FED’S $3 TRILLION IN EMERGENCY AID December 1, 2010 Ben Bernanke: Banks and firms used our temporary liquidity facilities 21,000 times during the crisis EUROPEAN banks were some of the biggest beneficiaries of the Federal Reserve’s $3.3 trillion emergency loan programmes during the darkest days of the financial crisis when the US central bank desperately tried to keep the global system functioning. The biggest [...]
Optimism for US recovery December 1, 2010 STEADY growth is being observed in the US, the central bank reported last night. In its latest beige book, the Federal Reserve said the economy “continued to improve, on balance” from early/mid-October to mid-November. Manufacturing activity continued to grow in “almost all” districts, reflecting optimistic results from yesterday’s ISM manufacturing index. The beige book found [...]
BarCap to cut hundreds of London jobs December 1, 2010 BARCLAYS Capital has confirmed plans to shed hundreds of jobs in its UK office even as the firm continues to hire in growth hotspots in Asia. Both front and back office jobs are set to go as the firm cuts down on costs in line with a fall in revenues this year. BarCap – the [...]
HSBC spins off Asian private equity unit December 1, 2010 HSBC’s Asian private equity unit has been taken over in a management buyout and renamed Headland Capital Partners, it emerged yesterday. The sale is the first of five planned management buyouts of HSBC’s private equity businesses. It is the latest to respond to pressure from regulators on banks to spin off their private equity activities. [...]
Commodities and banks help FTSE snap its losing streak December 1, 2010 BRITAIN’S leading share index staged its biggest one day really in three months yesterday, clawing back some of the losses made in the past three sessions, with commodities boosted by upbeat Chinese data and banks rallying after being hit by sovereign debt concern. The rally was also boosted by hopes the European Central Bank (ECB) [...]
LISTED PRODUCT NEWS December 1, 2010 DB X-TRACKERS LISTS MORE ETFS IN SPAIN Deutsche Bank’s exchange-traded funds (ETF) arm db x-trackers yesterday launched its second set of ETFs on the Spanish stock market. Db x-trackers yesterday announced 10 more ETFs listed on the Bolsa de Madrid, which provide exposure to developed and emerging market equities, to two short indices, and also [...]
UK banks sign up to tax code November 30, 2010 IN A last minute scramble the UK’s 15 largest banks have signed up to a government code of practice aimed at reducing tax avoidance, deputy prime minister Nick Clegg said yesterday. The code, which had a deadline of 30 November, but until October had only been supported by four of the 15, requires the banks [...]
Jobs growth in resurgent Germany as rest of Eurozone continues to flounder November 30, 2010 EMPLOYMENT in Germany has reached its highest level since reunification – yet in other Eurozone countries, employment continues to fall, official data showed yesterday. In October 40.9m people were at work in the country, as the German recovery surges forwards. The number is up 405,000 on the previous year, an increase of one per cent, [...]
Oils and financials weigh on FTSE offsetting miners’ rally November 30, 2010 BRITAIN’S leading share index retreated yesterday with a rally by miners more than offset by falls in oils and financials as investors fretted over Eurozone debt problems during a choppy session. The FTSE 100 closed down 22.68 points, or 0.4 per cent, at 5,528.27, a level not seen since the middle of September. The blue [...]
Irish most charitable despite crisis November 28, 2010 IRELAND puts more time into philanthropy than other countries, despite its economic crisis, according to research published today. Twenty per cent of high net worth individuals in Ireland spend at least five hours a week doing charity work, more than anywhere else in the world. The research also shows that charitable spending is likely to [...]