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’UK banks are good to go
RBS is still in its loss making phase (1) which inevitably gives us communication challenges. The losses ironically are a measure of our recovery success…
– Stephen Hester’s memo to staff on Tuesday.
Introducing Mr Fred Goodwin, former Knights Bachelor…
Some will see this as further evidence that the Daily Mail runs the country….
The Forfeiture Committee has reached a decision.
Sir Fred Goodwin, disgraced, despised loathed, spat upon, former ceo of RBS,
Snap news
Breaking pre-market news on Tuesday,
- RBS sells RBS Aviation Capital – statement.
- Dixons underlying like-for-like sales down 5 per cent – statement.
- Premier Foods ramps up cost-cutting plans,
RBS on those S&P downgrades
A quick summary of Jacques Cailloux’s thinking on the Euro sovereign debt downgrades — Caillou being chief european economist at RBS…
The market implications of the ratings review are worse than a whole downgrade of the region owing to the increased political wrangling,
[SFTW] Salmond is on the hook
Alex Salmond looks smug as a bug right now. His popularity in the Scottish polls is approaching that of Nicolai Ceausescu when he was running Romania. He should be careful what he wishes for. His pick’n'mix approach to Scottish independence plays straight to the xenophobic basic instinct of the complaining Scot,
10 “notes” from RBS
End of era, etc…
1. We will restructure our existing GBM and GTS Divisions:
· The “Markets” business will maintain its focus on fixed income, with strong positions in debt capital raising,
[SFTW] No more Shelling out for pensions
So even Royal Dutch Shell has decided that the oil business is hard enough, without running a life assurance scheme for employees on the side. There is now not a single company in the FTSE100 index which offers a final salary pension scheme to new employees.
Snap news
Breaking pre-market news on Thursday,
- International Airlines Group signs binding agreement to buy BMI for £172.5m — statement.
- A small country will leave the Eurozone says chairman of RBS — report.
Super senior moments at RBS
It’s the middle of 2007. Executives at RBS are joining the dots about how even super senior tranches of CDOs offer scant protection in the face of a tsunami of subprime defaults.
A structure which would become commonly understood by many,
Don’t forget the advisers
Alternative title: The bull that got away.
Everyone else has got it in the neck for the failure of RBS, so it’s only right that we remember those who masterminded the disastrous acquisition of ABN Amro.
Regulating 2000s RBS… with 2010s rules
…we don’t like carrying more capital than we need to. You’ve heard me before on the subject of building up war chests and carrying; that’s not the way we would wish to operate at all.
– Fred the Shred on an investor conference call,
Sovereign downgrades and the eurozone
As S&P decides whether to downgrade Germany and the five other triple-A members of the eurozone, RBS considers who would be hardest hit by the move other than President Sarkozy and his re-election hopes.
[Something for the weekend] The SGP without stability or growth
Ah, the Stability and Growth Pact. You remember. Joining the SGP, members promised fiscal restraint, and in return were allowed to junk their soggy old currencies for a Deutschemark with a suntan. They all promised to keep the gap between revenue and spending to below 3 per cent of GDP,
Snap news
Breaking pre-market news on Friday,
- BNP unveils new management team — statement and statement.
- RBS sells almost 1,000 pubs to Heineken — statement and statement.
- Randstad says demand for workers continued to slow in Q4 — statement.
The collateral limits of coordinated action
Wednesday’s central bank intervention is impressive in its symbolism but unlikely to do much more than buy eurozone leaders a few days.
RBS’ US rates team has provided a useful analysis of the move. The immediate background to the intervention,
Dumb investors
From the FT:
Bank stocks are seen as a “dumb” place for investors to put their money, according to the head of part-nationalised Royal Bank of Scotland.
In an often tetchy interrogation by the Treasury select committee on Wednesday,
Management on the hoof – Headless Horse edition [updated]
It’s all going wrong at The Headless Horse Lloyds Banking Group.
Very wrong.
First, their star hire from RBS has decided to stay put.
RNS statement.
The Group has also been informed by Nathan Bostock,
[Something for the weekend] An irrelevant bargain for Branson
When you’re short of money, the odd £747m always comes in useful, but it doesn’t go far these days. It’s enough to finance the UK state spending machine for about nine hours. The government had spent more than the proceeds from the sale of Northern Rock before it could read the reaction to it in Friday’s papers.
[Something for the weekday] Dear Mr Budenberg
Due to unforeseen technical errors — actually it was the over zealous FT spam filter — Neil’s column did not appear at its usual time on Friday. But it’s too good to waste so we are publishing now.
RBS – encouraging results?
Revenues below consensus, expenses higher than consensus, impairments significantly below consensus. Result: figures that please the market.
Well, that how we’re reading Friday’s third quarter results from state-controlled RBS:
Snap news
Breaking pre-market news on Friday,
- Anglo American acquires Oppenheimer family’s 40 per cent interest in De Beers for $5.1bn — statement.
- RBS books additional charges against Greek debt holdings;
Headless horse (updated)
State owned rival RBS has wasted no time in sticking the boot into Lloyds Banking Group.
Here’s the take of its banking team on António Horta-Osório’s leave of absence.
It’s titled Headless Horse.
The not so great European banking recap
Are you confused by the ‘facts’ and figures on the latest bank stress test?
These charts (click to expand) from Morgan Stanley’s Huw Van Steenis should help.
Using reported 2011 core Tier 1 capital,
You’re all wrong (on RBS)
A headline like that can only mean one thing — another rant from Europe’s Dick Bove.
In Friday’s note, Evolution’s Ian Gordon slams regulators, the press and his peers for their stupid coverage of his beloved RBS.