Investment Banking

Wall Street lives libertarian-lite dream in Miami

23 Feb 2024

Financial luminaries have flocked to the city for a Saudi-backed answer to Davos, a sign that Florida’s rise as a financial hub is durable. The Sunshine State gives the wealthy a glimpse of low taxes, entrepreneurialism and small government. It’s freedom, but only for some.

Barclays only partly fixes investment bank problem

20 Feb 2024

The $30 bln UK lender will keep the size of its trading and advisory arm stable by 2026, while growing other businesses. That’s logical. But Barclays still needs that growth to materialise, and even then shareholders may see the newly downsized investment bank as too big.

Private equity is getting its story straight

8 Feb 2024

Carlyle boss Harvey Schwartz set turnaround targets; KKR aspires to Warren Buffett’s tack. The high-rate, no-deals era saw a string of strategy shifts. Everyone has an alibi about where they’ll be next time that happens. But debt-dependent dealmaking will still exert its gravity.

JPMorgan succession is a high-stakes soap opera

1 Feb 2024

The US’s largest bank shuffled its business leaders, sparking speculation as to who might eventually take over from boss Jamie Dimon. In this Viewsroom podcast, Breakingviews columnists explain why it matters, even if Dimon’s eventual successor is unlikely to fill his shoes.

Deutsche Bank and BNP try on each other’s clothes

1 Feb 2024

The $27 bln lender is less highly valued than its $72 bln French peer and its recent past is more troubled. But Deutsche just upped its outlook, while BNP’s got worse. Neither are investor stars, but the German bank’s ambitions for its investment bank look easier to realise.

Maxed-out shoppers put fire under Fed’s status quo

31 Jan 2024

American consumers are powering the economy. But their spendthrift ways are a big concern for central bank Chair Jay Powell. Credit card balances have just recorded the biggest jump on record and now top $1 trln. Rates are steady for now. The next move will be much riskier.

Signature Bank’s savior finds bigger isn’t better

31 Jan 2024

Less than a year after buying the innards of a failed lender, New York Community Bancorp is slashing its dividend and conserving cash to match its enhanced heft. Giants like JPMorgan face less risk of indigestion. The moral: don’t get a small bank to do a big bank’s job.

For trading bosses, it’s a good time to retire

29 Jan 2024

Goldman Sachs veteran Jim Esposito quit after realizing he was “going through the motions.” No wonder: banks’ markets divisions, like the one he oversaw, face falling income and growing red tape. Sailing into the sunset, or at least out of banking, will only get more enticing.

JPMorgan is a rare palace that warrants intrigue

26 Jan 2024

Most whispers about CEO succession amount to idle gossip, but Jamie Dimon’s management shake-ups could lead to a world-changing decision. His swagger has helped expand the $4 trln bank’s clout in the financial system and it’s increasingly doubtful his replacement will sustain it.

Blackstone is calling the bottom, almost

25 Jan 2024

The $1 trln asset manager snapped its year-plus dry spell in new investments, client inflows and earnings. A sturdy economy bolsters boss Steve Schwarzman’s bet that 2023 will be marked as a low point. There’s just one precious piece of the puzzle missing: fee growth.

Commerzbank stake sale would risk M&A impasse

25 Jan 2024

Berlin may consider offloading its 15% stake in the German lender. Deutsche Bank and UniCredit are obvious potential buyers, but higher rates have made a full-blown bank merger less appealing. A market disposal would present prospective suitors with a dilemma.

Overdraft fee reform has a big, small-bank flaw

19 Jan 2024

The US consumer watchdog’s assault against charges levied when accounts go into the red is a win for customers – but only those of the biggest banks. Small lenders are exempt, partly because of their political clout. Trouble is, they often bank the neediest bunch.

Goldman’s new durability message cuts two ways

16 Jan 2024

After failing in consumer finance, the investment bank wants to emphasize the predictability of its existing businesses. Boss David Solomon makes a good case that a chunk of revenue is more reliable than it once was. And yet arch-rival Morgan Stanley generates even more of it.

Barclays alumni’s UK M&A rests on typical optimism

16 Jan 2024

The all-stock deal between loss-making Panmure Gordon and Liberum will create the UK’s top independent investment bank. To succeed, City grandees Rich Ricci, who will run the firm, and Bob Diamond, who will finance it, must hope for a big rebound in the small-cap IPO market.

BlackRock deal buys Larry Fink optionality on exit

12 Jan 2024

The asset manager’s $13 bln purchase of infrastructure firm GIP is a smart bet on private markets. Fink’s relationships give the tie-up an edge and history with GIP’s founder smooths integration. It’s transformational enough that Fink could retire, if only he were less ambitious.

Mega-banks menaced by closing jaws in murky waters

12 Jan 2024

JPMorgan, BofA, Citi and Wells Fargo all unveiled financial results clouded by exceptional items and less predictable outlooks. Bad-debt costs are up and interest rates are probably coming down. Cutting expenses relative to revenue, or “positive jaws,” will be a 2024 fixation.

Bitcoin ETFs only entrench one frivolous use case

10 Jan 2024

The SEC finally greenlit BlackRock, Grayscale and other funds to track the crypto price, with trading due to start this week. It’ll be easier to make – and lose – money in the volatile digital asset, but it’s no closer to being a currency, store of value or network for new apps.

Deflation will help big grocers gobble up minnows

29 Dec 2023

Supermarkets like Walmart and Tesco are expecting goods prices to finally fall. That will help larger chains to cut shoppers’ bills by putting pressure on suppliers such as Unilever. Smaller rivals may find it harder and end up losing customers, making them ripe for takeovers.

Goldman’s partnership is too much of a good thing

28 Dec 2023

The arcane and elite 420-member group bolsters the bank’s cachet, but sometimes exerts power that’s out of sync with other shareholders. Boss David Solomon already answers to his board, clients and 45,000 other employees. He would do well to cut the inner circle down to size.

Mega-bank M&A goes from impossible to imaginable

28 Dec 2023

After 2008, CEOs saw investment-bank deals as risky while regulators saw them as dangerous. UBS will prove otherwise if it safely and profitably absorbs Credit Suisse. Imitators will not get the same sweet deal, but targets like SocGen and Barclays at least come cheap.