June, 2009
££££….ɐ&ɯ ʇǝddnɯ….£££
Bids are back! Sadly, it’s in the land of penny dreadfuls…
* The ADVFN Independent Directors and the ALL IPO Independent Directors are pleased to announce today that they have agreed the terms of a recommended offer to be made by ADVFN for the entire issued and to be issued ordinary share capital of ALL IPO,
Never apologise, never explain
For some time now we have marvelled at the willingness of institutions to back fund raisings from even the most desperate of companies. So we should probably not be surprised that someone – in this instance UBS – has decided to launch a cash call without any explanation as to why it needs the money or what it will be used for.
‘Market serfs’ of the world unite
Conversation in a Tokyo bar on a recent night: investment banker, analyst and a few equity salesmen mulling over news this week that Citigroup is planning to raise “rank-and-file employees’ salaries”
Further reading
Elsewhere on Friday,
- The shorts are coming back.
- History lesson: The dubious birth of MBS.
- Regulating derivatives.
- The worst CEOs – ever.
- Bursting the bubble of bearishness.
- Behind the demand for US Treasuries.
Pink picks
Comment, analysis and other offerings from Friday’s FT,
Philip Stephens: Co-ordination falls away as the global crisis abates
History may well be kind in its judgment on the international response to the crisis in financial markets.
Snap news
Breaking pre-market news on Friday,
- UBS sees Q2 net loss, CHF3.8bn offering – statement.
- Cadogan Petroleum postpones AGM – statement.
- John Lewis weekly dept store sales up 2.2 pct – statement.
Bernanke defends Fed on Merrill deal
Ben Bernanke was on Thursday forced to make an unusual public defence of his actions as a bank regulator amid accusations he overstepped his authority during frantic talks over Bank of America’s acquisition of Merrill Lynch.
UBS unveils SFr3.8bn equity placement
UBS moved on Thursday to bolster its balance sheet by raising SFr3.8bn (£2.1bn) in an equity placing, after pressure from regulators, and warned it would record a loss in the second quarter. The developments follow UBS’s recent Swiss government bailout and warnings by the Swiss central bank about the leverage ratios of big banks.
Brazil’s VisaNet raises $4.27bn
Brazil’s VisaNet, formally called Cia. Brasileira de Meios de Pagamentos, raised $4.27bn (8.4bn reais), in a secondary offering on the São Paulo stock exchange on Thursday, after the credit-card processor added supplemental blocks of shares to the sale,
UK banking act to boost FSA’s role
UK chancellor Alistair Darling is planning a new Banking Act this year to strengthen the role of the Financial Services Authority, in an unexpected move that follows criticism of the Bank of England’s failure to warn of the impending banking crisis.
AIG clinches $25bn debt deal
AIG on Thursday clinched a $25bn debt for equity swap with the Fed that will give the US government a big stake in two of the troubled insurer’s most prized businesses. Under the agreement, the New York Fed will receive $16bn in preferred equity in American International Assurance,
Japan’s FSA to sanction Citi
Japan’s Financial Services Agency will sanction Citigroup over lax money-laundering controls and will hold a press conference on Friday to discuss the details, reports the WSJ. The watchdog believes that Citi did not catch and report money-laundering by a Japanese yakuza criminal syndicate,
Russia considers bank bail-out
Russia is considering at a sweeping bail-out of its banks that would go further than US actions. Igor Shuvalov, deputy prime minister, will meet financial experts on Friday to discuss ways to recapitalise Russia’s banking system,
Shinsei confirms Aozora talks
Japan’s Shinsei and Aozora banks – which are part-owned by US buyout groups – confirmed on Thursday they are in merger talks to create the country’s sixth-biggest banking group, with assets of about Y18,000bn ($187bn).
M&A activity lowest in five years
Record levels of capital markets activity in the 2009 first half failed to lift the volume of worldwide M&A as chief executives shunned big deals. Non-financial groups raised almost $887bn in the bond markets in the first half,
Stanford pleads not guilty
Sir Allen Stanford, the Texan billionaire, pleaded not guilty on Thursday to 21 criminal charges, including running a $7bn Ponzi scheme and buying the co-operation of a top Caribbean regulator. If convicted,
Michael Jackson dies at 50
Michael Jackson, one of pop’s most successful but controversial figures, has died aged 50 in Los Angeles, reports the FT. His death came on the eve of a sold-out comeback tour, meant to revive a career that began four decades ago when Jackson was a child.
Overnight markets: Mostly up
Asian stocks rose on Friday as commodity prices jumped amid new signs of optimism about the US outlook after figures showed the economy shrank less than expected in the first quarter.
Asian markets
Commercial paper market shrinkage
Federal Reserve data released on Thursday shows no improvement in the commercial paper market.
In fact,the size of the outstanding market has shrunk to a record low:
Of course, a lot of this is down to alternative facilities,
FSA bans commission for advisers
Talk about the end of an era. From the FT:
Financial advisers are to be banned from receiving commission for selling investment, pension and life assurance products from 2012, under radical new rules announced by the Financial Services Authority.
Bernanke’s Mac attack
Here’s the masterfully structured Bernanke testimony on the matter of Bank of America’s acquisition of Merrill Lynch, and whether or not the Federal Reserve pressured BofA CEO Ken Lewis into going through with the deal once due diligence showed up much bigger than expected losses at Merrill:
Bernanke testifying on BofA/Merrill merger
You can watch it on Bloomberg TV, click below and then launch the video player.
Related links:
Fed faces cover-up claim on BofA merger – FT
Will Ken Lewis convince Congress? – FT Alphaville
An end to Britain’s QE
Could be nigh, according to Citi. And it’s all down to — you guessed it — inflation expectations.
From Citi’s Michael Saunders:
The June YouGov survey shows inflation expectations among the general public rising back to match the 2.0% inflation target,
British Airways’ cash conundrum
Airlines are like grocery stores.
They have particular goods they need to sell before certain dates and at fairly fixed operating costs. The plane is going to leave with 100 people on board, or 50. It is up to the airline to fill enough seats — at high enough prices — to cover costs.
Get your index-linked gilts here while you can!
The UK Debt Management Office’s auction of £500m worth of 2037 index-lined bonds appears to have been a major success on Thursday.
As Dow Jones reports:
LONDON (Dow Jones)–The U.K. government’s latest index-linked gilt auction attracted strong demand Thursday,
Lunch Wrap
On FT Alphaville Thursday morning,
- The next bubble?
- Meredith Cassandra Whitney.
- Borrowed in China.
- ‘New sky thinking’ in Japan.
- A Z-shaped recovery and executive greed in Further reading and Pink picks.
Lex: King over the water
Mervyn King is hardly the only central bank governor of a high deficit country to be facing off against his government, but he may have the toughest battle on his hands.
In testimony to a parliamentary committee on Wednesday,
Markets live transcript 25 Jun 2009
Markets live chat transcript for the chat ending at 12:06 on 25 Jun 2009. Participants in this chat were: Paul Murphy, FT (PM) Neil Hume, FT (NH) PM:Hi there PM:Welcome to ML