Bank buyers circle as Rock splits off unit January 4, 2010 THE race to snap up the good assets of Northern Rock heated up yesterday, with Virgin Money and National Australia Bank (NAB) emerging as the frontrunners. Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank owner NAB is understood to have held meetings with potential advisers including Lazard, Citigroup, Credit Suisse and Morgan Stanley ahead of a potential bid for [...]
The City lawyer who argues that banking has become even riskier November 4, 2009 T o David Morley, the phrase “it is better to travel than to arrive” must sound pretty strange, an expression invented only for those unfortunate souls who have not learnt to move at speed. For Morley, who joined top law firm Allen & Overy in 1980 and has led it as senior partner since last [...]
Blacks confident on refinancing July 15, 2009 Outdoor goods retailer Blacks Leisure Group said yesterday it was confident of securing new funds crucial for its turnaround plan, as it reported a further fall in sales. The firm said it was in an “advanced state of negotiation” with Lloyds Banking Group for the renewal of its existing working capital facility of £35m. In [...]
London ends lower as all eyes turn to payroll data in the US September 3, 2009 THE FTSE 100 closed lower yesterday, weighed down by energy stocks, though with a rally from miners limited losses ahead of today’s key US non-farm payroll figures. The index closed the session down 20.80 points, or 0.4 percent, at 4,796.75, having traded lower on the first two days of September. But the recent powerful rally, [...]
CITY AM | SHADOW MPC January 6, 2010 ALLISTER HEATH | CITY A.M. “The PMI services data show the UK grew in the fourth quarter and the money supply figures looked healthier than expected. QE needs to be stopped sooner rather than later but rates should stay put for now.” SIMON WARD | HENDERSON “Suspend QE and signal an intention to begin normalising [...]
All can fail: my new manifesto for the banks January 25, 2010 REGULAR readers of this column will know that I am no fan of many of the proposals being cooked up to reform the banks. I have opposed Barack Obama’s plan to ban retail banks from engaging in proprietary trading; George Osborne’s support of Glass-Steagall, which would break up commercial and investment banks; and Alistair Darling’s [...]
FURTHER BAD NEWS TO PUSH BUCK LOWER September 20, 2009 JANE FOLEY RESEARCH DIRECTOR, FOREX.COMAYEAR after the fall of Lehman Brothers, the established rhetoric in the markets is that the shocks that unbalanced the finance system and the global economy have still not dispersed. However, the markets are saying otherwise. Shorting the US dollar has become de rigueur. The euro, Australian and New Zealand dollars [...]
FURTHER BAD NEWS TO PUSH BUCK LOWER September 20, 2009 JANE FOLEY RESEARCH DIRECTOR, FOREX.COMAYEAR after the fall of Lehman Brothers, the established rhetoric in the markets is that the shocks that unbalanced the finance system and the global economy have still not dispersed. However, the markets are saying otherwise. Shorting the US dollar has become de rigueur. The euro, Australian and New Zealand dollars [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING February 10, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES BOCOM EYES $500M PRIVATE EQUITY FUND Bank of Communications is to launch a US dollar private equity fund in the latest sign of mounting Chinese interest in the asset class. BoCom International, the bank’s overseas arm, said on Wednesday it was targeting a $500m fund that would invest in mainland groups. The fund [...]
EC moves closer to break-up of banks rescued by state aid July 23, 2009 THE prospect of a break-up of Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) moved closer yesterday, after the European Commission (EC) called on banks to present plans to restructure themselves. EC competition commissioner Neelie Kroes said bailed out banks would have to detail their plans to the EC within six months, to prove [...]