AT A GLANCE: HOW THE INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND’S TAXES WOULD AFFECT THE CITY April 21, 2010 FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES TAX ● The FAT consists of a levy on the value added of ALL financial institutions, including insurers, hedge funds, private equity firms and so on. ● It comprises two elements: a tax on profits and a tax on remuneration. ● This could be justified as an alternative to charging VAT. However, the [...]
Don’t assume the sell-off is a great buying opportunity May 24, 2010 AT THE end of last week, equity markets slumped further into the red and some even entered a technical correction – that is, they are now down more than 10 per cent from their recent peaks. The S&P 500 is down 11.1 per cent from its latest high while the UK blue-chip index is off [...]
Darling: Lend or we will cut bank bonuses March 24, 2010 THE government is threatening to slash bonuses at state-owned Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) if they miss their target of lending £94bn this year. Government papers published alongside chancellor Alistair Darling’s Budget said UK Financial Investments, which controls the taxpayer’s stake in the banks, had the power to “work with the [...]
Greeks raise €5bn in new bond issue March 29, 2010 GREECE raised €5bn (£4.49bn) by issuing a seven-year syndicated bond yesterday, days after agreeing a last-ditch bailout package with the eurozone and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The bonds were sold with a 5.9 per cent coupon and were listed on the Athens Stock Exchange. Alpha Bank, Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BoAML), Societie Generale, [...]
REGULATION WILL EXCITE THE MARKETS March 22, 2010 POLITICAL issues look like dominating markets this week. This started on Sunday when President Obama’s healthcare reform was passed narrowly by the House of Representatives. In France, Nicolas Sarkozy has seen his party battered in regional elections and tomorrow we have the last budget before the UK election. Finally, there is the European summit, which [...]
Greece prepares for cuts as euro dives March 2, 2010 GREECE plans to unveil new austerity measures today in order to cut its budget deficit and secure support from fellow EU members. The austerity package is worth up to €4.8bn (£4.36bn) of cuts, ranging from new taxes, a VAT hike and the proposed slashing of public sector pay. Prime Minister George Papandreou told Parliament yesterday [...]
Greece could seek IMF aid March 3, 2010 GREEK Prime Minister George Papandreou warned yesterday he would turn to the International Monetary Fund for support should the EU not provide the financial assistance he wants. The threat came in the wake of fresh spending cuts – the country’s toughest in decades. The newest line of measures are expected to raise €4.8bn (£4.3bn) after [...]
MAN FROM THE PRU IN SPOT OF PULP FRICTION May 20, 2010 SEASONED investors will be familiar with the mountain of paperwork that traditionally accompanies any City deal, but it does rather take the biscuit when recipients are actually forced to order waste-disposal skips in order to get the documents off their hands. Yet this, ladies and gents, is the position which stockbroker Charles Stanley finds itself, [...]
MAN FROM THE PRU IN SPOT OF PULP FRICTION May 20, 2010 SEASONED investors will be familiar with the mountain of paperwork that traditionally accompanies any City deal, but it does rather take the biscuit when recipients are actually forced to order waste-disposal skips in order to get the documents off their hands. Yet this, ladies and gents, is the position which stockbroker Charles Stanley finds itself, [...]
Black Swans back with a vengeance April 18, 2010 CHAOS theory reigns supreme. That is one of the most powerful lessons in life: unexpected events always tend to derail even the best and most carefully thought out plans. We have seen three major disruptions to the received wisdom in the past few days; all will have severe consequences. The first was the outcome of [...]