UBS has updated investors on its strategy following the appointment of Sergio P Ermotti as group chief executive officer earlier this week. Going forward, the Swiss bank will centre on its wealth management business, which will focus on strengthening its position in the most attractive markets. Investment banking operations, which were recently hit by a [...]
The European Parliament has voted into law regulation that will curb short-selling and trading in credit default swaps (CDS). Both short-selling and CDS trading have been blamed for fuelling market volatility, with CDS trades in particular linked to the troubles of Greece. The new rules therefore virtually ban certain CDS trades as follows: 1. Naked [...]
UBS has appointed Sergio P Ermotti as group chief executive officer with immediate effect, following the departure of Oswald J Grübel in the wake of the $2.3 billion in losses accrued by alleged London-based rogue trader, Kweku Adobol. Mr Ermotti has held the position of group CEO on an interim basis since 24th September and [...]
Bank of England deputy governor, Paul Tucker, yesterday set out issues “essential” to the safety and soundness of clearing houses. Concerns over the systemic risk posed by clearing houses, or central counterparties (CCPs), have been around since the onset of the credit crisis and according to Mr Tucker, the sector has, over time, “coalesced into [...]
UBS posted operating profit before tax of CHF 980 million for the third quarter of 2011 (Q2: CHF 1,654), despite last month’s revelation that an alleged rogue trader had cost the bank CHF 1.8 billion. Group revenues came in at CHF 6.4 billion compared with CHF 7.2 billion in the previous three-month period. The bank’s [...]
The European Commission is proposing to revise the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) to make financial markets more efficient and transparent. In particular, it wants to improve the oversight of less regulated markets and address excessive price volatility in commodity derivatives markets. The main objectives of the revisions are: More robust and efficient market [...]
Goldman Sachs has reported a third-quarter net loss of $393 million. Net revenues at its investment banking business plummeted to $781 million, down 33% compared with a year earlier and 46% lower than in the second quarter of 2011. Investing and lending activities recorded negative net revenues of $2.48 billion in the third quarter, the [...]
The pool of new City jobs created in the third quarter of 2011 has shrunk by 17% compared with a year earlier. According to financial services recruitment firm, Astbury Marsden, only 12,750 new jobs appeared in the three months to the end of September, although the past few weeks have seen something of an improvement. [...]
UBS has accepted the resignations of Francois Gouws and Yassine Bouhara, co-heads of its investment bank’s global equities division. The departures follow the banks recent rogue trader incident, the two having been responsible for the effective management of the bank’s equities business. Messrs Gouws and Bouhara follow the example set by ex-UBS chief executive officer, [...]
Italy has today taken centre stage in the European debt crisis, Moody’s having downgraded its government’s bond ratings to A2 with a negative outlook, from Aa2. The action follows Standard & Poor’s downgrade of Italy’s sovereign debt rating to A from A+ last month, leaving Italian banks exposed to more costly funding. Moody’s says its [...]
Contrary to expectations, business volumes in securities trading recovered well in the three months to September, according to the latest CBI/PwC UK financial services survey. With activity most likely buoyed by volatility, traders saw some increase in income in the last quarter but profitability declined, as total operating costs rose. A further fall in profitability [...]
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has launched RBS Maze, a multi-asset capital protected five-year note linked to equities, bonds, precious metals and commodities. The note has been designed to solve the asset allocation problem resulting from today’s troubled markets, on the basis that diversifying into multiple asset classes will provide return in bull, bear and [...]
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is launching a spot foreign exchange trading algorithm, which it says should help its clients automatically manage the gamma sensitivity associated with foreign exchange options portfolios. RBS Agile understands gamma and can be used in a variety of ways. At its simplest, it monitors the gamma of an option’s position [...]
Bank of America (BoA) has launched Instinct, its enhanced algorithmic trading suite. Described as “best-of-breed”, the new tool promises superior trading outcomes while being easy to use. It features five urgency levels to achieve a broad set of trading objectives and makes use of a quantitative impact model that fine-tunes parameters on an order-specific basis. [...]
UBS chief executive officer, Oswald J Grübel, has resigned. The news comes days after losses at Switzerland’s biggest bank by alleged rogue trader, Kweku Adoboli, were estimated at $2.3 billion. Sergio P Ermotti has been named interim group chief executive officer, with immediate effect. UBS’s chairman, Kaspar Villiger, has explained that Mr Grübel feels it [...]
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged a former Goldman Sachs employee and his father with insider trading on confidential information about the bank’s trading strategies involving exchange-traded funds (ETFs). The SEC alleges that Spencer D Mindlin obtained details about Goldman’s plans to purchase and sell large amounts of securities, tipping his father, [...]
Private investment bank, Rothschild, has appointed Sir John Rose as deputy chairman. Sir John will join the board of Rothschilds Continuation Holdings AG, the major international operating company within the group, at the beginning of October. Working closely with executive chairman, David de Rothschild, he will be involved in shaping strategic direction, developing the bank’s [...]
Credit Suisse has agreed a €150 million settlement with the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Düsseldorf, Germany, the parties having reached an agreement over client tax evasion issues. The entire proceedings, which involve allegations that the bank’s staff helped customers hide their wealth, will be resolved by the one-off payment, to be booked this quarter, and [...]
UBS has increased its estimated loss in connection with the activities of alleged rogue trader, Kweku Adoboli, to $2.3 billion (up from $2 billion). Last week, Switzerland’s biggest bank announced that it had discovered unauthorised trading at its global synthetic equity business in London. Mr Adoboli has been charged with fraud by abuse of position, [...]
