The Capitalist: Labour’s boost for wealth advisors and bane for private schools plus friends like Boris’
Darling accused of breaking guidelines over big bank loans November 26, 2009 CHANCELLOR Alistair Darling broke guidelines by not disclosing loans of more than £60bn to Royal Bank of Scotland and HBOS last year, a top opposition MP said yesterday. Tory MP Edward Leigh, who heads the cross-party Public Accounts Committee, said Darling went against ministerial guidelines and past practice by not telling him and the Labour [...]
UBS unveils another loss amid reshape November 3, 2009 SWISS bank UBS has reported a third quarter loss of SFr564.4m (£337m) after being hit by a hike in accounting charges. The result means the bank has now suffered four successive quarters of losses as it restructures in the face of the credit crunch. UBS, Switzerland’s largest bank, has been particularly badly hit by the [...]
REVOLUTION ON THE BANKING HIGH STREET – KEY POINTS November 3, 2009 ASSET PROTECTION SCHEMERBS:• Will receive a £25.5bn capital injection from government: £13bn upfront; £6bn of discretionary capital; and £6.5bn in a fee taken as capital.• Toxic assets placed in the APS cut from £325bn to £282bn.• RBS must cover first £60bn – not the £42bn that was first envisaged?– of losses on toxic assets in [...]
UKFI in bond plan for bank stakes June 10, 2009 The government is mulling an early exit from its £70bn stakes in bailed-out RBS and Lloyds Banking Group before their share prices recover, by selling off “exchangeable bonds” in the groups. UK Financial Investments has discussed creating the complex instruments to allow an early sale of the stakes at a premium to their still-depressed share [...]
THE TIPSTER RESISTANCE HAS FINALLY BEEN BROKEN July 26, 2009 WITH the Dow Jones Industrial Average breaking solidly through the 9,000 mark, it should come as no surprise that the FTSE 100 has also been making steady gains over the past week. Fuelled by the optimism from US earnings figures, the FTSE 100 breached significant resistance levels last week. All eyes will be on the [...]
THE TIPSTER RESISTANCE HAS FINALLY BEEN BROKEN July 26, 2009 WITH the Dow Jones Industrial Average breaking solidly through the 9,000 mark, it should come as no surprise that the FTSE 100 has also been making steady gains over the past week. Fuelled by the optimism from US earnings figures, the FTSE 100 breached significant resistance levels last week. All eyes will be on the [...]
CML: breakup of banks won’t lead to more lending November 10, 2009 MORTGAGE lenders have warned that the government’s banks breakup will fail to stimulate lending and even predict “stagnation” in the housing market next year. The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) poured cold water on hopes that the carve up of RBS and Lloyds and the resurrection of brands like Williams & Glyn’s and Trustee Savings [...]
FTSE 100 hangs in there as investors regain confidence July 29, 2009 THE FTSE 100 rose yesterday as gains from financial stocks, boosted by strong numbers from the UK arm of Spain’s Banco Santander, and positive broker comment, outweighed a weak mining sector. The index closed 18.69 points, or 0.4 per cent, higher at 4,547.53, after ending 1.3 per cent lower on Tuesday when it failed to [...]
EU may force banks to sell off divisions June 30, 2009 LLOYDS Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland may be forced to dispose of assets in order to meet EU antitrust rules, the European competition commissioner warned yesterday. Speaking at the British Bankers’ Association (BBA) annual conference, Neelie Kroes said that the two banks had an unfair competitive advantage as a result of receiving state [...]
Bank hate is exaggerated and simplistic August 3, 2009 IF WE are to believe most commentators, it is an outrage that Barclays and HSBC were able to report decent profits yesterday. The main reason, apparently, is that there are “fears” that lending remains too tight, and that the dreaded “bonus culture” will return. Needless to say, had the banks reported a collapse in earnings, [...]