Search results for

Litigation cost estimates for investment banks are being revised sharply upwards after JPMorgan shocked peers by revealing that it had set aside $23 billion of legal reserves, then agreed a $13 billion settlement of outstanding mortgage claims with the US authorities.

I am a worried woman. I am starting to see bubbles everywhere, and it’s not easy to work out how to protect oneself. I am not alone. In mid-November, the cover of the respected Barron’s financial magazine had one word emblazoned on it: “Bubble?”

One banker – although I use the term loosely – who might be wishing his mother could get him out of trouble is the Reverend Paul Flowers. This story has me spellbound. It is hard to know whether to laugh or cry. Flowers, who is now known by the sobriquet of the ‘Crystal Methodist’, was the chairman of Co-op bank which is owned by the Co-op Group, a mutual institution. Mutual institutions are owned by their depositors or policyholders and are not publicly listed on the UK stock exchange. I have to admit that until now the Abigail with attitude column has not focused its piercing gaze on the Co-op. This was a big mistake. The bank has been revealed as a cesspit of scandal and impropriety and it could well drag some big establishment figures down with it.

BNDES to spend $250.8 billion 2013-16; also seeks to encourage private capital inputs.

Euromoney investigates whether the need to stimulate European SME financing will finally soften the regulatory treatment of ABS, which has now been deemed by the European Commission the vehicle through which the growth of bank lending can best be achieved.

Just in case you thought that Abigail with attitude dinners are occasions for hot air and posturing, I would remind you of the deal, finalized this November, in which Aberdeen Asset Management purchased Scottish Widows from Lloyds Banking Group. Well, the chief executives of Lloyds and Aberdeen – António Horta-Osório and Martin Gilbert – first met at a Euromoney dinner two years ago.

Internet connectivity in Africa has the potential to transform the continent, contributing up to $300 billion to GDP by 2025, according to a McKinsey report. However, some of the country’s most advanced economies, such as South Africa and Nigeria, are lagging behind other innovative peers, says Paul Cook of Silvertree Capital.

Poor Ross McEwan. The new CEO of RBS came straight into the job and had to fight off attempts to break his bank up.

Regulation, staying on top of cash flows and the importance of agility – our experts from EMEA, Asia Pacific and the US discuss the major issues facing corporate treasurers. By Etienne Bernard, Head of Transaction Services, EMEA, Julian Oldale, Head of ICM International Solutions, Americas, and Manfred Schmoelz, Head of Transaction Services, Asia Pacific.

The Choir: Sing While You Work

“All ABS were perceived as too risky due to the US experience in the subprime mortgage markets. But this regulation is like calibrating the price of flood insurance on the experience of New Orleans for a city like Madrid” Yves Mersch, board member of the ECB, exposes the absurdity of capital treatment of asset-backed securities in Europe (see Chain reaction: Can the need for SME finance set Europe’s securitization market free?)

In my mind's eye, I have gathered some of history's greatest military strategists to discuss the state of the markets. Their conclusion is that cash should play a greater part in their portfolios.