Q&A: CENTRAL BANK DOLLAR LENDING – WHO’S DOING WHAT? September 16, 2011 Q. WHAT’S THE PROBLEM? A. Banks are worried about the crisis in the Eurozone, and do not know which other banks they can trust. That means they are cutting the amount they lend to each other. Q. WHAT’S BEING DONE ABOUT IT? A. Central banks in Europe, the UK, US, Switzerland and Japan will make [...]
Chi-X beating LSE on trades September 16, 2011 EUROPE-wide equity trading platform Chi-X Europe fielded more trades than the London Stock Exchange in August, putting it ahead of all other exchanges in the region, data from the Federation of European Securities Exchanges yesterday showed. Chi-X, which allows multilateral equity trades in Europe-listed companies, saw 43.1m trades completed in August, a 58 per cent [...]
Mitchells & Butlers sets Lewis a deadline for his next move September 16, 2011 THE INDEPENDENT directors of Mitchells & Butlers have issued a put up or shut up notice to Piedmont, forcing Joe Lewis to make a public offer for the group by 17 October. If Piedmont fails to come back with a firm offer by the deadline of 5pm on 17 October, following its possible offer of [...]
Research in Motion stuns with 47pc profit slide as sales slump September 16, 2011 BLACKBERRY maker Research in Motion stunned analysts yesterday after posting a sales slump far worse than expectations and warning of a poor outlook for the rest of the year. RIM’s shares fell more than 18 per cent in after-hours trading after it said net profit fell 47 per cent in the second quarter to $419m [...]
NEW CHAIRMAN FOR MORGAN STANLEY September 16, 2011 MORGAN Stanley’s chief executive James Gorman (pictured) will take over as chairman from John Mack at the end of the year. Mack’s aggressive cost-cutting tactics earned him the nickname “Mack The Knife”. Gorman, 52, will stay as chief executive as agreed two years ago when Mack became chairman. The change comes as the bank pares [...]
Profile | Trader with a taste for Fela and royalty September 16, 2011 KWEKU Adoboli, the 31-year-old trader at the centre of a $2bn storm yesterday, is “a typical trader type, like a lot of these guys”, coming across as self-confident and calm under pressure, according to one professional contact who spoke to him recently. He is also hard-working. “He was pretty committed to his job at UBS… [...]
Scandal dents Swiss bank’s reputation September 16, 2011 THE three keys that make up the UBS logo symbolise confidence, security and discretion. After yesterday’s news, that logo needs to be redesigned. Although the $2bn hit is likely to wipe out third quarter profits (estimated at $1.5bn by analysts), the loss itself will be manageable enough. UBS lost $1.32bn in the second quarter of [...]
CITY VIEWS: ARE YOU SURPRISED THAT A ROGUE TRADER CAN OPERATE AFTER THE FINANCIAL CRISIS? September 16, 2011 PETER GODFREY | JRP UNDERWRITING “I would expect a large company to have an almost foolproof system these days. I think today’s news from UBS is unbelievable – $2bn is a staggering sum of money.” PAUL SMITH | INCEPTA “No. Rogue traders are entrepreneurial by nature, they are selfish thinkers, and they look to get [...]
ROGUE TRADERS September 16, 2011 JEROME KERVIEL Former Société Générale trader Jerome Kerviel sentenced to three years in prison by a Paris court for his role in a trading scandal and ordered to reimburse the bank €4.9bn. The 33-year-old was found guilty of breach of trust, computer abuse and forgery. ALEXIS STENFORS Former senior trader at Merrill Lynch in London [...]
ANALYSIS l Biggest bank losses outstrip actions of rogue traders September 16, 2011 AIG Amount Lost: $61.7bn AIG posted the biggest quarterly loss in history in January 2009 on asset writedowns, having already taken $150bn in US aid. UBS Amount Lost: $12bn UBS chairman Marcel Ospel stepped down after it posted the subprime-related loss in the first quarter of 2008. CITIGROUP Amount Lost: $10bn Citi stunned markets with [...]
