Standard & Poor’s cuts ratings on 18 Italian banks citing prolonged high cost of funding July 24, 2013 Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s has cut its ratings on 18 Italian banks, citing increased industry risks from a sustained higher cost of funding than in most other eurozone banking markets. It added that it doesn’t see Italy’s downward per capita GDP trend reversing in 2014. The rating cuts complete a review initiated after S&P [...]
UniCredit hires ex-Merrill banker October 14, 2012 UniCredit, Italy’s biggest bank by assets, said yesterday it has hired Waleed El-Amir, previously the Middle East and North Africa investment banking head for Bank of America, to head its funding and investment portfolio business globally. El-Amir, a veteran Merrill Lynch banker, will replace Philipp Waldstein, who resigned from UniCredit early this year to join [...]
Pamplona buys UniCredit stake June 26, 2012 Private equity fund Pamplona has bought five per cent of Italy’s biggest bank, UniCredit, becoming its second-largest shareholder, in a vote of confidence on the bank’s future in the face of a deepening Eurozone crisis. The stake is worth about €750m at current market prices and is one of the largest investments by a foreign [...]
Watchdog fears chaotic bank risk modelling January 31, 2013 BANKS set aside such different amounts of capital against the same assets that investors cannot be certain how safe the institutions are and the authorities may have to step in to set standards, a top group of regulators warned yesterday. The Basel Committee tested 15 major international banks, giving them each a hypothetical portfolio of [...]
Barclays caught up in UniCredit tax prosecution June 5, 2012 ITALY is to prosecute several Barclays bankers alongside former UniCredit chief executive Alessandro Profumo, who is now chairman of one of the world’s oldest banks, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena. Profumo, who is being prosecuted alongside 19 others including a handful of Barclays bankers, is being targeted for allegedly authorising a scheme that allowed [...]
Eurozone factory prices drop ahead of rate-setter meeting January 7, 2013 EUROZONE factory prices fell for the first time in five months in November, pulled down by a slide in the cost of energy and giving the European Central Bank ample room to consider another interest rate cut. Prices at factory gates in the 17 countries using the euro fell 0.2 per cent in November from [...]
UniCredit new chair April 12, 2012 UNICREDIT, Italy’s biggest bank, has named Giuseppe Vita as its new chairman, replacing outgoing German chairman Dieter Rampl. Vita, who is also the chairman of Allianz in Italy, is believed to have been chosen because of his long career at German companies, meaning he has good contacts in Frankfurt. The change of leadership, which will [...]
M in meltdown as the founders join the exodus February 26, 2013 JUST a few hours after The Capitalist disclosed that five key members of staff had quit the City’s top flight financial PR agency M:Communications came the revelation that suggests things are getting serious. Founders Nick Miles and Hugh Morrison, both City veterans and big revenue earners, announced that they are also leaving the group, which [...]
Moscow stock exchange plans Russian float January 21, 2013 MOSCOW’S stock exchange plans to float on its own platform, seeking to revitalise Russia’s capital markets and convince companies to list domestically rather than abroad. Shareholders of the Moscow Exchange, Russia’s main venue for trading in stocks, bonds, foreign exchange and derivatives, are expected to sell stock worth at least $500m (£315.9m), one source familiar [...]
UniCredit’s capital base gives it a boost May 10, 2012 ITALY’S largest bank yesterday reported that it is now ahead of European capital requirements in its first results since its €7.5bn (£6bn) capital increase earlier this year. The lender also reported a 12.8 per cent rise in net profits on last year, bringing in €914m – but nearly half of the gain was due to [...]