Why AIG’s bailout was one giant mess November 22, 2009 TO say that Goldman Sachs is in the doghouse is something of an understatement. The firm has become the bank everybody loves to hate. The argument is familiar: Goldman benefited from the bailouts; it is about to pay huge bonuses again; no wonder the New York Times called this weekend on it to donate billions to [...]
Lloyds set for deep discount in cash call… November 22, 2009 LLOYDS Banking Group is tomorrow set to announce that its record-breaking £13.5bn rights issue will be priced at a deep discount of around 60 per cent, ahead of a meeting later this week to seek approval for the fundraising from its shareholders. Lloyds, which is 43 per cent owned by the taxpayer, plans to raise [...]
Three-way clash among MPC over QE November 18, 2009 TENSIONS on the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee (MPC) came to a head in November as members clashed in a three-way split over the way forward for its quantitative easing (QE) policy, the minutes of its last meeting showed yesterday. The committee voted unanimously to keep interest rates on hold at 0.5 per cent [...]
Aegon slides as earnings miss forecast November 12, 2009 DISAPPOINTED market makers sold shares in Aegon yesterday after its third quarter pre-tax earnings missed consensus expectations. Despite bouncing back into the black with a net profit of €145m (£130.4m) compared to last year’s loss of €329m, the insurer saw its shares fall 6.4 per cent to close at €5.1. Pre-tax earnings fell year-on-year to [...]
Watchdog tells US banks to pay $45bn into insurance pot November 12, 2009 US banks are to pay $45bn (£27bn) to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC) to cover the rising cost of banking failures. In an unprecedented move, the FDIC board approved the prepayment of three years of premiums at a meeting yesterday. The prepayment has been described as an alternative to imposing another hefty emergency fee [...]
Governments to retain bank stakes for up to seven years November 11, 2009 GOVERNMENTS around the world will hold on to their stakes in bailed-out banks for an average of five to seven years in order to achieve a profitable exit, a new report has shown. The report, compiled by accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, said the complexity of individual banks’ situations, difficult market conditions and an unattractive disposal environment [...]
Swiss regulator unveils its plans for banker pay November 11, 2009 Switzerland’s largest banks and insurers will have to defer the bulk of managers’ bonuses and better match pay to performance under new rules aimed at curbing risky investments. Swiss financial regulator FINMA had planned to impose the rules on the vast majority of the financial sector, but watered down its original proposals after industry lobbies [...]
Conflicting signals halt winning streak November 10, 2009 US stocks closed mostly lower yesterday as differing views on whether the market can build on recent gains stalled the S&P 500’s six-day winning streak. The Dow industrials eked out a small gain to set a fresh 13-month high as cautious statements on the economic outlook from several Fed officials underscored the belief that easy [...]
Senator: Fed should not oversee banks November 10, 2009 THE US Senate’s top banking legislator has proposed plans to prevent a repeat of the credit crisis by creating a single US bank regulator and stripping powers from the Federal Reserve and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd called for the creation of three new government agencies, regulating over-the-counter derivatives, and [...]
Lloyds plans to axe 5,000 further jobs November 10, 2009 ANOTHER 5,000 jobs will be lost at Lloyds Banking Group, bringing the total number of sackings to 12,500 since the credit crunch began. Lloyds employees were yesterday warned by banking experts that there could be up to 30,000 sackings before the Lloyds-HBOS merger is complete. Unions branded the cuts, which were announced on the same [...]