RSS feedPeople
Europe considers Greek ‘firewall’
Financial markets surged on Tuesday on hopes of a European rescue plan for Greece, as German officials admitted they were considering a “firewall” to prevent the Greek debt crisis spiralling out of control,
Euro revives on Greece hopes
The euro pulled away from near record lows against the dollar on Tuesday as speculation of an imminent bail-out for Greece squeezed short positions built up against the single currency. Speculation that EU leaders would agree support measures for Greece at their Thursday summit was fuelled by news that Jean-Claude Trichet,
UniCredit chief warns on Europe
The chief executive of one of Europe’s biggest banks has warned that the continent’s economic recovery could be damaged, particularly in eastern Europe, if the threat of a “heart attack” in Greece was not addressed.
Sants quits FSA
Hector Sants has resigned as chief executive of the UK’s FSA watchdog, sowing confusion about the direction of financial regulation. The former Credit Suisse banker, who became chief executive in 2007,
Bolton unveils China trust
Anthony Bolton, one of the best-known names in fund management, is launching one of the biggest-ever investment trusts for private investors and hopes to raise £630m to pump into China. Shares in the new fund,
JPMorgan Cazenove chief to exit
Naguib Kheraj, chief executive of JPMorgan Cazenove, will leave the group next month after the US bank that bought out the UK broker last year failed to find him a mutually suitable role. Kheraj, formerly finance director of Barclays,
Rothschild gains non-family chief
The Rothschild banking dynasty is to appoint a non-family member as chief executive for the first time in its 212-year history, as the group seeks to adapt its management structure to the post-crisis climate.
Regulation, in pictures
Here’s the SEC enforcement team, led by Robert Khuzami, as portrayed by the New York Times.
And here’s the governor of the Bank of England, at play (we think) ahead of the G7 in Canada, courtesy of The Guardian.
A grandee speaks up for Little England
To the Said Business School, Oxford, to hear departing Cadbury chairman Roger Carr talk about hostile takeover bids – a timely address, given the Kraft deal…
Carr, we can report, had clearly topped up on the theobromine ahead of his speech.
Oh yes they will… oh no they won’t!
The Dow was up on Tuesday afternoon:
And apparently the pick-me-up had something to do with flashes like these out of Reuters:
RTRS-BILATERAL AID FOR GREECE AND MEASURES AGREED AT EUROPEAN LEVEL ARE BEING CONSIDERED-GERMAN NEWSPAPER
RTRS-GERMAN FIN MINISTER TO INFORM SENIOR GERMAN CONSERVATIVES ON GREECE AID DETAILS ON WEDS-GERMAN PAPER
Except that in the meantime:
The next leg of the great bear market has begun…
. . . so says Bob Janjuah, chief strategist at RBS, who is convinced — now more than ever — that the policy-sponsored excess liquidity-enabled buy fest is over.
I now think we have begun the 3rd and final leg of the multi-yr bear mrkt which began in 2007 and which SHOULD,
Bolton on tour
Click to enlarge:
Those are the planned movements of Anthony Bolton over the next couple of weeks, as the star fund manager looks to raise £630m for his new venture in China.
Fidelity China Special Situations will be a closed-ended investment company that will be listed on the LSE in mid-April if all goes to plan.
<<"Tres hedge funds con más de 500.000 millones bajo gestión son los responsables del ataque a España">>
Okay, we don’t think this needs to be put through the Google Translator.
Reportedly, Moore Capital, Brevan Howard and Paulson & C0 are behind the “murky maneuvers” that have seen Spanish CDS and bond yields blow out.
Nowotny talks contagion, exit strategies and all things peripheral with FT Alpha
European Central Bank (ECB) governing council member, Ewald Nowotny , sat down with FT Alphaville to talk Greece, exit strategies, speculation and contagion in the eurozone.
In addition to being an ECB member,
Further reading
Elsewhere on Tuesday,
- The shadow banks.
- AIG is to Goldman as Greece is to. . .
