UniCredit boss Profumo set to resign today September 20, 2010 UniCredit chief executive Alessandro Profumo is expected to hand in his resignation today after tensions over stake-building by Libyan groups in the bank boiled over. Profumo has been accused by some Italian shareholders and politicians of letting Libya increase its stake in the bank without informing other top managers. It was not immediately clear, however, [...]
Record yields to hit Ireland bond auction September 20, 2010 STRICKEN Ireland is poised to re-enter the debt markets today but record yields on its government bonds mean it will have to pay a steep price for failing to convince investors that it can meet the escalating cost of bailing out its banks. The extra yield premium demanded by investors to hold Irish 10-year bonds [...]
UK triple-A credit rating maintained September 20, 2010 CREDIT ratings agency Moody’s has maintained Britain’s triple-A status, citing the coalition government’s commitment to fiscal discipline and the flexibility of the UK economy. In a major coup for the coalition government, Moody’s said its deficit-cutting plans, the long maturity profile of UK government debt and the likelihood that growth will continue even in the [...]
Borrowing at a 10-year low September 20, 2010 MORTGAGE lending in the UK hit a 10-year low in August falling to £11.4bn, down 14 per cent from £13.3bn in July, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) said yesterday. The figure was also down six per cent from £12.1bn in August 2009 with the CML warning lending levels were likely to remain subdued until [...]
US homebuilder confidence remains stuck at rock bottom September 20, 2010 AMERICAN homebuilder confidence remained unchanged in September, having fallen to its lowest level for 18 months in August, as concern about the rate of foreclosures and poor job prospects continued to dampened demand, a report said yesterday. The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) report showed homebuilders felt there was little reason for optimism with [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: HOW SIGNIFICANT ARE THE CML LENDING FIGURES ? September 20, 2010 ALAN CLARKE | UK ECONOMIST, BNP PARIBAS I think the housing market is going from bad to worse. We are seeing confirmation that we are already in a double dip recession for housing, and are going to see falling property prices over the next six months. GEORGE BUCKLEY| UK ECONOMIST, DEUTSCHE BANK We are seeing [...]
WTO predicts record trade during 2010 September 20, 2010 International trade will grow by a record 13.5 per cent this year, bouncing back from a dismal 2009 and signalling an improvement in economic activity around the world, the World Trade Organization (WTO) forecast yesterday. The WTO had predicted in March that trade in merchandise goods would rebound 10 per cent this year as the [...]
Consolidation is imminent as BayernLB eyes WestLB September 20, 2010 BayernLB is interested in snapping up fellow German lender WestLB, a source close to the Munich-based bank said yesterday. The move comes amid a fresh push for consolidation among state-controlled landesbanks in Europe’s biggest economy. “The considerations are at a very early stage,” the source said, adding negotiations are to be held with an open [...]
FSA teams up with US agency to monitor firms September 20, 2010 THE FINANCIAL Service Authority (FSA) has signed a deal with one of its US counterparts in a bid to more closely supervise the world’s largest securities firms and markets, it said yesterday. The FSA signed a memorandum of understanding with the US Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) on 15 September, agreeing to share information on [...]
Lib Dem revolt overshadows Clegg speech September 20, 2010 NICK Clegg launched an impassioned defence of his decision to cut a power sharing deal with the Tories yesterday, after his party issued a stinging rebuke over the coalition’s education plans. Speaking in his keynote address to the Liberal Democrat party conference, Clegg said the party had not “lost its soul” by signing up to [...]
