IMF warns US about its 'fragile' economy
BBC
The International Monetary Fund has warned that the US debt burden is on an "unsustainable trajectory." But the IMF said the US must avoid a sharp correction in order to protect its fragile economic recovery.
http://jlne.ws/ipVSS3
Final Fed debit card draft less costly to banks
By Ronald D. Orol, MarketWatch
The Federal Reserve is set to provide relief to banks when it votes Wednesday afternoon to adopt controversial debit-card rules that are set to shift billions of dollars in revenue from financial institutions to merchants.
http://jlne.ws/lpRWON
Obama warns debt ceiling vote critical
By Stephanie Kirchgaessner, FT.com
A failure by Congress to increase US borrowing authority by August 2 would have a “significant and unpredictable” impact on capital markets and the US economy, Barack Obama has warned.
http://jlne.ws/iRO5lB
Sovereign debt: How manageable is China's red ink?
The Economist
DOES China have a debt problem? China sceptics are increasingly pointing to stories about growing debt problems within China as a sign of looming trouble. China's high-speed rail construction effort, for instance, has accumulated a pile of debt too large, in all likelihood, to be manageable through rail revenues alone.
http://jlne.ws/kkVBYT
Beal Becomes Billionaire With FDIC Assets
By Anthony Effinger, Bloomberg
Andy Beal’s road to becoming a billionaire, doing deals with the likes of Carl Icahn and Donald Trump, runs straight through the slums of Newark, New Jersey.
http://jlne.ws/mi7ybV
Francois Baroin is new French finance minister
BBC
France has appointed a replacement for Christine Lagarde as finance minister, one day after she gained the job as the IMF's managing director.
http://jlne.ws/iP4ksv
Geithner: See 'Untapped Potential' in U.S.-India Relationship
By MICHAEL R. CRITTENDEN, WSJ.com
India's economic growth continues to hold "untapped potential" for U.S. firms, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Tuesday, expressing optimism at the close of high-level talks that the two countries will be able to further expand their economic ties.
http://jlne.ws/iNa51G
Mortgage Applications Down 2.7% in Week
The Bond Buyer
Mortgage applications fell 2.7%, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ended June 24.
http://jlne.ws/iH7hix
Greek parliament passes key austerity bill
Associated Press
Greece fended off a bankruptcy that would have roiled global markets and threatened the future of the euro when lawmakers on Wednesday backed controversial austerity measures in the face of violent protests.
http://jlne.ws/is0PrN
Merkel: Europe Will Beat Debt Crisis
BY PATRICK MCGROARTY, WSJ.com
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Wednesday that euro-zone leaders would be able to overcome the bloc's ongoing debt crisis, even in the face of difficult decisions that pit national interests against those of the broader currency zone.
http://jlne.ws/lERUp2
Dodd-Frank May Require $2 Trillion in Collateral for U.S. Swaps
By Silla Brush, Bloomberg
Proposed rules to reduce risks in derivatives trades may require U.S. banks to set aside $2 trillion in collateral that could be used in more profitable ways, according to a government estimate.
US banks told to upgrade internet security
By Joseph Menn in San Francisco and Suzanne Kapner in New York, Financial Times
US banks will be forced to upgrade their systems for preventing online fraud in customer accounts under new guidelines issued by financial regulators concerned about increasingly effective attacks from organised crime groups.
http://jlne.ws/lFGb67
A rescue plan that dare not speak its name
By Peter Spiegel in Brussels, Financial Times
Olli Rehn is nobody’s idea of a hothead. A mild-mannered Finnish economist, he is regarded, even by his countrymen, as unassuming – verging on dull. But twice in recent days Mr Rehn, who is the European Union’s senior economic official, has been forced to get angry.
http://jlne.ws/jrJbIH
Statement By U.S. Treasury Secretary Geithner At The Conclusion Of The 2011 U.S.-India Economic And Financial Partnership
Press Release
http://jlne.ws/j7owKQ
Morgan Stanley may change brokerage name in 2012
Market Watch
Morgan Stanley (MS) plans to rename its retail brokerage joint venture--now called Morgan Stanley Smith Barney--as soon as early next year, according to two financial advisers who heard remarks made by a top executive earlier this month.
http://jlne.ws/m0n2yZ
UBS, BofA, MBIA, Carl Icahn, Merrill, Google, Credit Suisse in Court News
Bloomberg
UBS AG (UBSN) , Bank of America Corp. (BAC) and about a dozen other banks won reinstatement of a lawsuit against MBIA Inc. challenging the 2009 restructuring of its insurance unit that guaranteed toxic debt.
http://jlne.ws/mAlzt1
Merrill, UBS Committed Fraud on Italian Swap, Lombardy Tells U.K. Courts
Bloomberg
Bank of America Corp. (BAC) 's Merrill Lynch unit and UBS AG (UBSN) committed fraud and made "an unfair profit" through hidden fees charged on swaps, according to U.K. court filings by the Italian region of Lombardy, which must set aside millions of euros to cover potential Greek bond losses.
