MPs question Goldman Sachs over Greek debt crisis
by Gill Montia
Story link: MPs question Goldman Sachs over Greek debt crisis
A senior executive at Goldman Sachs has admitted that some of the currency swaps undertaken by the bank on behalf of the Greek government served to conceal the extent of the country’s debt.
Addressing members of the UK’s Treasury Committee, Goldman Sachs managing director, Gerald Corrigan, told MPs that governments “go to some lengths to try [...]
FSA fines insider trader £967k
by Gill Montia
Story link: FSA fines insider trader £967k
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has imposed its largest penalty on an individual to date, despite recognising that the case involved no intent to commit market abuse.
The regulator fined Mehmet Sepil, the chief executive officer of Turkish oil exploration company, Genel Enerji, £967,005 for dealing in the shares of UK listed Heritage Oil Plc, on [...]
FSA issues ultimatum to investment banks
by Gill Montia
Story link: FSA issues ultimatum to investment banks
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) is reported to have instructed investment banks with UK operations to keep bonuses in line with regulatory guidelines or risk having their licences revoked.
According to The Daily Telegraph, the regulator has issued “an extraordinary ultimatum” insisting that 60% of bonuses must be deferred, regardless of whether pre-existing contractual agreements are [...]
Goldman Sachs’ profit and remuneration soars
by Gill Montia
Story link: Goldman Sachs’ profit and remuneration soars
Goldman Sachs has posted net profit of $4.95 billion for the fourth quarter of 2009, compared with a $2.12 billion loss in the same period of 2008.
The result takes the investment bank’s 2009 net earnings to $13.39 billion, up from $2.32 billion a year earlier, net revenues having more than doubled year-on-year, to $45.17 billion.
Commenting [...]
Bank shares tumble as Obama takes on Wall Street
by Gill Montia
Story link: Bank shares tumble as Obama takes on Wall Street
President Barack Obama has unveiled a series of measures aimed at curbing the riskier activities of US banks, such as the proprietary trading that makes billions of dollars for investment banks.
Mr Obama wants banks to focus instead on serving their customers, saying his resolve “is only strengthened when I see record profits at some of [...]
JPMorgan Chase leads the field in RBS Sempra sale
by Gill Montia
Story link: JPMorgan Chase leads the field in RBS Sempra sale
JPMorgan Chase is reported to be in exclusive talks to buy RBS Sempra.
The joint venture commodities unit was taken on board by Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) as part of the ABN Amro acquisition, and is estimated to be worth around $4 billion.
It trades commodities such as natural gas, petroleum and petroleum products, coal, emissions, [...]
JPMorgan Chase reports $3.3bn Q4 profit
by Gill Montia
Story link: JPMorgan Chase reports $3.3bn Q4 profit
JPMorgan Chase has reported net profit of $3.3 billion for the final quarter of 2009, compared with $702 million a year earlier.
The result, which benefited from a surge in profitability at the group’s investment banking business, brings annual earnings close to $12 billion.
However, the bank’s credit card and retail banking operations both posted fourth quarter [...]
Credit Suisse sued by bonds insurer
by Gill Montia
Story link: Credit Suisse sued by bonds insurer
Credit Suisse is being sued by Ambac, which has filed a lawsuit in the New York State Supreme Court.
The bonds insurer claims that the bank misrepresented the value of mortgage-backed securities insured by the group in 2007.
According to reports, the case involves over 2,000 home loans made to sub-prime borrowers, with Ambac having already settled [...]
BIS holds risk summit
by Gill Montia
Story link: BIS holds risk summit
Representatives of the world’s leading banks have been invited to Basel in Switzerland by the Bank of International Settlements (BIS), The Financial Times has reported.
According to the newspaper, a meeting arranged for the coming weekend has been called to address fears that financial institutions are returning to excessive risk taking.
Executives from Citigroup and private equity [...]
Credit Suisse sued over loans set up to fail
by Gill Montia
Story link: Credit Suisse sued over loans set up to fail
Credit Suisse is being sued by investors in four exclusive resorts developments, in the US and Bahamas.
The Swiss bank is accused of “predatory” lending, that is to say knowingly providing loans that would lead to defaults and the bank taking over the properties, having already secured large fees for arranging the finance in the first [...]