- “Teach the speculators a lesson.”
- Alan Greenspan fights back.
- Help compile a Morphology of the Sin of bad commercial real estate lending.
Greek crisis clouds EU summit
The fiscal emergency in Greece and the turbulence in debt markets are threatening to overshadow this week’s EU summit on business competitiveness. The problem poses a leadership test for Herman Van Rompuy,
Hartford sees Q4 profit
The Hartford Financial Services Group reported Q4 earnings of $557m late Monday, compared to a loss of $806m a year earlier, on increased revenues in its property and casualty division. For the year, The Hartford lost $887m,
Nasdaq chief hits proposed ban
Bob Greifeld, chief executive of Nasdaq OMX, said on Monday it would be “impossible” to distinguish between a bank proprietary trading desk trading on its own or on behalf of clients, casting further doubt on US proposals to ban such trading.
Keycorp’s Hancock to join AIG
Peter Hancock, one of the inventors of credit derivatives, is to join AIG in a new role overseeing risk, finance and strategy. The appointment of Hancock, currently vice-chairman at US regional lender KeyCorp,
Ex-Intel exec pleads guilty
A former Intel executive pleaded guilty on Monday to criminal charges alleging that he passed sensitive information about his company to Galleon Group founder Raj Rajaratnam and profited from Galleon’s trading on his tips.
Toyota to recall Prius
Toyota was set on Tuesday to announce a recall of its latest-model Prius petrol-electric hybrid in Japan, and possibly elsewhere, over problems with braking software, adding to carmaker’s global recall of more than 8m vehicles.
Feinberg on Blankfein: fail (maybe)
Here’s US pay czar Kenneth Feinberg, talking about Lloyd Blankfein’s $9m pay packet to Betty Liu on Bloomberg TV.
Yes, he thinks it’s excessive, but he’s cheered by the fact the package is made up of a very low base salary and long-term stock.
Quote du jour, G7 ostrich edition
“The G7 countries are completely asleep at the wheel. I looked at the information they put out from their meeting I was absolutely shocked … they seem to show no awareness at all that much of Europe is facing a serious crisis and it’s not limited to Spain,
More bonus neurosis: Thain and how times have changed
He has been keeping a low profile since his ignominious exit from Merrill Lynch in early 2009. But who can forget John Thain, former Merrill Lynch CEO, of lavish-office-refurbishment fame.
Thain on Sunday was named chief executive of the CIT Group,
Bonus neurosis, revisited: Mine’s bigger than yours
After all the hoohah and wild reports about $100m pay-outs, Goldman Sachs on Friday made a big move against the backlash over its compensation practices, saying it would award chief executive Lloyd Blankfein a mere $9m stock bonus for 2009,
Thain back, to head CIT
John Thain has been named chief executive of CIT Group, the troubled financial company that emerged from bankruptcy in December under control of its primary creditors. Thain’s appointment comes after his one-year stint as CEO of Merrill Lynch ended in its sale to Bank of America,
SAP chief in surprise exit
Léo Apotheker, SAP’s chief executive, resigned on Sunday night in a management reshuffle at the world’s largest business software maker. The company said Apotheker – whose contract expires at the end of 2010 – would be replaced by Bill McDermott,
Deutsche Bank looks to Asia
Deutsche Bank plans to expand aggressively its equity capital markets and merger advisory operations in Asia to help push regional revenues above €4bn ($5.5bn) by 2011 and broaden the German bank’s regional operations,
Weekend catch-up
In case you missed these stories:
Hopes fade for bipartisan financial reform bill
Hopes that the US Senate would pass bipartisan financial reform legislation faded on Friday when a senior Democratic lawmaker said talks with his Republican counterpart had reached an “impasse”.
The Blankfein bonus: $9m in stock (updated)
A number that has been keenly anticipated: the 2009 compensation for Goldman Sachs chairman Lloyd C Blankfein.
Drum roll…
Some 58,381 restricted shares – worth just under $9m on Friday’s closing quote.