Investment Banking

Helping Santander helps UK bank competition

11 Oct 2017

Smaller lenders are angry that a state-aid funding pot set up by RBS to improve competition could help Santander, one of Europe’s largest banks. But it may be best for borrowers. Sharing funds between minnows would have done less to permanently reduce big lenders’ dominance.

Time for Barclays to sever its U.S. cards arm

10 Oct 2017

CEO Jes Staley has a conundrum: the UK bank’s market value is so depressed investors are essentially getting the U.S. credit card business for free, according to Breakingviews calculations. Spinning off the unit would make Barclays less complex and help it to a richer valuation.

Companies WACC central bankers on yields

10 Oct 2017

Rate-setters have engineered ultra-low borrowing costs and the risk premium on stocks is down. In theory, that lowers the bar for business investments. In practice, corporate hurdle rates have barely budged for decades. It’s a reality check for policymakers trying to fan growth.

HSBC’s next challenge is how to grow responsibly

9 Oct 2017

The global bank wants insider John Flint to replace CEO Stuart Gulliver, according to the Sunday Times. If approved, he will take over a slimmed-down lender trading at 1.2 times book value. Investors now want growth – but Flint and Chairman Mark Tucker should heed past mistakes.

Review: Dani Rodrik gives economists a better name

6 Oct 2017

The mildly iconoclastic Harvard professor’s “Straight Talk on Trade” runs through several controversial claims, from praise of diversity in economic models to support for curbs on capital flows and unfair trade. His humility is admirable, even if his pessimism may be overdone.

Economic odds stacked against Catalonia breakaway

6 Oct 2017

On paper, independence looks viable for a wealthy region with GDP roughly the same as Finland’s. In reality, divorcing Spain would trigger harmful disputes over tax and debt. A Catalan central bank would lack the reserves to maintain confidence outside the euro zone.

Portuguese banks face long exit from bad-debt woes

6 Oct 2017

The three biggest banks plan to jointly manage their bad debts rather than selling them off. They have little choice. With common equity Tier one capital ratios averaging 11 percent and earnings depressed, lenders can ill-afford further hits to capital.

Greg Fleming returns rich as Rockefeller

4 Oct 2017

The ex-Morgan Stanley exec is back on Wall Street in a venture with the legendary New York dynasty. The new advisory and money-management firm for the ultra-wealthy is small by Fleming’s standards. But he has found an ideal brand to target a fast-growing $60 trln market.

Catalan banks fairly punished for wrong reason

4 Oct 2017

The prospect of Catalan independence has hit Barcelona-based lenders CaixaBank and Sabadell. A schism from Spain and the EU could trigger deposit runs and losses, but the risk of that is low. Stagnant interest rates and weak profitability are a bigger threat than self-rule.

ECB bad-loan blitz to spur Italy insolvency reform

4 Oct 2017

The European Central Bank wants lenders to fully provision against new bad loans within seven years. That could be painful in Italy, where repossessing collateral can take even longer. The new rules give Rome a short window to finally get its bankruptcy law into shape.

Central bankers’ superpowers are looking spent

2 Oct 2017

Between taming inflation, fighting the financial crisis and averting a breakup of the euro, monetary policymakers acquired an aura of omnipotence. Their responsibilities are growing and their mandates have turned into a fetish. A painful collision with reality is overdue.

Guggenheim sells its way to some rare good news

29 Sep 2017

The Wall Street firm has snagged a hefty 12 times EBITDA from Invesco for its ETF unit. The buyer also bags a big tax break, but barely gains ground on industry giants. Guggenheim, meanwhile, pockets a welcome $1.2 bln distraction from months of debilitating executive squabbling.

Banks’ health squeezed by rampant compliance costs

29 Sep 2017

They now spend an average of around 4 percent of revenue to comply with regulators’ requirements, according to a poll by Duff & Phelps. That is expected to increase to as much as 10 percent by 2022. Red tape will keep weighing on lenders’ margins as well as employees’ sanity.

Russia’s state banks profit from financial turmoil

22 Sep 2017

The rescue of two private lenders has raised fears about the country’s banking sector. Savers have flocked to state-owned Sberbank and VTB, which have seen deposits swell by 1.2 pct and 18 pct, respectively this year. The tumult could leave the pair with better lending margins.

Tencent heats up fintech fight with CICC stake

21 Sep 2017

The Chinese tech giant is taking a 5 pct stake in the investment bank. Tencent has already cut deeply into Alibaba's share of electronic payments. This will help Tencent grow in wealth management – and chip away at its archrival’s dominance of online money-market funds.

HBOS audit probe shows limits of bank accounting

19 Sep 2017

KPMG was right to accept the UK bank as a “going concern” shortly before its near-collapse in 2008, a watchdog has concluded. Pre-crisis audits deserve scrutiny, but accountants cannot replace regulators. Besides, publicly flagging HBOS’ frailty would have accelerated its demise.

Deutsche Bank investors are stuck with John Cryan

19 Sep 2017

Some shareholders are understandably frustrated at the lack of recovery at the German lender. But replacing the chief executive wouldn’t boost low returns on equity, and might hinder restructuring. Cryan needs an unlikely investment banking recovery to hit his targets.

Jes Staley’s share price misery is undeserved

18 Sep 2017

Though the Barclays CEO has delivered on his targets the bank’s shares are down 16 pct this year, making it the UK’s worst-performing major lender. Self-inflicted regulatory and litigation worries haven’t helped. But concerns about headwinds in the U.S. and Britain are overdone.

Review: Dalio writes ultimate baby boomer’s guide

15 Sep 2017

The Bridgewater founder is true to his generation. He wants you to decide what you want and help you get it. To that end he offers his life and work principles – all 525 of them. It's a bid for immortality, like the algorithm he's designing to run his $160 bln hedge fund.

Goldman’s biggest asset in UK banking is lateness

11 Sep 2017

The investment bank will start taking British deposits under the Marcus brand next summer. A startup with Wall Street infrastructure is an appealing mix. Sure, it’s a sign Goldman’s main business is looking limp – but baggage-laden UK lenders should not be too dismissive.