http://jlne.ws/lsSXlz
SEC to propose conduct rules for swap dealers
Reuters via Yahoo! News
Securities regulators are poised on Wednesday to propose rules for how swap dealers interact with their customers, in a move designed to manage risk and protect clients from abusive practices.
http://jlne.ws/ildw3f
UK FSA CEO: Financial Industry Must Learn From Mistakes
FOX Business
U.K. financial services firms aren't learning from past mistakes in offering inappropriate products to customers and have done little to change their attitude toward customers in recent years, Financial Services Authority Chief Executive Hector Sants said Tuesday.
http://jlne.ws/lCTe89
Rabu, 29 Juni 2011
Selasa, 28 Juni 2011
Top Interest Rate Headlines 06-28-11: Meet The IMF's New Leader, Christine Lagarde
Meet The IMF's New Leader, Christine Lagarde
By Yuki Noguchi, NPR
Christine Lagarde, France's finance minister, secured the top job at the International Monetary Fund — the first woman to ever do so. She'll fill a spot vacated by former managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who was arrested in May on charges of attempted rape.
http://jlne.ws/ko1hY8
France's Lagarde faces policy dilemmas as IMF chief
By Catherine Bremer, Reuters
Christine Lagarde's determination as a negotiator and experience working on the euro zone debt crisis are likely to ensure she settles smoothly into leadership of the International Monetary Fund, as the global lender faces some of the toughest economic challenges in its history.
http://jlne.ws/mg2VDB
U.S. backs Largarde for IMF’s top job
KEVIN CARMICHAEL, The Globe And Mail
The U.S. government is backing Christine Lagarde to lead the International Monetary Fund, sealing victory for the French finance minister in her contest with Mexican central bank chief Agustin Carstens.
http://jlne.ws/m1Q6ca
Eric Cantor Is Short Treasurys (Sort Of)
By Mark Gongloff, WSJ.com
What do Bill Gross, Evan Newmark and Rep. Eric Cantor have in common? They’re all betting against Treasury debt!
http://jlne.ws/mCoWdc
Greek police clash with austerity protesters
By Renee Maltezou and Harry Papachristou, Reuters
Greek riot police fought hooded youths with teargas and batons near parliament on Tuesday as violence broke out at a rally against anti-austerity measures international lenders have demanded from the Athens government.
http://jlne.ws/mRQOdw
Nomura Announces Top Management Appointments
Press Release
Tokyo, June 28, 2011—Nomura Holdings, Inc. today announced that its shareholders elected fourteen directors to the company’s Board of Directors (including eight Outside Directors) and the newly appointed Board appointed five Executive Managing Directors.
http://jlne.ws/ifmJA2
When is default not a default? When it's Greece
By Satyajit Das, The Globe And Mail
Satyajit Das is a global risk consultant and author. His latest book, Extreme Money: The Masters of the Universe and the Cult of Risk, will be published in August. The European Union’s linguistic gymnastics, redefining default as "restructuring" or "re-profiling" and the structure of any final deal on Greek debt has "real" implications for the arcane workings of the CDS market.
http://jlne.ws/j8GQMT
Dodd-Frank: Comment on list of enforceable rules to come under Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
The CFPB invites public comment on a list of rules under enumerated consumer laws that will come under its authority on July 21, 2011. The list is comprised of rules currently enforced by the following seven agencies: (1) FRS, (2) FDIC, (3) OCC, (4) OTS, (5) NCUA, (6) FTC, and (7) HUD.
http://jlne.ws/jhBSRD
The strong-dollar rhetoric contrasts with a weak-dollar reality
VOX
The strong-dollar rhetoric of the US government contrasts with a weak-dollar reality. This column argues that talking a strong-dollar talk while walking a weak-dollar walk has damaged the reputational capital of the US monetary and fiscal authorities. That has reduced their ability to use statements of intent or announcements of future policy actions to influence markets.
http://jlne.ws/kiBoVB
Low Production Capacity Drags Down Mexico's Growth
Moody's Analytics
The Mexican economy has begun a more remarkable deceleration in the second quarter, mainly as a result of a convergence of its low production capacity and the weakness in the U.S. recovery.
http://jlne.ws/jqjN8r
Richmond Fed: Service Sector Weakens
By Gary Siegel, The Bond Buyer
Service sector activity slowed in June, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond service-sector activity survey, released Tuesday, “Retail sales dipped overall and big-ticket sales suffered another drop, despite an uptick in shopper traffic. Inventories declined in June, according to retail merchants.
http://jlne.ws/kDLYo0
Noel Donohoe Appointed DTCC’s New Group Chief Risk Officer
Press Release
The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) today announced that it has named Noel Donohoe to a newly created position as Executive Managing Director and Group Chief Risk Officer.
