Barclays to sell $6bn BlackRock stake May 21, 2012 Barclays bank is to sell all of its $6.1bn (£3.8bn) stake in US asset manager BlackRock, which it has held for almost three years. Barclays said the shares would be sold by way of an offering and a related buyback by BlackRock of up to $1bn of the stock. A prospectus was filed by BlackRock [...]
Bank rally helps steady FTSE May 21, 2012 The FTSE 100 was solid this morning despite the storm clouds – created by the Eurozone crisis – still hanging over markets. Over the weekend G8 leaders stressed their “imperative” was to promote growth and jobs and gave verbal backing for Greece to stay in the euro. But despite calls from the United States for [...]
Evidence of revolt at every single level May 20, 2012 THE shareholder spring has sprung. Since proxy season started, we’ve become accustomed to the sight of investors giving directors a bloody nose. I’ve decided to crunch the numbers to see just how rebellious the buy side has become. A win is a win. Just three firms have been voted down at their annual meetings in [...]
FTSE drained by Spain and greece woes May 18, 2012 THE FTSE 100 tracked losses across Europe this morning as fast moving events in Greece and Spain drained investor confidence. Moody’s downgraded Spanish banks overnight and Fitch cut its debt rating for Greece as the Eurozone crisis deepened. Spain has lurched into recession and its borrowing costs jumped at an auction yesterday while its banks [...]
Fitch says top 29 banks need $556bn in equity May 17, 2012 RATINGS agency Fitch yesterday said the world’s top banks may need to raise a total of $556bn (£351bn) to meet tougher new capital rules, cutting returns by a fifth and forcing them to curb investor payouts and raise customer charges. The credit rating agency studied 29 banks named by G20 world leaders as being globally [...]
EU consumers cut back on cars May 16, 2012 INFLATION stayed high in the Eurozone in April, official figures showed yesterday, while manufacturing took a blow from plummeting car registrations. Consumer prices rose 2.6 per cent in the Eurozone in the year to April, according to Eurostat. The figure is down slightly on the 2.7 per cent in the previous month, but still well [...]
FTSE falls as fear stalks markets May 16, 2012 Commodity stocks took a hammering this morning as investors ran for cover with the prospect of fresh Greek elections adding to the uncertainty stalking markets. The prospect of Greece exiting the Eurozone were mounting as the country struggles to avoid economic meltdown. But in positive UK news official figures showed a drop in the unemployment [...]
WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS May 15, 2012 Bank of Ireland Adrian Olsen has been appointed as Bank of Ireland’s new head of business banking in the UK. He has been with the bank for 12 years as a managing director and head of global project finance for its UK corporate banking division. Olsen has also previously held senior positions at Dresdner Kleinwort [...]
MEET THE PANEL: LISTED PRODUCTS MASTERCLASS 11.30AM – 12.20AM, 24 MAY May 15, 2012 There has been huge interest in exchange-traded funds (ETF), covered warrants and other listed products over the past few years. Retail investors now have more freedom to trade commodities such as gold, silver and oil as well as indices such as the FTSE and Dow. Our panel will debate the merits of this exciting new [...]
Just because it’s not called SG Warburg, don’t write off UBS May 14, 2012 In one’s head, it’s very easy sometimes to write off investment banks’ chances of being successful in advisory work and begin to think they’re not the powerhouses they once used to be, that they don’t have the star names they once did and that they’ve even dropped the names that once meant so much. How [...]