Brothers said it was paying a premium of £1.5m for the assets. It added that the acquisition would have a neutral effect on its earnings for 2011 but would have a [...]
Commerzbank hangs on to CEO February 21, 2011 Commerzbank will extend the contract of Martin Blessing as chief executive, it is understood. The supervisory board of Germany’s second-biggest lender is said to have arranged a meeting to discuss the contract today. A spokesman for the bank declined comment. Blessing, 47, became chief executive in May 2008 and his contract was to expire in [...]
Network Rail plots revamp February 21, 2011 NETWORK Rail formally announced plans to split into nine separate divisions yesterday in a bid to reduce costs and fend off calls for an even more dramatic overhaul. The devolution of power to regional managers is one of chief executive David Higgins’ first moves since taking over three weeks ago. But the Department for Transport [...]
