Banks

Mediobanca’s ex-boss gets E1.6m for unused holidays

30 Sep 2003

That looks like 12 months of backpay. Vincenzo Maranghi can't have had much holiday while at the centre of the web of Italian finance. Concocting his elaborate scheme was clearly a timeconsuming job.

Barclays should decide soon on succession

29 Sep 2003

The UK bank has been conducting an informal beauty parade for the chief executive's job for the past six months. It is fine to be rigorous. But by dragging things out, Barclays risks losing senior directors who don't get the top job.

Dynamit LBO on the horizon

29 Sep 2003

Germany s MG Technologies may sell its chemicals group Dynamit Nobel, which would fetch close to E2.9bn in a privateequity heavy auction. If it does, MG shareholders would receive the rest of the business for nothing implying upside of some twothirds in the share price.

Fortis joins European retreat from US

26 Sep 2003

The Benelux bancassurer joins a growing stream of European firms that are bowing out of the US and returning home. This is all part of the new transatlantic M&A theme. In the 1990s, it was all about expansion. Now it is about disposals.

Santander and Total go eye-to-eye over Cepsa

26 Sep 2003

Spain s biggest bank has bid E1.2bn to up its stake in the oil company. But Total has made no secret of its desire to own Cepsa. In the past, SCH has proved itself a master at extracting a rich premiums for its minority stakes. It is playing hardball again.

Bigger bookrunners don’t always get fatter fees

25 Sep 2003

That much is evident in preliminary thirdquarter league tables for the debt capital markets. Some parts of the debt business are more lucrative than others. But some banks make more money than others on the same stuff.

UBS buys ABN’s US prime broker

25 Sep 2003

At $250m, the deal was small. But the deal offers a rare window into the economics of prime brokerage. More than a halfdozen securities firms were clamouring to own it, highlighting the growing dependence of investment banks on hedge funds.

Wall Street casino continues

23 Sep 2003

The business formerly known as investment banking (M&A and underwriting) showed some pickup at Goldman, MS and Lehman in Q3. But the proprietary desks powered MS and Lehman's bottom lines, while Goldman's slipped up underlining the inconsistency of the business.

Current M&A wave looks healthy

23 Sep 2003

That's because many deals Atos/Sema, EMI/Warner, Alcan/Pechiney, Morrison/Safeway, Granada/Carlton are driven by costcutting. Not only is costcutting normally deliverable. In slightly depressed times, it is disproportionately valuable.

Deutsche Bank and its CEO should stay put

21 Sep 2003

News that Josef Ackermann is to face trial over payments to Mannesmann executives after its takeover by Vodafone has raised two questions. Should the Deutsche Bank chief quit? And should the bank relocate its headquarters outside Germany in protest? The answer to both is no.

Bear Stearns weathers the storm in bonds

18 Sep 2003

The reversal in bond yields only marginally depressed revenues in fixed income. And profits still grew gangbusters. Bear remains hugely dependent on its proprietary trading operations. But they haven't missed a beat.

Investment banks start re-hiring

17 Sep 2003

Bank of America, for one, is recruiting 140 bankers in Europe. The pickup is admittedly patchy. But business is looking up. After years of huge cutbacks, there are glimmerings of a jobs recovery.

Europe should follow US lead on Basel 2

15 Sep 2003

It should apply the new capital rules only to the largest internationally active banks. This is one way of easing the troubled introduction of Basel 2.

Investment banks to reveal impact of bond rout

15 Sep 2003

Better risk management means banks are confident they haven't taken losses like they took nine years ago in the last big correction. But this summer's fall was more savage than 1994. It would be an impressive achievement if there weren't any casualties.

Credit Suisse staff dump options

12 Sep 2003

The Swiss bank s options reduction programme has worked. Even staff with inthemoney options took the chance to switch them into stock. That suggests Credit Suisse staff are a cautious bunch nowadays.

Little to cheer in latest Italian bank results

12 Sep 2003

Revenues are flat despite some chunky gains from trading. And only a few banks are managing to deliver cost cuts. But investors don t seem to mind. The sector is still up more than 20% so far this year.

Basel 2 faces delay

11 Sep 2003

The powersthatbe have failed to win consensus for their proposals. Pressing on without it risks unravelling the process. It is too late to tear up Basel and start again. But a late accord is better than no accord.

Intesa CEO’s option package E11m in the money

11 Sep 2003

The Italian bank s shares have rallied strongly since the option was awarded. That's largely because CEO Corrado Passera has so far delivered on his targets. But he'll need to keep delivering to get seriously rich.

Bankinter may be next Spanish bank target

11 Sep 2003

There is still unfinished business among Spain s midsized banks. Bankinter is a perennial consolidation candidate. Sale speculation is rising on news that investor Ram Bhavnani is building a stake. He recently sold out of another bank at a fat premium.

Agricole may find it hard to digest Lyonnais

10 Sep 2003

There is a fundamental conflict of interest between Agricole's shareholders. Resolving it is the key to Agricole adding any value from the Lyonnais purchase.