Blow for Northern Rock credit holders as it halts bond payouts August 18, 2009 NATIONALISED lender Northern Rock shocked bond markets yesterday by ceasing payouts on several of its bonds in a bid to hoard cash ahead of a further £3bn government bailout. The value of the failed sub-prime mortgage lender’s credit plummeted as it announced it is to delay all payments where it is legally possible. The lender [...]
D-DAY FOR RATINGS AGENCIES September 23, 2009 RATING agency Moody’s will enter the firing line today, when one of its former executives tells a congressional hearing that the company was giving inflated ratings to securities as early as this year. Eric Kolchinsky will also tell the US House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that Moody’s puts revenues from its clients before the [...]
Why the special relationship is still important October 4, 2009 AHEAD of this week’s Conservative Party conference, it is perhaps a good time to recollect the wise words of one of the party’s and country’s most celebrated leaders. In response to a crisis far graver than the one we have just experienced, Winston Churchill coined the phrase “special relationship” to describe the close connection between [...]
Barclays will dump 7.5bn in risky assets September 16, 2009 BARCLAYS yesterday announced the sale of $12.3bn (£7.5bn) of credit market assets to a newly-established fund called Protium Finance, managed by former Barclays Capital (BarCap) employees, in a bid to reduce its credit market exposure. The deal, a complex piece of financial engineering, was well received by investors but slammed by some analysts and media [...]
US resists ratings regulation August 5, 2009 THE Obama administration is resisting calls to help ensure that credit ratings are reliable, saying this would force investors to rely even more on the ratings. Although credit rating agencies have been accused of assigning top ratings to complex securities that later crumbled in value, the government should not be in the business of regulating [...]
Lord Turner’s criticisms damage City prospects September 27, 2009 The 2009 Party Conference season marks a critical moment in our electoral cycle – the next time the Parties reconvene in 2010 we will have a new government, be it Red, Blue or even Yellow. It is understandable that in the run-up to a General Election, politicians will seek to reflect the anger of the [...]
Hedgie recovery continues as August’s gains take yearly growth to 11.6 per cent September 21, 2009 HEDGE funds booked their sixth straight month of gains in August, according to data released yesterday that suggests the industry’s recovery is powering on. The Credit Suisse/Tremont Hedge Fund index rose by 1.53 per cent last month, bringing year-to-date returns on the index to 11.57 per cent. The Convertible Arbitrage strategy, where funds exploit price [...]
At auction, there are bargains for cash-rich buyers September 10, 2009 PROPERTY prices might well be looking up at the moment, but the market is still gridlocked. Buyers struggling to get mortgages and others worried that they might lose their jobs. It’s no fun being in a chain right now. Which is why auctions are becoming more popular. Gary Murphy, partner and auctioneer at Allsop, which [...]
Brits are hungry again for a place in the sun December 3, 2009 MEET an overseas property agent these days and they’ll be chirpy, well slept and optimistic about the future – the exact opposite of how they would have been at the beginning of the year. The reason? After 18 months of its having no appeal whatsoever, the British love affair with buying a place in the [...]
USgears up for flurry of share listings September 20, 2009 THEUNITEDStates is gearing up for its biggest week of initial public offerings (IPO) in nearly two years, in a welcome sign that an economic recovery is well under way in the world’s biggest economy. There are eight IPOs – where companies float new shares on the stock markets – lined up to take place this [...]