Top banks call for earlier start for ring-fence November 5, 2012 THE QUICKER politicians finalise and introduce new regulations, the quicker banks will be able to implement them and move on with stabilising the industry, the chairman of HSBC and chief executive of Barclays said yesterday. The Financial Services Bill is currently going through parliament, covering areas including the ring-fencing of retail and investment banking operations, [...]
Nothing reassuring in HSBC’s tale of the unexpected November 5, 2012 STUART Gulliver tried to reassure the market yesterday in his third quarter message accompanying HSBC’s interim management statement. He ended with an upbeat take on China, “where we continue to expect a soft landing”. That would be more reassuring if it wasn’t coming from a bank that was admitting at the same time how offbeam [...]
UK corporate borrowing hits five-year high November 5, 2012 UK FIRMS are borrowing more money from investors than at any other time since the financial crisis, a study out yesterday showed, as companies increasingly turn to the bond markets to access credit. UK corporate debt issuances have soared to $85.2bn (£53.4bn) so far this year, a record high and a 70 per cent increase [...]
Former Bank of England rocker plucks his way to charity stardom November 5, 2012 REGULAR readers of this page will be familiar with ex-Bank of England MPC member and now PwC economist Andrew Sentance’s second career as a part-time rock star. He has been putting his musical credentials to good and public use, making a charity appearance with his band Revelation. The concert, which Sentance told The Capitalist raised [...]
Asia stagnates as China fights for new growth November 5, 2012 ECONOMIES across Asia failed to fight themselves out of the doldrums that have endured for months, data showed yesterday, with index levels improving only marginally into October. Business surveys recorded improved but marginal output growth in China and Hong Kong, while output in Australia and Japan continued to contract, while India’s expansion slowed down. Only [...]
BG Group agrees credit facility November 5, 2012 Energy firm BG Group has agreed a new five-year $3bn (£1.9bn) credit facility, to replace an existing $2.3bn credit facility. The new facility was coordinated by Bank of America Merrill Lynch and HSBC, and includes a variety of banks, BG Group said. The new facility will stand alongside the $2.2bn five-year line of credit agreed [...]
FTSE falls on uncertainty over US election and fall in price of copper November 5, 2012 BRITISH blue-chip firms fell yesterday as investors eased back on risky plays ahead of US elections, with miners among the top fallers as they continued to suffer from the low price of copper. At the close, the FTSE 100 was down 29.490 points, or 0.5 per cent, at 5,839.06, in thin trading volumes of 70 [...]
Apprehension over US election leads FTSE 100 lower November 5, 2012 The blue chip index was trading down this morning, as investors awaited the outcome of a tightly-fought US election. Miners weighed on the main share index this morning, while ITV also sustained losses. On the FTSE All-Share, data centre provider Telecity fell almost 8.5 per cent in early deals despite reporting robust trading across its [...]
HSBC sets aside extra $800m in money laundering provision November 5, 2012 HSBC has put aside an extra $800m to cover a potential fine from US regulators for breaching anti-money laundering controls, it said this morning. It had previously set aside $700m in July, bringing the total provision to $1.5bn. Meanwhile, HSBC posted pre-tax profits of $3.5bn in the third quarter, a fall of $3.7bn from the [...]
HSBC to face up to $1.5bn in US fines November 5, 2012 BANKING giant HSBC will today announce that it is having to put aside another half a billion pounds to pay fines for breaking anti-money laundering regulations. The bank’s lax security controls failed to stop drug dealers laundering money through the bank’s Mexican operations. In July it set aside $700m (£437m) to pay the anticipated fines, [...]