Barclays ups mis-selling provisions by £1bn February 5, 2013 Barclays said this morning it had increased its mis-selling provisions by £1bn to cover possible interest rate hedging products (IRHP) and payment protection insurance (PPI) claims. Following a pilot review, the bank has upped its provision for IRHP mis-selling claims by £400m. It has put a total of £850m aside so far for IRHP mis-selling, [...]
Markets dive on Eurozone fears February 4, 2013 THE EUROZONE crisis returned with a bang yesterday, with shares sliding and bond yields soaring, as fresh political troubles engulfed the bloc. Yields on Spanish 10-year bonds rocketed up 23 basis points – a 4.42 per cent rise on the day – while their Italian equivalents added some 14 basis points – a 3.21 per [...]
High street in hedge fund crosshairs after retail meltdown February 4, 2013 HEDGE fund managers are betting millions of pounds on a gloomier UK high street this year after figures yesterday showed a sharp spike in the shorting of some of Britain’s biggest retail names. Hedge fund borrowings are used as a proxy for bets against companies – those for high street stalwart WH Smith, electrical giant [...]
S&P agency faces suit over ratings February 4, 2013 RATINGS giant Standard & Poor’s yesterday said it faced a civil lawsuit from the US Department of Justice (DOJ) over grades it gave prior to the credit crunch. Shares in McGraw-Hill, S&P’s parent company, collapsed 13.8 per cent to hit $50.30, their worst fall since the October 1987 crash. Shares in rival Moody’s also fell [...]
Osborne’s bank plan set to hurt City and economy February 4, 2013 THREATENING to split up all banks if the ringfence does not work will hurt the economy and hit the value of the bailed-out banks, analysts and lawyers claimed yesterday, attacking George Osborne’s plan for the sector. Individual banks could be broken up if the authorities fear they are trying to get around the partial separation [...]
Ringfencing is the wrong solution to the wrong problem February 4, 2013 IT is hard to know where to start with George Osborne’s latest rhetorically fiery foray into bank regulation. The vast majority of it was a rehash of previous announcements, a restatement of already existing aspirations. As usual, some of his ideas were excellent and others awful. It will now take just a week to change [...]
What the other papers say this morning February 4, 2013 FINANCIAL TIMES Whitehall departments face big cuts Several government departments will have lost more than £3 in every £10 they once had available for spending, by the time of the next election, according to Financial Times research. SGX in talks over LCH.Clearnet stake SGX, the Singapore stock exchange, is in discussions about taking a stake [...]
Commerzbank charges lead to surprise loss February 4, 2013 COMMERZBANK, Germany’s second largest bank, yesterday posted a surprise net loss of €720m (£617m) for the fourth quarter. The lender said it booked an extraordinary depreciation on deferred tax accruals of €560m and charges of €185m related to the sale of its Ukrainian Bank Forum unit. According to StarMine, analysts had on average expected a [...]
Risk on as bond returns slump at start of year February 4, 2013 THE RETURN on government bonds has seen a significant slump since the turn of the year, with data revealing that investors in UK gilts took the strongest hit last month. While riskier assets – such as equities on the FTSE 100 – soared in January, gilts lost two per cent, while other so called safe [...]
Huhne admits perverting justice and kicks off by-election vote February 4, 2013 THE COALITION government faces a divisive by-election after Chris Huhne yesterday admitted perverting the course of justice and announced his resignation from parliament on the day his trial was due to begin. The former Lib Dem cabinet minister faces jail after admitting handing speeding penalty points to his then wife Vicky Pryce in 2003. The [...]
