Banks

Barclays activist gets upside for everyone but him

2 May 2019

Investor Edward Bramson has lost his bid to gain a Barclays board seat, by a wide margin. The win bolsters CEO Jes Staley’s investment banking strategy. Still, activist agitation has improved returns, even if Bramson’s investment remains underwater.

BNP requires more than one-off trading boost

2 May 2019

The French lender enjoyed a 3 percent jump in investment banking revenue in the first quarter, implying CEO Jean-Laurent Bonnafé gained market share from peers. But he will only convince sceptical investors that he will hit his 2020 return target if he can maintain such growth.

Irish import new thinking into ECB from Down Under

1 May 2019

Ireland has hired New Zealand’s treasury chief, Gabriel Makhlouf, as its new central bank boss. While not a rate-setter, he arrives from a country that added an employment target to its monetary authority’s inflation goal. And Dublin can brag it is attracting global talent.

UniCredit should approach Commerz by the side door

1 May 2019

The demise of the German lender’s merger with Deutsche Bank clears the way for its Italian peer. A straight takeover of Commerzbank could be politically tricky. Spinning off UniCredit’s German arm HVB and then merging it, however, might be an easier sell.

StanChart delivers a brittle show of strength

30 Apr 2019

The Asia-focused bank will buy back $1 bln of shares after a strong first quarter. With U.S. legal risks largely banished and the bank trading at a discount, the chutzpah is understandable. But one-off gains mean CEO Bill Winters is still some way from his 10 pct return goal.

Deutsche Bank chair faces shareholder reckoning

29 Apr 2019

Failed merger talks with Commerzbank are another blot on Paul Achleitner’s seven-year tenure at the German lender. A vote against Bayer bosses suggests investors are becoming more vocal. With his own May 23 judgment day looming, Achleitner has a tough job arguing for continuity.

Deutsche feels chill wind of conscious uncoupling

26 Apr 2019

A day after the German bank ended Commerzbank merger talks it reported a 1.3 pct first-quarter return. Cost cuts at least broadly kept pace with falling revenue. Yet poor performance and zero deal synergies mean even a lowball 4 pct return target is not in Deutsche Bank’s gift.

Commerz Plan B would leave Deutsche Bank on Plan C

25 Apr 2019

Germany’s two biggest banks have ditched merger talks. Commerzbank is in play, and UniCredit is the likeliest suitor. If that deal occurs, Deutsche can’t wait for a new opening – meaning boss Christian Sewing would need more radical surgery to raise dire shareholder returns.

Ross McEwan will leave RBS at its peak

25 Apr 2019

The outgoing Kiwi boss helped the loss-making lender become a profitable dividend payer. His successor will face new challenges, including a cooling economy, Brexit, fast-growing digital rivals and the risk of a political lurch to the left that may keep the bank in public hands.

Barclays bolsters devil-you-know retort to Bramson

25 Apr 2019

The UK bank’s traders made a 9 pct return in the first quarter. They’re still not earning their keep, but the result shows the merits of a broad investment bank. That, and a pledge to prune bonuses, may help investors resist the upheaval touted by activist Edward Bramson.

Cox: Emmanuel Macron is succumbing to shortcuts

24 Apr 2019

The French president’s plan to close ENA, the elite school that churns out civil servants and CEOs, smacks of symbolism. So does his pledge to fix Notre-Dame in five years. Reforming the economy, like rebuilding a great cathedral, demands tough choices, not political gimmicks.

Picking the next Bank of England chief

24 Apr 2019

The hunt is on for a replacement for Governor Mark Carney, who leaves in early 2020. Breakingviews’ interactive yardstick helps sift through the runners and riders.

How to pick the next Bank of England chief

24 Apr 2019

The hunt is on for a replacement for Governor Mark Carney, who leaves in early 2020. Only talented economists with top-notch central bank experience need apply. Creativity and grit are also required. Breakingviews’ interactive yardstick helps sift through the runners and riders.

Credit Suisse’s Thiam needs more than self-help

24 Apr 2019

The Swiss bank’s profit rose in the first quarter, helped by falling costs. But a 4 pct revenue decline makes it harder for CEO Tidjane Thiam to hit his 10 pct return-on-equity target unless the top line recovers. That requires calm markets, and a more profitable investment bank.

Why open banking remains a closed shop

23 Apr 2019

It’s over a year since the UK and EU gave tech groups access to account data, supposedly boosting competition. Yet glitches and a narrow focus on current accounts mean the measures are barely used. Change requires more tech-savvy financial institutions – or more regulation.

Veteran Indian bank CEO pushes the limit

18 Apr 2019

Aditya Puri has been at the helm of the high-performing $90 bln HDFC Bank over two decades. He’s now nearing retirement age. Stunning returns favour a mooted rule change allowing him, and others, to stay on, but blowups elsewhere suggest timely succession may be better.

Morgan Stanley takes lemons, makes weak lemonade

17 Apr 2019

James Gorman’s bank took a hit from weak equities trading, as did rivals. Its advisory business fared worse than theirs, and fixed-income trading did only a little better. What helped was decent wealth-management profit, cost cuts, and comparison with the preceding poor quarter.

German banking tie-up brings out balloon-floaters

17 Apr 2019

ING may have taken a sniff at Commerzbank, in talks to merge with Deutsche. Shareholders won’t relish a healthy Dutch bank chaining itself to an ailing German one. But it’s a chance for Commerz to appear in demand, and for ING to troll local politicians about rigid bank rules.

BofA boss’s next challenge is to ditch mediocrity

16 Apr 2019

It has taken Brian Moynihan almost a decade to shake off the $280 bln mega-bank’s crisis hangover. He has turned BofA into one of the country’s most efficient banks. While it’s now solidly profitable, though, matching JPMorgan’s bumper returns is a whole other level of difficulty.

UniCredit outperforms U.S. sanctions-hit benchmark

16 Apr 2019

Italy’s biggest bank by assets is paying $1.3 bln to settle a U.S. probe, and its German arm will enter a guilty plea. That’s a similar slap to previous European bank settlements. But with the fine less than UniCredit provisioned for, it will actually boost the bank’s capital.