Davos will see bankers fight Obama plans January 24, 2010 THE slopes of Davos will be the unlikely setting for the start of a fightback against the draconian measures being touted by the White House. Bankers from the world’s most powerful financial institutions will begin the mammoth task of lobbying regulators against Barack Obama’s anti-bank legislation at the World Economic Forum, which kicks off on [...]
Barclays will defer rewards January 24, 2010 SENIOR Barclays figures including chief executive John Varley and president Bob Diamond will have their bonuses deferred over three years. In a move to pre-empt public outcry over bumper payouts, Barclays’ 11-strong executive committee and other top staff will take their bonuses mostly in shares, up to 100 per cent of which will be staggered [...]
Sell-off of bank shares is looking overdone January 24, 2010 FOR a President that promised hope not fear, Barack Obama is happy to spook the markets. Last week, the CBOE volatility index – Wall Street’s fear gauge – surged by 62 per cent to close Friday at 27.31, its biggest run in three years. It’s not just the war on banks that has investors running [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS January 24, 2010 Cobham The aerospace and defence systems group has appointed National Express chairman John Devaney as its new non-executive chairman, effective from February. Devaney, 62, has a wealth of experience in the business world. He has just stepped down as a non-executive director at Northern Rock, and has also previously been chairman of technology and telecoms [...]
THE TIPSTER January 24, 2010 US PRESIDENT Obama’s plans for the banking sector are expected to continue to dominate this week and put further pressure on banks’ share prices across the world. This might make it well worth taking a short out on the UK banking sector. IG Index is offering a spread of 4,466-4,486. But downward pressure on share [...]
Shares fall as Obama wages war on Wall Street January 22, 2010 PRESIDENT Barack Obama launched his biggest attack yet on the banking sector, revealing plans for the toughest overhaul of Wall Street since the Great Depression. “If these folks want a fight, it’s a fight I’m ready to have,” Obama said, as he told retail banks they would no longer be able to take risky bets [...]
New rules would be bad for London January 21, 2010 HOW predictable. No sooner was Barack Obama humiliated by the Massachusetts electorate earlier this week – his left-wing candidate lost Ted Kennedy’s ultra safe seat to a radical conservative – than he announces another war on Wall Street. It is easy to forget in Britain, where Obama remains extraordinarily popular, that his administration is no [...]
OBAMA’S PLAN | HOW IT COULD HIT THE CITY’S BIGGEST PLAYERS January 21, 2010 RBS Has a hedge fund and prop trading desk. As it is majority owned by the government, taxpayers will be the biggest losers if it is forced to close down profitable businesses. HSBC Expected to be one of the least affected banks. While it has a large US presence, its investment banking business is geographically [...]
Agius: banks face tsunami of pressure January 21, 2010 BARCLAYS chairman Marcus Agius yesterday hinted that the firm’s annual bonus round next month will see it concede in part to the “tsunami” of pressure faced by bankers in the wake of the economic crisis. “The architecture of our pay round will be very different to anything we have seen before, in accordance with the [...]
Lending restrictions in China turn the screw on the miners January 20, 2010 TOP shares recorded a three-week closing low yesterday as more signs of fiscal tightening in China hurt commodity stocks. The FTSE 100 closed down 92.34 points, or 1.7 per cent, at 5,420.80 – the lowest closing level since December 31, 2009. It posted its biggest one-day fall in a month. The index is up 57 [...]