COMEBACK KID December 14, 2011 THE EXHAUSTED boss of Lloyds Banking Group is to jump back in the saddle of the beleaguered lender after doctors said he made a “full recovery”, chairman Sir Win Bischoff has announced. The bank also said that it has entered exclusive talks with the Co-operative Group over the sale of 632 branches, leaving rival bidder [...]
Bank of America agrees $315m Merrill Lynch settlement December 6, 2011 Bank of America has agreed to pay $315m to settle claims from investors who said they were misled by Merrill Lynch when they bought mortgage-backed securities in the run-up to the financial crisis. The settlement is one of the highest ever agreed against a bank over the mis-selling of the securities, which were shown to [...]
House prices dip December 6, 2011 House prices fell by 0.9 per cent in November, mortgage lender Halifax said on Tuesday, though it said it expected the housing market to hold steady in the coming months. House prices fell by one per cent in the three months to November compared with a year ago, weaker than the 0.7 per cent decline [...]
Downgrade bombshell puts brakes on FTSE gains December 6, 2011 The brakes were slammed on the recovery in European markets this morning after ratings agency Standard and Poor’s warned 15 Eurozone countries – including Germany – that they were teetering on the edge of a downgrade. Asian stocks and the euro fell after S&P piled pressure on a plan to solve the region’s debt crisis [...]
JC Flowers eyes up £1.5bn of deals for UK mortgage books December 4, 2011 PRIVATE equity house JC Flowers has built a £1.5bn cash pile to spend on British banks’ mortgage books after failing in its attempt to buy part of Northern Rock. The US buyout giant, which focuses on financial services, is believed to have changed its strategy after losing out to Virgin Money in the bidding war [...]
City A.M.’s at-a-glance guide to the key points of Osborne’s mini-Budget November 29, 2011 UK ECONOMIC OUTLOOK • The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has slashed the growth forecasts it made in March. • Its central forecast for 2011 has been revised down to 0.9 per cent from the 1.7 per cent March prediction. It expects 0.7 per cent year-on-year GDP growth in 2012, instead of 2.5 per cent. [...]
S&P slaps downgrades on 15 major global banks November 29, 2011 SOME OF the world’s biggest banks were hit with credit rating downgrades from ratings agency Standard & Poor’s yesterday after a sweeping overhaul of the criteria it uses to assess institutions’ financial strength. S&P downgraded 15 banks after reviewing the ratings of 37 major institutions. It dropped seven of the top US banks by one [...]
House prices rise for third month November 29, 2011 House prices edged up in November, beating expectations and despite a weak economy, but activity remains subdued and prices are more likely to dip in the next 12 months, mortgage lender Nationwide said. House prices rose 0.4 per cent from October on a seasonally adjusted basis, their third straight monthly increase, a Nationwide survey showed. [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING November 22, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES NOMURA STEPS UP ASSET SALE PLANS Nomura has approached big private equity firms about the possible sale of domestic businesses, including its real estate arm, as the Japanese bank moves to shore up its capital buffers. Several people familiar with the preliminary talks with parties including KKR and TPG said the bank was [...]
Brownonomics makes a shock return November 22, 2011 AT one point yesterday, I had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn’t having a nightmare. Is Gordon Brown still Prime Minister, I asked myself? The reason for my madness, dear readers, was the coalition’s dreadful neo-Brownite plan to part-guarantee 95 per cent mortgages. It was the kind of policy reminiscent of tax credits [...]