http://jlne.ws/leYNgm
Money Matters: Why Germany Wants to Keep the EU Together
EconomyWatch
With Greece heading towards an inevitable default, despite the recent announcement of a second bailout in just over a year, the word on the street is not about whether the other Euro-zone countries would once again leap to Greece's rescue when this happens but rather on whether Greece would eventually be kicked out of the Euro-zone – a potential precursor to a dissolution of the Euro-zone.
http://jlne.ws/jUmHOQ
June Conference Bd consumer confidence 58.5
Forex Live
June Conference Bd consumer confidence 58.5 vs 61.7 May, reflecting labor mkt and income concerns. Survey closed Jun 16, before gas prices dropped further. Present Situation 37.6 vs 39.3 and Expectations 72.4 vs 76.7, so all components fell. Conference Bd says consumers are likely to “continue weighing their spending decisions carefully.”
http://jlne.ws/jjZ7pH
Ex-Central Banker's Unconventional Climb to the Top
BY NINA KOEPPEN AND BRIAN BLACKSTONE, WSJ.com
From his rapid rise seven years ago to his stunning departure from the global economic scene two months ago, Germany's Axel Weber was anything but a conventional European central banker.
http://jlne.ws/jxPYpp
Trichet studying French plan for Greece, flags July rate rise
Reuters
European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said on Tuesday he was looking at a French proposal for rolling over Greek debt but signaled the debt crisis had not derailed plans for a July interest rate rise.
http://jlne.ws/mDOEwA
Up to 15 of 91 European banks are set fail stress tests [Video]
http://jlne.ws/lLLxWr
Home Prices Rise, But Seasonal Factors Played Big Role
by Mark Memmott, NPR
Home prices have risen in major U.S. cities for the first time in more than half a year, according to the widely watched S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices.
http://jlne.ws/jWr6L3
SIFMA states MSRB Rule G-44 should hold all muni advisers engaging in same activities to the same standard
SIFMA
SIFMA and other broker-dealer groups criticized a proposal from the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board, saying that Rule G-44 would subject them to tougher standards than those imposed on other municipal advisers. "To ensure a level playing field, all market participants engaging in the same activity should be subject to the same standards," said David Cohen, a managing director and associate general counsel at SIFMA.
http://jlne.ws/m9MB2a
By Yuki Noguchi, NPR
Christine Lagarde, France's finance minister, secured the top job at the International Monetary Fund — the first woman to ever do so. She'll fill a spot vacated by former managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who was arrested in May on charges of attempted rape.
http://jlne.ws/ko1hY8
France's Lagarde faces policy dilemmas as IMF chief
By Catherine Bremer, Reuters
Christine Lagarde's determination as a negotiator and experience working on the euro zone debt crisis are likely to ensure she settles smoothly into leadership of the International Monetary Fund, as the global lender faces some of the toughest economic challenges in its history.
http://jlne.ws/mg2VDB
U.S. backs Largarde for IMF’s top job
KEVIN CARMICHAEL, The Globe And Mail
The U.S. government is backing Christine Lagarde to lead the International Monetary Fund, sealing victory for the French finance minister in her contest with Mexican central bank chief Agustin Carstens.
http://jlne.ws/m1Q6ca
Eric Cantor Is Short Treasurys (Sort Of)
By Mark Gongloff, WSJ.com
What do Bill Gross, Evan Newmark and Rep. Eric Cantor have in common? They’re all betting against Treasury debt!
http://jlne.ws/mCoWdc
Greek police clash with austerity protesters
By Renee Maltezou and Harry Papachristou, Reuters
Greek riot police fought hooded youths with teargas and batons near parliament on Tuesday as violence broke out at a rally against anti-austerity measures international lenders have demanded from the Athens government.
http://jlne.ws/mRQOdw
Nomura Announces Top Management Appointments
Press Release
Tokyo, June 28, 2011—Nomura Holdings, Inc. today announced that its shareholders elected fourteen directors to the company’s Board of Directors (including eight Outside Directors) and the newly appointed Board appointed five Executive Managing Directors.
http://jlne.ws/ifmJA2
When is default not a default? When it's Greece
By Satyajit Das, The Globe And Mail
Satyajit Das is a global risk consultant and author. His latest book, Extreme Money: The Masters of the Universe and the Cult of Risk, will be published in August. The European Union’s linguistic gymnastics, redefining default as "restructuring" or "re-profiling" and the structure of any final deal on Greek debt has "real" implications for the arcane workings of the CDS market.
http://jlne.ws/j8GQMT
Dodd-Frank: Comment on list of enforceable rules to come under Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
The CFPB invites public comment on a list of rules under enumerated consumer laws that will come under its authority on July 21, 2011. The list is comprised of rules currently enforced by the following seven agencies: (1) FRS, (2) FDIC, (3) OCC, (4) OTS, (5) NCUA, (6) FTC, and (7) HUD.
