We were NFI on the occasion of the 39th annual Thomson Reuters Extel survey awards ceremony, held at London’s Guildhall on Tuesday. But we shouldn’t allow that to stop us sharing the results.
Highlights: Read more
How does this work?
Goldman argues that the highly profitable, tailored segment of the derivative business is unable go on an exchange due to low volumes or pricing difficulty. Alternatively, these high margin OTC products will likely be cleared through a common settlement venue, and based on the current draft of the Senate Bill, would have to be originated outside the bank (Section 1065). This would force banks to move their fixed income derivatives books from the bank subsidiary (that is FDIC protected and has access to the Fed window) to a new separately capitalized (and lower rated) derivatives subsidiary that would likely be guaranteed by the bank holding company. Goldman already operates its OTC fixed income derivatives book out of such a subsidiary and would not have to use new capital to support this subsidiary. Read more
If the IMF really does want two big new levies on banks, we’d better run the numbers. The snap conclusion of most bank analysts is that the International Monetary Fund’s proposal for some shiny new financial stability taxes could be quite a large headache for the sector.
A ‘20 per cent sliced off 2011′s estimated pre-tax profits’ headache, to be precise. Read more
Just in case you were short of investment research, Bernstein have started pulling their analysts together globally and asking each of them to come up with one idea that he or she believes has the best chance of generating alpha over the next 6-12 months.
The result – the Best of Bernstein — will be published quarterly, with each recommendation re-evaluated at that time. Read more
Bernstein analyst Robin Bienenstock has opened her heart to the management and board of Vodafone — via an open letter.
And she does not hold back. Read more
Taking the concept of excellent cornering to a new level, Porsche casually announced at the weekend that it had amassed a holding of 74.1 per cent in that other piece of German financial engineering, Volkswagen.
Held in the form of a 42.6 per cent holding in shares and then a further 31.5 per cent in so-called “cash settled options,” Porsche said it was making the disclosure “due to the dramatic distortions on the financial markets.” According to official records – last updated on August 5 – Porsche’s previous holding amounted to just 30.29 per cent. Read more
Is the takeover battle at J Sainsbury really all over? Wednesday saw a huge trade printed just before the opening of business on the London stock market — 248m shares changing hands.
The stock changed hands at 575p — a whopping 45p above Tuesday’s closing level. Read more
1We cannae give the economy no more, we're giv'n it all we've got Captain
2On what really is different this time around
3The case for official e-money +1
4The WMP whack, revisited
5Mediocrity and the civil service in China
Show more6Tax needn't be taxing. It can also be a Hungarian debt wheeze
7"Companies should know who really owns them..."
8The central bank (communications) bubble
9Is it policy? China edition
10Females and the crisis
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