EU wages war on derivatives September 15, 2010 RADICAL curbs on short selling and derivatives trading proposed by the European Commission to bring the multi-trillion dollar industry in from “Wild West territory” were condemned as costly and potentially uncompetitive by hedge funds yesterday. The proposals, released to coincide with the collapse of Lehman Brothers two years ago, require increased disclosure of short selling [...]
Lloyds launches a thirty-year sterling bond September 15, 2010 LLOYDS Banking Group launched a rare 30-year senior sterling bond yesterday, capitalising on the upbeat tone of the credit markets and on demand from pension funds and insurers for long-dated sterling assets. The bond deal is the bank’s first ever sterling issue with a 30-year maturity, an official with the bank said. Initial guidance on [...]
Be ready to leap when the market turns September 15, 2010 THE popular obsession with City pay has not gone away, as was in evidence recently when the news that Bob Diamond will become CEO of Barclays was accompanied by lurid headlines about the “bonus banker”. City remuneration might be a dog-whistle issue for tabloids, but it’s also a big issue for everybody who works here, [...]
Lloyds Group tops ombudsman’s list for most complaints September 14, 2010 LLOYDS Banking Group topped the list of financial services companies that consumers have registered complaints with the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) about in the last six months, its latest figures revealed yesterday. Government-backed Lloyds TSB, was the subject of some 12,750 complaints during the six-month period. That was almost 5,000 more than Barclays Bank, which [...]
Check through Basel III’s small print September 13, 2010 BANKS around the world are rightly cheerful after the announcement of Basel III minimum capital requirements less stringent than many had feared and, in the UK, still far lower than major banks’ existing capital reserves. The inevitable gasp of relief following this news has brought an immediate uplift for most, but should not divert attention [...]
UK shares surge as global deal boosts banks and China data cheers investors September 13, 2010 THE UK’s top share index ended higher yesterday after banks rose sharply in response to a new deal over global banking rules while mining shares gained on the back of bullish China industrial data. The FTSE 100 closed up 63.89 points, or 1.2 per cent, at 5,565.53 points, a fresh four-month closing high. “It has [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING September 12, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES RESPITE OVER CITY BONUSES DETAILS Britain’s banks will be spared the embarrassment of giving details of big bonus payments to staff in their annual reports next spring after the Treasury admitted the relevant legislation will not be on the statute book in time. The delay to new disclosure requirements is likely to create [...]
Food inflation could derail VAT increase September 12, 2010 FURTHER rises in food prices could cause annual inflation to accelerate to four per cent and endanger the government’s plans to hike VAT to 20 per cent in January, a leading City economist has warned. Henderson’s chief economist Simon Ward said that recent rises in global food commodity prices may boost annual CPI food inflation [...]
DO YOU EXPECT CPI INFLATION TO FALL BELOW 3 PER CENT IN AUGUST? September 12, 2010 SIMON HAYES | BARCLAYS CAPITAL “Contrary to the consensus, which expects a fourth consecutive monthly fall in the headline rate, we expect it to rise to 3.2 per cent from 3.1 per cent in July, largely reflecting a second consecutive large monthly rise in food prices.” PHILIP SHAW | INVESTEC “Against expectations, petrol prices appear [...]
Diamond defends BarCap against ‘casino’ allegations September 12, 2010 BARCLAYS’ Bob Diamond at the weekend lashed out at the criticism he has received since being appointed as the group’s new chief executive last week. Diamond, who currently heads up the investment banking arm Barclays Capital, said references to the division as a “casino” were misleading and disappointing. “Words like ‘casino banking’… have no basis [...]