WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING September 14, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES DEUTSCHE BÖRSE-NYSE DEAL TO SAVE EXTRA $1BN FOR CUSTOMERS Deutsche Börse and NYSE Euronext, the exchange operators planning to create the world’s largest bourse, have significantly raised their estimate of savings by banks from the deal, saying customers would save about $1bn more than previously estimated. VICKERS MEMBER CALLS FOR REPEAL OF BANK [...]
Lehman Bros bonus case fails September 14, 2011 A bankruptcy judge has denied Lehman Brothers Holdings’ attempt to recover $500m (£317m) it alleges was supposed to go toward employee bonuses from Barclays. Lehman had said Barclays never gave the money to the employees and should send it back to Lehman for the benefit of Lehman’s creditors. Wednesday’s ruling is the latest instance of [...]
Hong Kong: UK banks welcome September 13, 2011 BRITISH banks looking to move abroad would be welcome in Hong Kong, the country’s chief executive Donald Tsang said yesterday. Tsang said that he would “absolutely” be happy to see HSBC and Standard Chartered move their headquarters from the City. “If HSBC or Standard Chartered were to change headquarters it would not undermine their business [...]
Mitchells & Butlers turns down new bid September 13, 2011 MITCHELLS & Butlers shareholder Standard Life Investments yesterday branded Piedmont’s 230p per share possible offer “insulting” and accused it of destabilising the company, as the firm rejected the approach. David Cummings, SLI’s head of UK equities, lashed out at Piedmont owner Joe Lewis, claiming his attempt to buy the pub group outright was “wholly unsatisfactory”. [...]
ICB helps push UK bank debt costs higher September 13, 2011 UK BANKS have seen the cost of their debt jump following the release of the final report from the Independent Commission on Banking (ICB). Despite escaping the worst of the sell-off in European bank stocks yesterday, Britain’s lenders saw the yields on their long-term bonds rise after the ICB said that around a fifth of [...]
StanChart lines up for Barclays’ Indian assets September 13, 2011 STANDARD Chartered and SBI Card are competing to buy Barclays’ India credit cards business, sources with direct knowledge of the matter said, as the British bank looks to reduce its exposure to unsecured lending in the country. Barclays has about 200,000 card holders in India and the book value of the business is roughly 2bn [...]
Uncertainty casts a shadow over uptick September 13, 2011 BRITAIN’S top shares rose yesterday, led by banks which bounced back after recent weakness, although traders were dubious about the rally’s solidity due to persistent fears of a Greek debt default and a sharp rise in Italy’s borrowing costs. The UK benchmark index ended up 44.63 points, or 0.9 per cent, at 5,174.25, recovering from [...]
ANALYSIS l HSBC Holdings PLC September 12, 2011 HSBC will suffer less of a hit than RBS or Barclays because its UK investment bank makes up a lower proportion of its total income. It will have to make some structural changes, however. And the bank does not welcome the imposition of a ring-fence because its executives believe it unnecessarily complicates the global regulation agenda. It [...]
ANALYSIS l Barclays PLC September 12, 2011 Barclays could suffer a severe hit from the ring-fence proposed by the Independent Commission on Banking (ICB). In particular, the policy will prove costly for the bank because it prevents lucrative cross-selling between its retail and investment banking arms and requires the two sides of the business to interact as third parties to one another. [...]
Reaction | Focus on Vickers September 12, 2011 THE BUSINESS LEADER CONFEDERATION OF BRITISH INDUSTRY DR NEIL BENTLEY “The UK is going it alone on ring-fencing, so the government must rigorously examine how and when to implement these proposals, otherwise it risks damaging businesses and threatening growth. The Commission is right to recommend a flexible approach to ring-fencing and suggest a reasonable time frame for [...]