A partial defence of banking bonuses July 30, 2009 FINANCIAL voyeurism has arrived with a splash – and it is unlikely to go away again. Yesterday’s report from New York, details of which can be found on our front page, make rivetting reading. The numbers for Goldman Sachs are fascinating and confirm its reputation as a money-making machine: read the raw data and marvel [...]
US new home sales rocket July 27, 2009 SALES of new homes in the US surged to a seven-month high in June, while the inventory of homes for sale fell to its lowest level in more than 11 years, official data showed yesterday, boosting hopes that the US housing market may finally be starting to stabilise. Government figures indicated an 11 per cent [...]
Hypocrisy at the heart of banking policy July 27, 2009 PATHETIC. That is the only way to describe Alistair Darling’s ridiculous, stage-managed, utterly fake “row” with Britain’s top banks yesterday. It is the mark of a desperate, dying government that it feels obliged to resort to such a ridiculous piece of make-believe, rather than engaging in proper policy-making. To demand of the banks that they [...]
Guess which country escaped recession? July 26, 2009 ON closer inspection, a lot of the supposed “facts” we think we know about the credit crunch turn out to be nonsense. Take the widespread view that the recession is a global phenomenon, affecting every developed country. Yet Australia is a glaring exception: it has not only avoided the worst of the destruction but has [...]
CIT warns of bankruptcy risk July 21, 2009 CIT GROUP yesterday warned it could still file for bankruptcy if a cash tender offer for its outstanding notes fails, one day after securing $3bn (£1.8bn) in emergency financing from its bondholders. The 101-year-old company, which lends to nearly a million small and mid-sized businesses, also forecast a second-quarter loss of more than $1.5bn. In [...]
Tories ahead, but more work still needed July 20, 2009 IN the main, yesterday’s Tory White Paper was a success. George Osborne is right to want to abolish the FSA and make the Bank of England responsible for financial stability. I’m delighted the Tories won’t be proposing a separation of investment and retail banks any time soon, and that any break-up of Lloyds or RBS [...]
CIT gets stay of execution July 20, 2009 THE board of stricken US lender CIT yesterday agreed a $3bn (£1.82bn) rescue loan from key bondholders, saving it from the jaws of bankruptcy. With the US government making it clear that CIT is not systemically important enough to warrant a bailout, the financing package is aimed at buying the bank time to restructure its [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING July 19, 2009 THE SUNDAYSThe Sunday TelegraphENGINE IN DRIVE FOR EXPANSIONThe advertising agency that created the 118 directory enquiries runners is seeking £50m to fund an international expansion drive that will take it to the US and the Far East. The Engine Group has appointed advisers at Jefferies and the corporate finance arm of Ingenious Media to secure [...]
Calpers sues credit rating agencies over poor gradings July 15, 2009 CALPERS, the biggest US public pension fund, has sued the three largest credit rating agencies for giving perfect grades to securities that later suffered huge subprime mortgage losses. The California Public Employees’ Retirement System said in a lawsuit filed last week in California Superior Court in San Francisco that it might lose more than $1bn [...]
Ex-Credit Suisse man is arrested July 15, 2009 A FORMER Credit Suisse trader facing trial on charges of fraudulently selling $1bn (£6.9m) worth of mortgage-backed auction-rate securities has been arrested after two months on the run, according to a court document made public yesterday. The arrest of Bulgarian national Julian Tzolov, who escaped from house arrest in New York and electronic monitoring on [...]