Banks

Euro zone banks’ periphery premium is here to stay

13 Jun 2024

Lenders in Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain on average trade with a 30% higher price-to-tangible-book value than French, German and Dutch ones. It reflects a reversal of fortunes between the old periphery and core – but also different business models, meaning the gap may persist.

Spain’s $24 bln investment giant has too many hats

12 Jun 2024

Criteria Caixa takes dividends from its big equity portfolio and sends cash to the country’s top charitable foundation. Increasingly, though, Chair Isidro Fainé is fixated on protecting national champions like Telefónica. Pleasing Madrid means sacrificing returns for the charity.

Spanish bank M&A lies in lap of interest-rate gods

7 Jun 2024

BBVA’s 12 bln euro hostile pursuit of Sabadell currently implies a slim premium to the target’s pre-bid price. If the latter’s investors think the ECB will keep rates high, returns will stay strong and they should reject BBVA. But lots of rate cuts may upend Sabadell’s defence.

Wall Street is contorting to replace China trade

6 Jun 2024

Investment banking revenue in the People's Republic is at the lowest level since 2014. Advisers are chasing fees in India, South Korea and Australia. The biggest hope for offsetting the loss of business from the region’s top economy lies in Japan, where talent is in short supply.

Investors are hunting securitization’s oddballs

4 Jun 2024

Whether a bundt cake bakery or an internet address, if it generates steady cash, it can be diced up in the financial alchemy of securitization. In this Exchange podcast, Janus Henderson’s John Kerschner explains the promise and perils, and why the oddest assets can be the best.

Korea’s short-selling aversion mars reform push

30 May 2024

Seoul doesn't want to allow the practice until it stamps out so-called naked illegal trades in the $1.9 trln market. But the problem is overstated and jars with a push to unlock shareholder value. The government's pandering to retail investors only hurts them in the long run.

Swiss wealth M&A may kill two birds with one stone

28 May 2024

Julius Baer and EFG held merger talks, Reuters and others reported. With just $640 bln of combined assets under management, they’d be unlikely to threaten UBS. Yet a deal would make financial sense, and EFG CEO Giorgio Pradelli could fill a leadership void at its larger peer.

UBS succession menu looks unnecessarily short

28 May 2024

The $100 bln bank ruled out external candidates to replace CEO Sergio Ermotti in about three years, the FT reported. Grooming home-grown successors is good planning. But none of the internal frontrunners currently offer what UBS will most need: a convincing US growth strategy.

Big banks win with FDIC head’s resignation

21 May 2024

Martin Gruenberg’s decision to vacate his post as the banking regulator’s leader leaves few possibilities for new capital rules. He could stick around long enough to usher through a watered-down version. If he’s pushed out, Republicans, who want the rules to die, take control.

Gulf bank’s growth push takes wrong turn in Turkey

21 May 2024

After briefly pursuing StanChart last year, First Abu Dhabi Bank may now pay $8 bln for 61% of Istanbul-based Yapi Kredi, Reuters reported. Deepening Turkish-UAE trade links offer a thin rationale. A high price, volatile lira and lack of cost savings make the deal a bad idea.

Ping An wrestles with its HSBC dilemma

17 May 2024

The bank's top owner may reduce its 8% stake a year after its breakup bid failed. It's a fair move given the recent bumper returns and looming succession and growth issues. But HSBC's dividends and arguable undervaluation suggest Ping An won't trim its outsized holding too much.

Private credit wonder drug works in limited dose

17 May 2024

The quantity of loans channelled directly to companies by funds has exploded to more than $2 trln. The economic benefits of diversified lending just about make up for the risks. The challenge is making sure financial innovation does not starve banks to death.

Bank treasurers hold keys to an investor mystery

15 May 2024

Executives who manage lenders’ exposure to interest-rate swings are more important than ever. But it’s tough for shareholders to pick their way through the complex hedging programmes of $570 bln JPMorgan and its peers, adding volatility to their share prices.

HSBC’s big pair of shoes will be hard to fill

9 May 2024

The surprise departure of boss Noel Quinn, who dramatically reshaped the firm, puts the globe-straddling bank on the spot: appoint a steward of its strategy from within, or a new thinker from outside? In this Viewsroom podcast, Breakingviews columnists debate the $170 bln choice.

BBVA’s hostile $13 bln M&A bet faces long odds

9 May 2024

Chair Carlos Torres Vila is going ahead with his all-share offer for Sabadell despite a rebuff from the smaller Spanish bank’s board. Yet Madrid firmly opposes a deal, and BBVA’s sliding stock is denting the bid’s appeal. Success seems unlikely.

Spanish minnow upsets EU bank bosses’ M&A dreams

7 May 2024

Sabadell rejected BBVA’s 12 bln euro proposal, citing its strong standalone prospects. If the boards of other small lenders feel the same, it’s hard to see more deals. That’s a shame, particularly since UBS’s rescue of Credit Suisse is demonstrating the value of consolidation.

China banks’ $900 bln buffer offers sham comfort

7 May 2024

That’s roughly how much special debt the country’s five largest lenders must raise to obey global rules for absorbing large-scale losses. It’s an improbable scenario in China’s state-controlled financial system. For the banks, extra funding costs add to a long list of headaches.

HSBC’s ideal new boss probably doesn’t exist

6 May 2024

CEO Noel Quinn’s replacement should be familiar with the $167 bln group, have experience of Western and Asian markets, understand wholesale banking, and be available. None of the potential candidates score full marks. Chair Mark Tucker may have to compromise to fill the vacancy.

UK watchdog name-and-shame plan is worth the risk

3 May 2024

City leaders hate a Financial Conduct Authority proposal to reveal the identity of firms it probes. In theory, it could taint a company that later gets cleared. But the FCA’s cautious track record offers comfort, and it needs tools to cut a 41-month average investigation period.

Macquarie bets its disappointing year is a blip

3 May 2024

The $47 bln investment bank handed investors their worst return on equity in more than a decade as earnings fell by a third. Yet it kept pay and other expenses flat. Previous years' impressive results give CEO Shemara Wikramanayake some breathing room before having to cut costs.