JP Morgan joins Barclays and Goldman in slashing US GDP forecast July 16, 2013 JP Morgan has cut its forecast for US annual output in the second quarter of the year to one per cent from two per cent, citing the unexpected 0.5 per cent fall in wholesale inventories in May. However a reduction in the stock of unsold goods held by wholesalers in the second quarter “should imply [...]
The economics and culture of Murray’s Wimbledon triumph July 12, 2013 HE DID it, he did it – and a euphoric nation roared with delight, celebrating a moment many of us feared would never happen and a new, 26-year old national hero. A Brit is Wimbledon champion, and this is real life, not a Hollywood rom-com. Needless to say, Andy Murray’s triumph is about much more [...]
The Carlyle Group buys British packaging supplier Chesapeake July 4, 2013 GLOBAL asset manager The Carlyle Group yesterday announced that it has acquired UK-headquartered packaging supplier Chesapeake from private equity house Irving Place Capital and funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management. The deal value is understood to be near £500m, with debt already in place. Financing was provided by Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, UBS and Barclays. [...]
The retail funding myth – why the investment banks aren’t to blame June 24, 2013 BANKS used retail deposits to gamble on the investment banking casino!” That is the common perception of the cause behind the 2007-2008 financial crisis. The popular belief is that retail deposits, instead of being used to fund “safe” traditional retail lending like mortgages, were used to fund high-risk derivatives trading on the international capital markets. [...]
Political meddling into RBS will hurt the taxpayer April 8, 2013 82 per cent state owned RBS is coming under continued assault from chancellor George Osborne. Our banking reporter Tim Wallace: Good performance in RBS’ markets unit ( investment bank) boosted operating profits. Yet it is cutting the unit under pressure from Osborne. — Tim Wallace (@Tim_Wallace) February 28, 2013 Osborne’s political ambitions are clashing with [...]
HSBC meets Basel capital target early March 7, 2013 BRITISH bank HSBC has hit tough new capital targets years before the official deadline, removing the drag on the lender’s growth and allowing it to supply more credit in the coming years, the firm’s full year results showed yesterday. HSBC is the first major institution to reach the Basel III requirements, clearing a huge obstacle [...]
Barclays bonuses cut by £450m February 27, 2013 Sky News reports that Barclays will be reducing its staff bonus pool by £450m. This comes as a result of the Libor-rigging scandal, and is in excess of the £291m fines imposed by US and UK regulators. Barclays will still award £1.8bn in bonuses to staff. This has not yet been confirmed by Barclays. The [...]
FTSE up on Fed boost February 27, 2013 THE blue chip index rallied this morning, gaining around 0.3 per cent in early deals, as strong sentiment from the US Fed boosted trading. Last night US Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke leapt to the defence of its unprecedented QE programme. A slew of positive earnings updates from large-cap companies also lifted investor sentiment. In [...]
Barclays will publish pay February 26, 2013 BARCLAYS will publish its pay bands under a new transparency drive to be unveiled in the coming weeks, which is set to show hundreds of staff earning over £1m per year. Chairman Sir David Walker is spearheading the review into the bank’s practices, and the move would make Barclays the third lender in the world [...]
Rabobank next in line for Libor fiddling fines February 26, 2013 DUTCH lender Rabobank could be the next institution to be fined for manipulating key market interest rates, it emerged yesterday, making it the fourth to be hit by a major bill following the scandal. The Financial Services Authority (FSA) is believed to be investigating wrongdoing at the bank, alongside the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission [...]