EU urged to ban shorting June 9, 2010 GERMANY and France called for European Union-wide curbs on naked short-selling yesterday, a month after Berlin plunged financial markets into chaos with a unilateral ban. In a joint letter to European Commission president José Manuel Barroso, Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Nicolas Sarkozy said resurgent volatility raised “legitimate questions” around credit default swaps and short-selling. [...]
Greece to tap second part of €110bn bailout in September June 9, 2010 GREECE will receive the second instalment of a €110bn (£90bn) bailout from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on schedule in September, its finance minister said yesterday. “Of course [the second payment] is secure,” George Papaconstantinou told reporters during a press briefing. Greece has promised to ram through deficit-reduction measures totalling €45bn [...]
Spanish banks face repo issues June 9, 2010 SMALLER Spanish banks are losing access to the European repo market due to concerns Spain could be heading for a debt crisis along the lines of EU partner Greece. The repo market is wary of smaller Spanish lenders because of their real estate losses and because they can only offer Spanish government bonds as collateral.
Portugal: We will not take aid June 9, 2010 PORTUGAL’S Treasury chief ruled out drawing on the Eurozone aid package, citing a successful bond sale and a strong economic recovery in the first quarter, which the statistics agency revised upwards. Treasury Secretary Carlos Pina said the sale of €1.5bn (£1.3bn) in two bond maturities “confirmed the confidence investors have in Portugal”.
DUTCH BALLOT TO DETERMINE CUTS June 9, 2010 DUTCH voters went to the polls yesterday in an election to determine the extent of the country’s austerity measures. A narrow victory is expected for the centre-right People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy. The snap election was called in February following the collapse of Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende’s coalition.
Irish banking cash calls off to good start June 9, 2010 BANK of Ireland yesterday sent a welcome positive signal to fellow troubled Irish lenders by securing a strong 94.6 per cent take-up for its €1.7bn (£1.4bn) cash call. The success of the bank’s 3-for-2 rights issue, which was at a price of €0.55 per new share, a 41.7 per cent discount to the theoretical ex-rights [...]
Pru shareholders bicker over who should resign June 9, 2010 INSTITUTIONAL investors are bickering over which Prudential head they want on a plate as shareholder anger grows after the group’s botched $35.5bn (£25bn) bid to buy AIA. There is some momentum behind a move to oust Prudential chief executive Tidjane Thiam, but some large shareholders said chairman Harvey McGrath’s position is even harder to defend [...]
CITY VIEWS: SHOULD PRUDENTIAL MANAGEMENT BE FORCED TO RESIGN? June 9, 2010 ARIF MALIK | BARCLAYS “The management must be held responsible for the AIA situation. If Prudential’s shares were in demand then they should not have had a problem with the rights issue but for it to reach this stage now, senior figures are partly to blame. It may be a better idea to have a [...]
Ed Miliband: I would keep the 50p top rate June 9, 2010 LABOUR leadership contender Ed Miliband yesterday said he would make the 50p income tax rate permanent if he became Prime Minister. The former energy minister indicated there would be no return to the pro-business days of New Labour if he wins the party’s top job, despite claiming the 50p rate was a temporary measure while [...]
Santander reclaims Mexican operation June 9, 2010 SANTANDER could look to expand further in the US after buying back Bank of America’s quarter share in its Mexican division, an analyst said yesterday. The Spanish juggernaut paid $2.5bn (£1.7bn) in cash for the 24.9 per cent stake it sold to its North Caroline-headquartered counterpart for $1.6bn in 2003. The confident move brings Santander’s [...]
