Lenders predict another boom in legal bills December 8, 2013 BANKS expect their litigation costs to rise another 30 per cent in the coming year, after already spending an extra 60 per cent in the last 12 months, according to research from Legal Business. The study found 84 per cent of respondents have had to increase legal budgets since the financial crisis, and the level [...]
Best of the Brokers for 09 December 2013 December 8, 2013 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com PENNON GROUP Barclays has upgraded the group to “overweight” with a target price of 730p after deciding the business would deliver compound dividend growth of seven per cent a year up until 2020. Analyst said this was due to new visibility from its [...]
Car sales up in Britain for 21st month in a row December 5, 2013 BRITS bought seven per cent more new cars in November than they did a year ago, industry figures showed yesterday, in the latest sign that the car market is racing. New car registrations rose to 159,581 units in the month, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. The pace accelerated from a four [...]
Best of the Brokers for 06 December 2013 December 5, 2013 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com DRAX Barclays confirms its “overweight” rating on the energy supplier and raises the price target to 915p from 800p. The broker believes the company will pay out additional dividends after an expected change in capital structure, following progress on its biomass plants. AMEC [...]
Banks fined for euro and yen rate fixing December 4, 2013 TRADERS from eight global banks colluded from 2005 to 2010 to attempt to alter euro and yen derivatives rates, the European Commission said yesterday, fining them a total of €1.7bn (£1.4bn). Deutsche Bank led the field with fines totalling €725.4m, followed by Societe Generale on €455.9m and RBS at €391m. JP Morgan was hit with [...]
Inside Track: It’s about time the City’s watchdog got its act together December 4, 2013 WERE British banks engaged in a corrupt pact to bankrupt struggling business customers? The evidence from dossiers compiled by the businessmen Lawrence Tomlinson and Neil Mitchell is superficially shocking, although as yet inconclusive. Anecdotal evidence that Royal Bank of Scotland’s global restructuring group has nudged clients into administration when alternative outcomes were achievable have circulated [...]
Regulator slaps record €1.7bn of fines on Euribor banks December 4, 2013 The European Commission (EC) has confirmed that it's fined eight global banks a total of €1.7bn (£1.4bn) for the rigging of interest rate benchmarks. The penalty is the biggest yet to be imposed on banks. The Commission said that traders at the banks: "discussed their bank's submissions for the calculation of the Euro Interbank Offered [...]
Europe hands out hefty fines to global banks December 3, 2013 THE EUROPEAN Commission is set to impose heavy fines on a number of global banks including Citigroup, Deutsche Bank and RBS later this morning, over allegations that they rigged key interest rate benchmarks. The fines could break European antitrust enforcement records and run to several hundred million euros each, based on the level of involvement [...]
Building’s brisk growth driven by new houses December 3, 2013 BRITISH builders are recovering rapidly as the economy begins to turnaround, recording the fastest expansion in business for over six years in November. The latest purchasing managers’ index (PMI) from Markit and the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply hit its highest level since August 2007. On its own, residential construction surged at the quickest [...]
Barclays’ institutional investors say no-no to cocos mixed into fixed income indices December 3, 2013 BARCLAYS is considering creating a new index for contingent convertible (coco) bonds in a push to attract more investors into the new asset class and ensure demand for the securities becomes well established. However, investors are thought to be less happy with a previous plan to add cocos to existing bond indices. The bank is [...]