Ban on naked CDS will backfire, says official Brussels report September 29, 2011 THE EUROPEAN Parliament is pushing ahead with plans to ban naked credit default swaps (CDS) – even though its own research has revealed the move would exacerbate market volatility. European lawmakers are expected to back a German proposal that would ban so-called “naked” CDS, where a trader buys a CDS without holding the sovereign bonds [...]
Levene’s bank confirms bid for Lloyds arm September 29, 2011 LORD Levene’s British bank venture NBNK confirmed yesterday it had put in a formal bid for the 632 branches that Lloyds Banking Group is selling, with the amount on the table believed to be around £1.5bn. The NBNK offer is the only formal bid for the Lloyds’ branches so far, with Hugh Osmond’s Sun Capital [...]
NBNK confirms bid for Lloyds branches September 29, 2011 New British bank venture NBNK has submitted a second-round bid for some 630 Lloyds bank branches, NBNK confirmed which sources saying it could be worth £1.5bn. The auction — codenamed “Project Verde” — offers a chance to create Britain’s seventh-biggest bank in one fell swoop. The sale includes 4.6 percent of personal current accounts and [...]
Axa is set to sell private equity arm September 28, 2011 AXA hopes to spark an auction after it finally confirmed it is interested in selling its private equity arm. The French insurance group believes Axa Private Equity will go for between £200m and £400m. Axa yesterday said it had begun a strategic review of its PE unit, which was set up by Dominique Senequier in [...]
POUND COULD SUFFER FROM EU FALLOUT September 27, 2011 RECENTLY the focus in the FX market has been squarely upon the euro, while trading in cable has been uncharacteristically quiet. While the euro has tumbled as European officials desperately try to contain the growing credit crisis in the region, sterling has remained relatively steady. Amazingly enough the pound has become a safe haven play, [...]
Gatwick owner prepares bid for Spain’s airports September 25, 2011 THE OWNER of Gatwick and London City Airports has joined forces with the operator of Paris’ Charles de Gaulle airport and German insurer Allianz SE to bid for Madrid and Barcelona airports. Global Infrastructure Partners, the $5.6bn (£3.6bn) investment fund backed by Credit Suisse and General Electric, is understood to be putting together a bid [...]
Breedon to step down from Legal & General September 22, 2011 CHIEF executive Tim Breedon is retiring from Legal & General at the end of 2012, by which time he will have spent 25 years at the insurer. “With the company in excellent shape I feel that next year will be the right time to retire from the company. By giving notice of this now, the [...]
Lloyds finance boss jumps ship to Friends Life September 19, 2011 Tim Tookey has decided to quit the part-nationalised British bank to join insurer Friends Life, the companies said, continuing a series of high-profile management departures in the wake of the arrival of new Lloyds’ chief executive Antonio Horta-Osorio earlier this year. Lloyds said Tookey would remain with the company until the end of February next [...]
MELTDOWN MONDAY THREE YEARS ON: THE EVENTS OF 15 SEPTEMBER 2008 September 16, 2011 ON 15 September 2008, global markets were thrown into panic mode as US investment bank Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy after failing to secure a rescue sale. The announcement kicked off a day of unprecedented corporate chaos in the US – by late morning, Bank of America had agreed to buy struggling Merrill Lynch, and [...]
Spotting the very best in charge and credit cards September 14, 2011 REMEMBER when the American Express Gold Card was the celebrity’s payment card of choice in the movies? Well, times have changed. Every bank is offering exclusive cards to its premium customers now – they’re always keen to sign up City high-fliers. But which bank is offering the best deal? Kevin Mountford from MoneySupermarket.com says: “None [...]