RSS feedeuropean commission
’Contingent capital comes to pass, with a little help from the EC
And so it began — the Lloyds statement detailing the bank’s plans to raise contingent capital is out.
This is a concept still confusing the market even as it’s gaining increasing prominence with regulators.
Royal Bank hanged, drawn and quartered
So we now have details of the businesses RBS is going to offload to please Brussels, and the revised terms for its involvement in the UK Asset Protection Scheme. Overall, the divestments appear to be very much in line with what the media had been anticipating:
Lloyds, RBS and state aid
The UK’s two part-nationalised banks, Lloyds Banking Group and RBS, are under pressure again on Wednesday morning as the market continues to fret about potential state aid remedies.
Since ING, the Dutch financial services group,
Burden sharing for bondholders lives!
Remember the hybrid debt, or subordinated bond, attack launched by the European Commission against certain Euro-area banks?
The Commission wanted bank bondholders to share some of the pain of government bailouts,
Presenting the Dutch RMBS Niet-oproep
The non-call risk which has haunted hybrid bonds, or subordinated debt, in recent months appears to have spread — all the way to Dutch RMBS.
Recall that a number of hybrid bonds have been downgraded recently,
Brussels may force Lloyds to surrender Halifax, Times says
The European Commission has warned Lloyds Banking Group that it may have to split off Halifax as punishment for the billions of pounds of state aid that it has received, the Telegraph Times said. Neelie Kroes,
KBConfusion
What fresh hybrid debt hell is this?
KBC Bank has today launched tender offers in certain countries in Europe and, in respect of one security, in the United States of America to repurchase four series of outstanding hybrid Tier-1 securities with a total nominal value of approximately €1.6 billion.
Trouble at Parex?
(H/T to Edward Hugh /A fistful of euros)
It seems the following little press release from Latvia’s Parex Banka went mostly unnoticed by the Western press last Friday. Parex, with assets of 3.1bn lats ($5.6bn),
Fink warns on EU hedge fund rules
Stanley Fink, the former chief executive of Man Group known as the “godfather” of the British hedge fund industry, told the FT that the adoption of tough European restrictions on hedge funds would provoke a transatlantic regulatory war,
Brussels signals new flexibility on bail-outs
The European Commission promised more flexibility in how it applies state aid rules to banks hit by the credit crisis on Tuesday after governments lashed out at the difficulties in getting EU approval for bail-outs.
EU would say ‘non’ to Rio deal
The mining and commodities rout continues and with that both BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto shares are under pressure.
Adding insult to injury is the denial late last night by Rio Tinto that it was indeed back in talks with hostile suitor BHP.
BHP said to face EU objections to Rio bid
Bloomberg reports that European Union regulators told lawyers for BHP Billiton the company’s $69bn hostile bid for Rio Tinto may break antitrust rules. The European Commission will likely issue a so-called statement of objections,
“Frankly, it’s mad” – Collateral damage, EU-style
As so to the wonderfully useful wereadEUdraftdirectivessoyoudonthaveto.com, which sadly doesn’t exist…
London bankers are up in arms over the Second public consultation paper on possible changes to the Capital Requirements Directive (CRD,
McCreevy warns Dutch central bank over ABN
The European Commission on Thursday fired a shot across the Dutch central bank’s bows, warning its governor against any protectionist move in the rapidly escalating battle for control of ABN Amro. A spokesman for Charlie McCreevy,