Bank of America to pay $20bn in charges June 29, 2011 Bank of America Corp said it expected to take more than $20bn (£12bn) in charges after settling with mortgage bond investors, resulting in a second-quarter loss. The $8.5 billion settlement removed a question mark that had been hovering over the bank since October, and its shares rallied. The deal, combined with other settlement-related charges, was [...]
House prices drop in June June 27, 2011 House prices in England and Wales have edged lower this month to show their biggest annual fall since October 2009, a monthly survey from property data company Hometrack showed. Average house prices dropped by 0.1 per cent in June, continuing a pattern of modest falls so far this year and taking the year-on-year decline to [...]
Bank stocks pressured by new capital requirements June 26, 2011 BANKING stocks could be under pressure this morning, following news over the weekend from Basel that additional capital requirements of up to 2.5 per cent were agreed to be imposed on those financial institutions deemed too big too fail – or, to use the technical term, Global Systemically Important Banks (GSIBs). GFT quotes two-way prices [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING June 23, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES CHINESE PREMIER DECLARES VICTORY OVER INFLATION Chinese premier Wen Jiabao has declared victory over domestic inflation, saying that the government has successfully reined in price pressures. “China has made capping price rises the priority of macro-economic regulation and introduced a host of targeted policies. These have worked,” Mr Wen writes in today’s Financial [...]
Why interest rates won’t be going up June 22, 2011 IF you owe a lot of money to your bank, it’s time to rejoice. There is now almost no chance of interest rates going up this year. The Bank of England’s monetary policy committee voted 7-2 to keep rates on hold; and given the arguments and worries about growth expressed by the majority of the [...]
Chancellor right that banks must be allowed to fail June 15, 2011 IT is a shame that much of the City will be focused on the crisis in Greece and its repercussions on global markets this morning, for there were some surprisingly good ideas on banking regulation at Mansion House last night. There was a clear shift in attitude on display: the chancellor’s pronouncements were by far the [...]
Qantas cuts spending and drops orders June 15, 2011 AUSTRALIA’S Qantas Airways will slash spending by A$700m (£459m) and plans to cancel aircraft orders as it battles waning demand, soaring fuel costs and investor displeasure, with its shares trading near multi-year lows. Qantas, which suffered a blow to its reputation after an Airbus A380 accident last year forced it to ground its flagship aircraft, [...]
FSA extends PPI mis-selling settlement time June 13, 2011 The City watchdog has extended the amount of time the banks have to settle claims for mis-selling payment protection insurance while Barclays has pledged to fully compensate thousands of customers. Barclays has committed to settle tens of thousands of outstanding claims over the scandal, putting pressure on rivals to follow suit. The Financial Services Authority [...]
Growth worries hit Wall St for sixth day June 8, 2011 US STOCKS extended losses for the sixth straight day yesterday as investors worried that a slowing economy could deepen the market’s retreat. The latest evidence of a slowdown came in the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book, which gives an anecdotal report on the economy. It reinforced Fed chief Ben Bernanke’s bearish assessment on growth delivered late [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING June 5, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES PAULSON FUND FALLS 6PC IN MAY Paulson & Co, the world’s third- largest hedge fund, saw the value of its flagship fund drop close to 6 per cent in May, echoing losses across the industry. The loss tops negative returns in the first quarter at the $37bn (£22.5bn) New York-based money manager, famed [...]