Barclays to begin spending spree by buying Portugese credit card business September 27, 2009 BARCLAYS is close to agreeing a deal to buy Citigroup’s credit card business in Portugal. The deal is expected to be announced early this week, and is not thought to exceed £60m. Britain’s second largest bank is looking to complete a string of purchases throughout Europe at the same time as Citigroup is seeking to [...]
Barclays to begin spending spree by buying Portugese credit card business September 27, 2009 BARCLAYS is close to agreeing a deal to buy Citigroup’s credit card business in Portugal. The deal is expected to be announced early this week, and is not thought to exceed £60m. Britain’s second largest bank is looking to complete a string of purchases throughout Europe at the same time as Citigroup is seeking to [...]
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 [...]
Lower commodity prices and concerns over Greek debt weigh on FTSE stocks April 21, 2010 BRITAIN’S top share index ended down yesterday as lower commodity prices hit miners and oil stocks and concerns over Greece’s debt returned to haunt banks, though positive broker comment boosted food retailers. The FTSE 100 index closed down 60.26 points, or 1 per cent, at 5,723.43, giving back Tuesday’s one per cent gain. “Equity sentiment [...]
CITY VIEWS: WOULD A BANK TAX HURT THE CITY? March 22, 2010 MICHAEL WONG | BARCLAYS GLOBAL INVESTORS “It depends on what level its set at, and would need to be adopted by the US and EU too since this country depends on financial services. The Tories have proposed this as a publicity stunt to win the favour of the electorate, and since the City is about [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING June 3, 2010 Financial times TNK-BP STEP UP SALE OF GAS FIELD TNK-BP, BP’s Russian joint oil venture, ratcheted up the pressure for a sale of its vast Kovykta gas field on Thursday, announcing that it was pushing the unit that owns the licence to the field into bankruptcy. The move raises the stakes over the future of [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING June 3, 2010 Financial times TNK-BP STEP UP SALE OF GAS FIELD TNK-BP, BP’s Russian joint oil venture, ratcheted up the pressure for a sale of its vast Kovykta gas field on Thursday, announcing that it was pushing the unit that owns the licence to the field into bankruptcy. The move raises the stakes over the future of [...]
German delay on Greek deal rocks market April 26, 2010 GERMANY and the International Monetary Fund demanded clearer details on Greece’s planned budget cuts yesterday, spooking markets into pushing the country’s borrowing costs to the highest level in 12 years. German chancellor Angela Merkel said the €45bn (£38.8bn) support package offered by the European Union and the IMF would stand firm provided “tough measures” were [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: HOW IMPORTANT DO YOU THINK THESE CONTRACT WINS ARE FOR BAE SYSTEMS? March 25, 2010 HENK POTTS | BARCLAYS WEALTH These are clearly positive deals for both BAE’s long-term performance and the thousands of people who work there. More importantly, it indicates BAE is still at the cutting edge of technological design and able to win significant orders. The wins are also good for its international standing. JUSTIN URQUHART STEWART [...]
City: MPs’ call for reform to banks is behind curve March 29, 2010 THE City accused politicians of remaining stuck in the “hysterical” phase of reaction to the financial crisis yesterday after MPs called for radical reform of the banking system. The Treasury Select Committee urged the government not to rule out breaking up systemically important banks, arguing the debate should be kept “as wide as possible” to protect [...]