HSBC gets loophole in Vickers proposals December 19, 2011 HSBC scored a major lobbying victory yesterday after the government inserted a loophole into the Vickers Commission proposals that could exempt the bank from its most onerous capital requirements. The bank had warned that issuing a swathe of new debt instruments as per the Vickers recommendations could cost it $2.1bn extra a year. In response, [...]
2011 saw an Arab Spring and the euro in crisis – get ready for even more drama in 2012 December 19, 2011 IT’S been quite a year: the Eurozone is in crisis and the US lost its AAA credit rating from S&P. But economists warn that next year could be worse. There might be a repeat of 2008 – a credit crunch and another recession. Worse, the head of the IMF Christine Lagarde warns of a “lost [...]
The City of London needs a Europe strategy that does not lead to it being sidelined December 18, 2011 FEAR is stalking parts of the city that Brussels is determined to undermine its competitiveness. But ask any senior banker or businessman what particular measure it is that Britain needs saving from, they draw a blank. The implementation of a Financial Transactions Tax (FTT) in the EU alone, and not on a global level, would [...]
Time to say the unsayable – European unification needs to restart without the euro December 13, 2011 DAVID Cameron’s veto last week expresses again the British elites’ long running ambivalence to the European project. Though probably not his intention, his oppositional stance also represented something perhaps more novel: a tiny dent to the dominant assumption that nothing is more important today than “saving the euro”. A parallel point to ponder is that [...]
Critics of listing rules in the UK should bear in mind how the system actually works December 12, 2011 MUCH has been written in recent weeks about the question of safeguarding the high standards of London’s listed equity market in the face of a spate of listings of international commodity stocks. Many of these articles assume it is the role of the UK Listing Authority (UKLA) to insist on full compliance with the Corporate [...]
To save the euro and end the liquidity crisis Germany needs to leave the Eurozone December 11, 2011 THE crisis in the Eurozone is widely portrayed as being about solvency and the need for fiscal balance and austerity, but in fact these are longer term issues – the immediate crisis is one of liquidity. Solvent countries can’t roll over their existing stock of debt, as the available liquidity behind the largest economy in [...]
Mecom sells in Norway to cut net debt December 6, 2011 NEWSPAPER group Mecom yesterday agreed the sale of its Norwegian division Edda Media to publishing and broadcasting corporation A-Pressen in a £190m deal. This value represents 7.9 times Edda Media’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for 2010 and will help Mecom cut its net debt of €302m (£259m), the company said. The [...]
UK business slams Barnier audit reforms November 30, 2011 A number of business groups, including the CBI, yesterday slammed Michel Barnier’s proposals to shake up the audit market, saying they were “the latest in a long line of unnecessary distractions coming out of Brussels that would only serve to add to business costs”. Matthew Fell, director for competitive markets at the CBI, the employers’ [...]
To print or not to print: ECB policy debate November 29, 2011 AS the Eurozone crisis rumbles on, European policy makers are fast running out of ideas. In recent weeks, the calls for the central bank to start printing have grown louder. But is this a wise route to take? “Print your way out” ROGER NIGHTINGALE independent consultant (Below, left) If a motorist, driving along a hilly [...]
BATS gets go ahead to buy Chi-X Europe November 24, 2011 STOCK trading platforms Chi-X Europe and BATS Global Markets were given the final green light to merge by the competition watchdog yesterday, clearing the way for them to control a quarter of Europe’s equities volume. The UK Competition Commission rubber-stamped an earlier provisional decision and will allow the exchanges to complete a $300m (£192m) deal [...]