February, 2009
US automakers to seek $21.6bn in funds
General Motors and Chrysler presented long-awaited restructuring plans on Tuesday, but said they would need up to $21.6bn more in federal funds between them to carry them out. The two Detroit carmakers made the plea as part of tougher new downsizing plans in submissions to the government required as a condition of the $17.4bn of emergency bridge loans they received in December.
Greenspan backs bank nationalisation
The US government may have to temporarily nationalise some banks to fix the financial system and restore credit flows, former Fed chairman Alan Greenspan told the FT. Temporary nationalisation could be the least bad option left for policymakers,
L&G reassures on capital strength
Legal & General on Tuesday sought to reassure investors over its capital position, saying it would double the reserves it sets aside for defaults on corporate bonds to £1.2bn. The statement came as the UK insurance and investment group reported a 45% decline in its capital surplus in final quarter of the year.
Candover to hand back part of fund
Candover is preparing to hand back much of the €3bn (£2.7bn) it raised from investors for its latest buy-out fund, in a humbling blow to one of the UK’s biggest private equity groups. The move, announced Tuesday,
Madoff victims emerge at Safra
Customers of the Safra Group, which includes one of Brazil’s biggest banks and has substantial private banking operations in the US and Europe, have emerged as victims of the Bernard Madoff scandal. Banco Safra of São Paulo for several years is understood to have marketed a fund called Zeus Partners,
Ross eyes US toxic assets fund
Billionaire investor Wilbur Ross said Tuesday he would invest in the US government’s private-public investment fund designed to help mop up banks’ troubled assets, provided that low-cost funding, as well as guarantees in sharing investment losses,
Steel Partners scraps Sapporo offer
Steel Partners underlined the waning interest of activist shareholders in Japan as it withdrew its offer to raise its stake in Sapporo Holdings, the beer company with which it has been in confrontation with for more than two years.
Pensions before dividends, UK regulator
UK companies will not be allowed to cut cash contributions to underfunded pension schemes if they are still paying dividends to shareholders, the UK Pensions Regulator will announce Wednesday. The regulator will signal it is prepared to stretch out payment periods for companies to restore pension schemes,
Reed Elsevier in $2bn loan deal
Reed Elsevier has concluded a deal with its lenders to extend a $2bn (£1.4bn) credit facility for two years. The multi-currency deal was agreed by a syndicate of 19 lending banks including Barclays, RBS,
Foreign money pours into US
Foreign investors continued pouring money into the US in December, amid growing demand for its financial assets despite the deepening economic downturn. The latest monthly Treasury International Capital (Tic) data show that foreign purchases of US securities rose to $74bn in December,
Goldman co-COO Winkelried to retire
Gary Cohn emerged as the clear number two at Goldman Sachs on Tuesday following the retirement of his fellow president and co-chief operating officer Jon Winkelried. Winkelried’s departure leaves Cohn,
Overnight Markets: Slide
Asian stocks on Wednesday dropped for a third day, driving Japan’s Topix index toward the lowest close in 25 years, as the deepening global recession hurts corporate earnings and demand for commodities.
[The Stanford Series] Where in the world is Sir Allen?
This just out from Reuters, emphasis ours:
Texas billionaire Allen Stanford and two of his aides failed to answer subpoenas to testify about what investigators are calling a “massive” fraud, and the government said late on Tuesday that it could not comment on Stanford’s whereabouts.
[The Stanford Series] Have you seen this bank?
Hat tip reader PB
[The Stanford Series] It’s just not cricket
ECB and WICB suspend Stanford talks
17 February 2009
Following allegations made today by the US Securities and Exchange Commission and their decision to apply for a temporary restraining order which was filed in a Dallas/Fort Worth court,
[The Stanford Series] Stanford scandal in pictures
Copyright S-M Ishmael, photographer and sometime Alphaviller.
Here’s a view of Stanford International Bank in St John’s, Antigua. That phrase about fools and their money springs to mind…
Here’s a rather arty shot from inside the lobby at SIB.
[The Stanford Series] The full SEC complaint against Stanford
Well, Stanford International Bank, Standford Group Company, Stanford capital Management, R Allen Stanford, James Davis and Laura Pendergest-Holt, to be precise.
[The Stanford Series] The fractal Stanford
Part of the problem for anyone trying to understand the Stanford controversy is the complexity of the Stanford companies themselves.
Stanford Financial is really a collection of independent companies;
[The Stanford Series] ROBERT STANFORD ACCUSED OF `MASSIVE FRAUD’ BY SEC
Statement from the SEC:
____________
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 2009-26
SEC CHARGES R. ALLEN STANFORD, STANFORD INTERNATIONAL BANK FOR MULTI-BILLION DOLLAR INVESTMENT SCHEME
Washington,
[The Stanford Series] Sir Allen’s Antigua, or the curious case of Stanford International Bank
St John’s, Antigua
Antigua, a tiny nation in the Eastern Caribbean with fewer than 90,000 people, bears all the hallmarks you would expect of a tropical island largely reliant upon tourism: fantastic weather and white-sand beaches (license plates bear the text “Land of Sea and Sun”);
[The Stanford Series] Arise, Sir Allen…lest we assume the worst
Back in 1989 FBI swat teams staged synchronised raids on the offices of BCCI in Florida and Washington. Members of the bank’s advisory committee, which included a string of grandees from the era, were pinned to the floor at gun-point.
Indigestion in the property sector
A bloodbath. That describes the scene in the UK commercial property sector on Tuesday.
Heavyweights, Hammerson are Land Securites fell 9% and 8.5% respectively, while second liners Brixton and Segro dropped 28% and 18%.
Stress tests, debunked
Yves Smith has a very interesting e-mail from William Black, who was counsel to the Federal Home Loan Bank Board during the S&L Crisis and blew the whistle on the “Keating Five” in 1989. It’s about stress tests,
The RBS bonus bonanza!
A curious anecdote. Back in the 1990′s, Goldman Sachs had a rather archaic payroll system that could only cut a cheque with a maximum value of $100,000. On bonus day, those cheques would arrive in little individual envelopes.
Poland prepared for currency intervention
After hardly any action, the Polish government has finally signalled it is prepared to intervene in the forex market to stem the zloty rout which is currently causing jitters.
At 5 zlotys per euro, Prime Minister Donald Tusk says Poland will sell euros from the country’s reserves.
Another bad day for US financials
It seems that US traders returned to work after their break yesterday with one thing on their minds: sell financials.
About an hour into the trading day, Bank of America’s shares were down 9.5 per cent,
Those November lows
Indices versus their November lows (Hat Tip Hobart Capital).
FTSE is actually being remarkably resilient by comparison…
Update 16:20 – Richard Crossley, technical guru at Merchant Securities,
HSBC needs to raise more than $15bn
Morgan Stanley’s UK banks analyst Michael Helsby has an ally.
Daniel Tabbush of Hong Kong-based CLSA also reckons HSBC will ask its shareholders for cash. However, if the bank follows the lead of rival Asian banks Standard Chartered and DBS and raises a sum equivalent to 13 per cent of shareholders’ funds – some $15bn – Tabbush fears it won’t be enough.