CRACKDOWN June 17, 2009 THE US financial system is headed for a groundbreaking period of reform, after President Obama unveiled his vision of a regulatory regime designed to avert new financial crises. Outlining a raft of measures he termed a “transformation on a scale not seen since the reforms that followed the Great Depression”, Obama blamed a “culture of [...]
Here comes the regulatory tidal wave June 15, 2009 WE are about to enter the third stage of governments’ response to the credit crunch: first there was the firefighting, then the so-called stimulus packages and now comes the regulatory crackdown. There has to date been much pontificating but very little actual reform of the rules governing the global financial system. Banks have been nationalised [...]
Wall Street hit by poor factory data June 15, 2009 US STOCKS tumbled yesterday, marking their worst slide in a month after regional manufacturing data dented optimism about the economy’s health and resource shares fell alongside commodity prices. After a series of signs the economy may be stabilising, investors are looking for more definitive signals of its improving health. Analysts also said a pullback was [...]
Lessons for Britain from California’s crisis June 14, 2009 IT was not that long ago that David Cameron, the Tory leader, was holding up California as the economic model he most wanted to emulate. One of his closest aides, Steve Hilton, is based in Silicon Valley, where his wife works for Google; and the more radical Cameroons thought they had discovered the perfect cocktail [...]
EUROPE BANKS WEAKER THAN WAS THOUGHT June 14, 2009 JANE FOLEYRESEARCH DIRECTOR, FOREX.COMTHE American banking sector once again hogged the headlines last week, when 10 of the 19 banks that borrowed money from the US government under the Tarp plan were authorised to pay back a combined $68bn. The US government was quick to make the point that it (meaning the taxpayer and the [...]
China poised to lead recovery June 11, 2009 CHINESE investment surged in May, fanning hopes the world’s third-largest economy may lead a global recovery, although a record slump in Japan’s first quarter GDP reinforced expectations any rebound would be slow. China’s investment pick-up, which came on the back of large government stimulus spending, offset surprisingly weak figures for exports and imports, which both [...]
FED EMAILS CRITICISE BoA’s LEWIS June 10, 2009 BANK of America boss Ken Lewis was criticised by Federal Reserve officials in emails to each other as he tried to back out of plans to buy failing peer Merrill Lynch in December, documents have revealed. Fed boss Ben Bernanke said Lewis’ threats to drop the deal were a “bargaining chip” while others said Lewis’ [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING June 9, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES MALAYSIA’S GENTING BUYS 3.2 PER CENT STAKE IN MGM UNITGenting, the Malaysian gaming group, has paid $100m for a 3.2 per cent stake in MGM Mirage, firming a relationship that could help pave the way for future deals in Macao and the US. Genting matched the $100m that Kirk Kerkorian, MGM Mirage’s largest [...]
UK FUTURE IS NOT AS BLEAK AS ELSEWHERE June 7, 2009 JANE FOLEYRESEARCH DIRECTOR, FOREX.COMNOW that the panic that followed the collapse of Lehman last September has subsided, the demands on policymakers have altered. What was needed at the height of the financial crisis was a quick and heavy-handed response to prevent the world economy sliding into depression. Now that economic data is suggesting that the [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING June 4, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES AQUASCUTUM IN BUY-OUT TALKSAquascutum, the classic British clothing brand, could be sold to the Hong Kong clothier that distributes the label in China and south-east Asia after an offer from the brand’s management to buy the business was rejected at the eleventh hour last week. Japan’s Renown, which bought the British label in [...]