February, 2009
[The Stanford Series] Sir Allen Stanford, you’ve been served
“On February 19, 2009, at the request of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Richmond Division located and identified Stanford Financial Group chairmanAllen Stanford in the Fredericksburg,
Roubini: End of the laissez faire Anglo-Saxon model of capitalism?
Nouriel Roubini of RGE Monitor (aka prophetic doomsayer extraordinaire) is known for his gloomy outlooks, but his latest missive seems somewhat gloomier than most.
Reading through the commentary you can’t help but feel Roubini is quietly preparing to wave goodbye to the idea of a protracted U-shaped recession for good.
[The Noddies] #3 – Canton Property Investment
Sadly, Canton’s executive chairman went “missing” in October 2008 and the company is now searching for a new nominated adviser.
The Noddies
Garry Alides Willinge, Independent Non-Executive Director (aged 57)
Mr.
The speculative attack that came in from the cold
A national psyche is a national psyche. And in Poland, it has not gone unobserved that the nation’s current travails could be linked to something a little more sinister, let’s say, than simply a deteriorating economy.
[The Noddies] #2 – ALG
The second entry in the popular FT Alphaville Guide to Non-executive Directors Who Appear to have Nodded Off.
The American Leisure Group – Non-executive directors
Sir David Garrard, Non Executive Chairman (aged:
[The Noddies] #1 – Sibir Energy
Introducing The FT Alphaville Guide to Non-executive Directors Who Appear to have Nodded Off.
First in an occasional series… Submissions invited.
Sibir Energy
Board of Directors
Mr. William L. S.
Allied Irish Banks – and the bad debt charge for 2008 is…
137 bps of average loans. Earnings per share for that year are now expected to be around Eur 66c.
To put those figures into context:
In our Interim Management Statement (IMS) of 5th November 2008 we said that our 2008 earnings per share target was around Eur 120c.
[The Stanford Series] A Freudian slip?
Late on Wednesday, FT Alphaville received our first-ever press release in audio form – a clip of Everette Christan, a representative of the Antigua and Barbuda Bankers Association, reading a statement on the curious matter of Sir Allen Stanford and the scandal’s potential impact on the Bank of Antigua,
Baltic dry index – the quick march
The mixed signals can’t get any more mixed, the Baltic Dry Index, which tracks rates to ship dry commodities, is up 3.6 per cent on Thursday to a new 4-month high. Here’s a historical chart for context.
EE meltdown averted, for now
The zloty is up vs most of its significant crosses (CHF, EUR, USD) for the second day in a row — largely down to Wednesday’s widely called-for intervention in the forex markets by the Polish finance ministry.
CDS report: volatility continues to fall
Thursday saw the second consecutive day of marginal improvement for the credit markets as volatility continued to fall. Traders suggested volumes traded were relatively low as the market moved back to something approaching fair price following the last few months’ bearish sentiment.
Lunch Wrap
On FT Alphaville on Thursday morning,
- What’s missing from this picture?
- Sibir Energy saga continues
- China’s shopping spree riles the ‘Republic of Oz’
- Is Barclays on the brink of selling BGI?
- Talking BGI and Sibir Energy on Markets Live
On FT.com,
Markets live transcript 19 Feb 2009
Markets live chat transcript for the chat ending at 12:07 on 19 Feb 2009. Participants in this chat were: Neil Hume, FT (NH) Paul Murphy, FT (PM) NH:Good morning and welcome to Markets Live
Sibir Energy – the saga continues
This is looking distinctly terminal. Thursday’s statement (emphasis ours):
The quotation of Sibir’s ordinary shares on the London Stock Exchange has been suspended today at the request of Sibir. Sibir’s Nominated Adviser,
What’s missing from this picture?
Reader T.K. sends us this, a snapshot of management structure at the Bank of England. Notice anything missing?
Related link:
About – Structure – Bank of England
Further reading
Elsewhere on Thursday,
- “Alpha isn’t just a fantasy for alpha males like Stanford”.
- Sir Allen’s circle of friends, a slideshow.
- The Barron’s plan – or how to fix the US economy.
- A swagger-deficit hits Goldman-land.
Pink picks
Comment, analysis and other offerings from Thursday’s FT,
Europe special
Comment: The eurozone needs a government bond market
George Soros writes: Creating a eurozone government bond market would bring immediate benefits in addition to correcting a structural deficiency.
Snap news
The latest on Thursday,
- Land Securities announces £756m rights issue — statement.
- 3I to sell at least 55m of its shares in 3I Infrastructure — statement.
- BNP Paribas posts €1.37bn fourth-quarter loss and cuts dividend — Reuters.
UBS to pay $780m US tax probe fine
UBS on Wednesday agreed to pay $780m in fines and turn over some customer names to the US government as part of a landmark settlement in which the Swiss bank admitted it helped thousands of clients evade taxes.
Savers besiege Stanford banks
Panicked savers on Wednesday rushed to withdraw money from banks in Antigua and Venezuela linked to Sir Allen Stanford, the Texan billionaire charged by US regulators with “massive” investment fraud.
Icap’s Spencer sells Numis stake
Michael Spencer, founder of inter-dealer broker Icap and Conservative party co-treasurer, has sold his stake in Numis, which was part of a package of shares pledged against loans to his private company,
UK tax-take to reveal depth of crisis
A sharp deterioration in UK public finances is expected to be revealed on Thursday morning as official figures show extremely weak tax revenues in the crucial month of January and lay bare the cost of the government’s capital injections into Britain’s banks.
Zoellick urges EU on eastern Europe
Robert Zoellick, World Bank president, has urged the EU to lead co-ordinated global support for the economies of central and eastern Europe, even as divisions emerge in the EU over handling the crisis.
SocGen takes a Russian hit
Société Générale, France’s second-biggest bank, on Wednesday put its Russian expansion plans on hold and wrote down some Russian assets but expressed confidence about the outlook for eastern Europe.
MBIA to focus on muni bonds
MBIA, once the world’s biggest debt insurer, is setting up a new company entirely focused on the US municipal bond market in an effort to leave behind problems stemming from its exposure to mortgage-backed securities.
Taiwan falls into recession
Taiwan has tumbled into recession, suffering a record annual fall in output at the end of last year to become east Asia’s worst-performing economy. Data on Wednesday showed Taiwan’s GDP shrank an annualised 8.36% in the last quarter of 2008.
UK property groups in £3bn calls
Shareholders in UK real estate companies are being asked to find more than £3bn in less than four weeks to rescue property groups scrambling for cash to pay down debt as asset values tumble. Land Securities,