Goldman Sachs reviews London operations
by Gill Montia
Story link: Goldman Sachs reviews London operations
Goldman Sachs is undertaking a review of its London operations, the Daily Telegraph has reported.
According to the newspaper, the move is linked to UK tax and regulatory regimes, including the temporary bonus tax on banks that pay discretionary bonuses of over £25,000, and the proposed 50% rate of income tax for high earners.
The report follows [...]
JPMorgan Chase weight London headquarters in the balance
by Gill Montia
Story link: JPMorgan Chase weight London headquarters in the balance
The chief executive of JPMorgan Chase has reportedly intimated to Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling that plans to build a European headquarters at Canary Wharf could be reconsidered.
Jamie Dimon is apparently unhappy at the prospect of a 50% tax on banker bonuses, payable by banks.
The temporary levy, announced in the pre-Budget report, is due [...]
Huge pay rises for Barclays’ investment bankers
by Gill Montia
Story link: Huge pay rises for Barclays’ investment bankers
Barclays has reportedly awarded investment bankers huge pay rises.
The bank is understood to be increasing salaries for some Barclays Capital staff by up to 150%, with the average boost to income at 25%.
At the height of the financial crisis, Barclays shunned the Government’s Asset Protection Scheme (APS) in favour of raising capital from Middle Eastern [...]
Goldman Sachs looks to Spain on bonus tax
by Gill Montia
Story link: Goldman Sachs looks to Spain on bonus tax
Goldman Sachs could move up to one fifth of its 5,000 London-based staff to Spain, the Independent has reported.
The bank, which according to the newspaper is the UK’s biggest contributor of revenue in the financial sector, is in a stand-off with the Treasury over the temporary bonus tax announced in the recent pre-Budget report.
Last week, [...]
Deutsche Bank to “globalise” cost of UK bonus tax
by Gill Montia
Story link: Deutsche Bank to “globalise” cost of UK bonus tax
Deutsche Bank has responded to the UK’s 50% tax on banks that pay large individual bonuses by saying it will spread the burden of the levy among its staff worldwide.
The temporary tax was included in last week’s pre-Budget report which also contained a pledge from Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling, to “claw money back [...]
Goldman Sachs to pay bonuses in shares
by Gill Montia
Story link: Goldman Sachs to pay bonuses in shares
As bankers’ bonuses continue to enrage governments and taxpayers, Goldman Sach has announced that its 30 highest-paid earners will in future receive their bonuses in shares that cannot be sold for five years.
The investment bank’s participation in the US Troubled Asset Relief Programme left it with government debt of $10 billion which was repaid in [...]
US tax authorities move in on UBS clients
by Gill Montia
Story link: US tax authorities move in on UBS clients
Over 500 clients of UBS are being warned that their account details could shortly be handed over to tax officials in the US.
In August, it emerged that US authorities were investigating over 150 clients of the Swiss investment bank in connection with tax evasion.
The figure came to light as a Florida court sentenced former UBS [...]
FSA fines UBS client adviser £35,000
by Gill Montia
Story link: FSA fines UBS client adviser £35,000
A former UBS client adviser has been fined £35,000 by the Financial Services Authority (FSA).
Andrew Cumming has also been banned from performing any regulated function for a minimum period of five years, on the grounds that he is not “fit and proper”.
The penalty is in connection with an £8 million fine handed down to UBS [...]
UBS fined £8m for unauthorised trades
by Gill Montia
Story link: UBS fined £8m for unauthorised trades
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has fined UBS £8 million for systems and controls failures that were initially exposed by a whistleblower.
Failures by the Swiss-headquartered investment bank enabled four employees to carry out unauthorised trades involving customer money on at least 39 accounts.
Activities involved trading foreign exchange and precious metals using customer money and allocating [...]
Barclays faces K1 hedge fund loss
by Gill Montia
Story link: Barclays faces K1 hedge fund loss
Barclays stands to make a loss in connection with German hedge fund, K1 Group.
Currently European authorities and the FBI are investigating the fund, which is suspected of having obtained loans from the bank’s BarCap investment unit, by deception.
JP Morgan Chase and BNP Paribas have also been named as potential victims, investors facing joint losses of [...]
