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’CDS report: A turn in an era?
Events in history come in big and small packages. Sometimes these moments come as flashpoints; sometimes they are more subtle. Two of today’s headlines seem to be small and subtle shifts inside of a larger era in financial markets history. First,
Dear Vikram Pandit…
Dear Vikram Pandit,
FT Alphaville was a little bemused by your testimony to the Congressional Oversight Panel on Thursday, in which you blamed your bank’s near collapse on the nefarious activities of short-sellers.
Asia’s local currency bonds are looking pretty good
If you’re sitting in the eurozone, Asia’s local currency bond markets might look distant – and small. But this haven of relative tranquility is enjoying robust growth amid the turmoil roiling eurozone markets.
Citi posts Q4 loss of $0.33 a share, net loss of $7.6bn
Terminally-troubled Citigroup is the second of the big US banks to report this fourth-quarter earnings season.
And on Tuesday, the company’s shares were down slightly in pre-market trade after posting a Q4 net loss of ‘just’ $7.6bn,
The big boys move out of Tokyo
We’re wondering if it’s something in the Tokyo water — or perhaps it is all about the strange and increasingly vexing twists and turns of Japan’s new(ish) Hatoyama government. Or maybe it comes down to the old motive for just about everything in the big,
Citi sells its electronic FX platform
There’s been some consolidation in the world of FX electronic trading platforms on Monday.
According to a statement released by foreign-exchange platform FXall, Citigroup has reached an agreement with the company to sell it its LavaFX foreign-exchange electronic trading platform for an undisclosed sum.
Citi’s Christmas Credit Carols
‘Tis the season for festive levity from analysts.
And fittingly on Friday, while snow drifts gently down in London, and FT Alphaville prepares for its Xmas AVent party, Citi’s annual Christmas carols have just landed in our inbox.
Citi saves Christmas? Not quite.
Somehow, the PR department at Citi — a bank which, lest you forget, has lost more than 50 per cent of its share price in the year to date and that bungled its attempts to repay Tarp cash — has managed to retain a certain holiday cheer.
Parsing Pandit, or ‘I am sick of working for $1 per year’
Independent research firm Portales Partners on Wednesday issued the pithiest take we’ve seen on Vikram Pandit’s internal memo regarding Citi’s Tarp repayment.
We quote:
Interpretation of the Day: Deconstructing Vikram Pandit’s internal memo on Citigroup’s (C) TARP repayment…
Citigroup:
CDS report: Pulling the TARP back
Markit’s Otis Casey wrote this CDS report
Market focus shifted a bit to events in the US today. Wholesale prices in November were up 1.8% which was well above estimates, sparking renewed inflation
Citi in talks for equity offering
Citigroup is in advanced talks with US regulators over plans to raise more than $15bn in an equity offering, in a push to repay $20bn in Tarp bail-out funds as early as Thursday. Citi also intends to raise around $2bn of mandatory convertible securities,
Kuwait deals blow to Citi
The Kuwait Investment Authority has held internal discussions about scaling back its banking relationship with Citigroup in a move that could include transferring funds currently deposited with the US bank.
Bank of America’s $45bn cheque to the Treasury
As expected, Bank of America Merrill Lynch has joined the likes of JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs in repaying US taxpayers’ their hard-earned Tarp-allocated cash.
Bank of America today sent the U.S.
Tarp setback for Citi
US authorities are split over how much capital Citigroup should raise before it repays $20bn of Tarp bail-out funds – a disagreement that is hampering the bank’s efforts to free itself from the government’s grip.
Not the Kiss of Death Awards, 2009 edition
Much like the so-called Curse of the Magazine Cover, awards to financial institutions have proved to be an interesting contrarian indicator over the years.
As Fintag noted in May, past winners of the Hedge Funds Review’s European Performance Awards — or what he dubbed the “Kiss of Death”
Citi strains against official curbs
Citigroup is set to intensify efforts to break free from US government curbs on pay and management following Bank of America’s decision to return $45bn in bail-out funds. BofA’s move, revealed on Wednesday,
Chinese official slams Western banks
A senior Chinese official who oversees China’s largest state-owned enterprises has publicly slammed western investment banks for “maliciously” peddling complicated derivative products that caused huge losses for Chinese companies.
Citi vets start hedge fund
Four founding partners of former Citigroup hedge fund Old Lane, including its ex-CEO Guru Ramakrishnan, have launched one of the biggest US hedge-fund start-ups of the year, reports the WSJ. The NY-based fund,
UBS: still a ‘below average’ bank
Standard & Poor’s triggered something of brouhaha when it published a 22-page report comparing global banks’ risk-adjusted capital (RAC) adequacy.
The report found that several of the world’s biggest banks — including UBS and Citi — fell well short of what S&P considered to be the benchmark that “corresponds to full coverage of the level of stress embedded in our ratio.”
S&P raises fears over some banks
A study by credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s has raised questions over the financial strength of some of the biggest banks ahead of new rules that could require them to raise more funds. The analysis by S&P showed that HSBC is the world’s best capitalised bank,
UBS, Citi and other ‘below average’ banks
Standard & Poor’s freshly published comparison of global banks’ risk-adjusted capital (RAC) adequacy made for gripping reading on a chilly Monday morning in New York.
The report contains 22 pages of data,
Credit card curveballs
You’ve heard of mortgage loan modifications, now witness the effects of credit card loan modifications on banks.
On Monday, a number of US banks released credit card master trust data for October. Credit
Bain to buy Citi stake in Bellsystem24
Citigroup on Sunday said it had agreed to sell its 93.5% stake in Bellsystem24, a Japanese telemarketing company specialising in call centre operations, to Bain Capital for Y93.5bn ($1bn). Once complete,
Did the FSA help push Citi to the brink?
Buried in the Congressional Oversight Panel’s 127-page November report, examining the ‘moral hazard’ involved in the US Government’s guarantees for financial institutions, is this tidbit:
(Footnote 193) Treasury conversations with Panel staff (Oct.
Citi to relaunch troubled unit
Citigroup is poised to relaunch a unit containing its troubled hedge fund operations after nearly two years of poor performance and internal strife. Citi executives wanted to change the name of the unit ? which has $14bn under management and includes private equity operations ? from Citi Alternative Investments to Citi Capital Advisors,
Will Citigroup rise again from its near death experience?
So asked the New York Times this weekend in a 3,000 word article this weekend, that eventually came to the conclusion that a debt-for-equity swap was probably, sort of, the only answer to the bank’s problems.
Merlin Entertainments eyes listing
Merlin Entertainments, the UK theme park group owned by buy-out group Blackstone, is preparing a stock market flotation, setting the stage for a flurry of UK listings in the new year. The planned offer would be the first big listing on the LSE since the onset of the financial crisis and would value Merlin at about £2bn.
Gartmore on brink of £500m IPO
Gartmore, the fund management group equally owned by management and buy-out group Hellman & Friedman, aims to register flotation plans with the UK’s FSA as early as next week. The group has appointed Morgan Stanley and Citi to advise it on completing an IPO by year-end.