http://jlne.ws/jhBSRD
The strong-dollar rhetoric contrasts with a weak-dollar reality
VOX
The strong-dollar rhetoric of the US government contrasts with a weak-dollar reality. This column argues that talking a strong-dollar talk while walking a weak-dollar walk has damaged the reputational capital of the US monetary and fiscal authorities. That has reduced their ability to use statements of intent or announcements of future policy actions to influence markets.
http://jlne.ws/kiBoVB
Low Production Capacity Drags Down Mexico's Growth
Moody's Analytics
The Mexican economy has begun a more remarkable deceleration in the second quarter, mainly as a result of a convergence of its low production capacity and the weakness in the U.S. recovery.
http://jlne.ws/jqjN8r
Richmond Fed: Service Sector Weakens
By Gary Siegel, The Bond Buyer
Service sector activity slowed in June, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond service-sector activity survey, released Tuesday, “Retail sales dipped overall and big-ticket sales suffered another drop, despite an uptick in shopper traffic. Inventories declined in June, according to retail merchants.
http://jlne.ws/kDLYo0
Noel Donohoe Appointed DTCC’s New Group Chief Risk Officer
Press Release
The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) today announced that it has named Noel Donohoe to a newly created position as Executive Managing Director and Group Chief Risk Officer.
http://jlne.ws/leYNgm
Money Matters: Why Germany Wants to Keep the EU Together
EconomyWatch
With Greece heading towards an inevitable default, despite the recent announcement of a second bailout in just over a year, the word on the street is not about whether the other Euro-zone countries would once again leap to Greece's rescue when this happens but rather on whether Greece would eventually be kicked out of the Euro-zone – a potential precursor to a dissolution of the Euro-zone.
http://jlne.ws/jUmHOQ
June Conference Bd consumer confidence 58.5
Forex Live
June Conference Bd consumer confidence 58.5 vs 61.7 May, reflecting labor mkt and income concerns. Survey closed Jun 16, before gas prices dropped further. Present Situation 37.6 vs 39.3 and Expectations 72.4 vs 76.7, so all components fell. Conference Bd says consumers are likely to “continue weighing their spending decisions carefully.”
http://jlne.ws/jjZ7pH
Ex-Central Banker's Unconventional Climb to the Top
BY NINA KOEPPEN AND BRIAN BLACKSTONE, WSJ.com
From his rapid rise seven years ago to his stunning departure from the global economic scene two months ago, Germany's Axel Weber was anything but a conventional European central banker.
http://jlne.ws/jxPYpp
Trichet studying French plan for Greece, flags July rate rise
Reuters
European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said on Tuesday he was looking at a French proposal for rolling over Greek debt but signaled the debt crisis had not derailed plans for a July interest rate rise.
http://jlne.ws/mDOEwA
Up to 15 of 91 European banks are set fail stress tests [Video]
http://jlne.ws/lLLxWr
Home Prices Rise, But Seasonal Factors Played Big Role
by Mark Memmott, NPR
Home prices have risen in major U.S. cities for the first time in more than half a year, according to the widely watched S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices.
http://jlne.ws/jWr6L3
SIFMA states MSRB Rule G-44 should hold all muni advisers engaging in same activities to the same standard
SIFMA
SIFMA and other broker-dealer groups criticized a proposal from the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board, saying that Rule G-44 would subject them to tougher standards than those imposed on other municipal advisers. "To ensure a level playing field, all market participants engaging in the same activity should be subject to the same standards," said David Cohen, a managing director and associate general counsel at SIFMA.
http://jlne.ws/m9MB2a
Statement by Christine Lagarde on Her Selection as IMF Managing Director
Press Release No.11/ 260 June 28, 2011
Ms. Christine Lagarde issued the following statement today after the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) selected her as the IMF’s next Managing Director, the 11th since the Fund’s inception in 1944:
“The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund has just selected me to succeed Dominique Strauss-Kahn as Managing Director for a five-year term, starting on July 5. I am deeply honored by the trust placed in me by the Executive Board. I would like to thank the Fund’s global membership warmly for the broad-based support I have received. I would also like to express my respect and esteem for my colleague and friend, Agustín Carstens.
“The IMF has served its 187 member countries well during the global economic and financial crisis, transforming itself in many positive ways. I will make it my overriding goal that our institution continues to serve its entire membership with the same focus and the same spirit. As I have had the opportunity to say to the IMF Board during the selection process, the IMF must be relevant, responsive, effective, and legitimate, to achieve stronger and sustainable growth, macroeconomic stability, and a better future for all.”
#
Ms. Christine Lagarde issued the following statement today after the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) selected her as the IMF’s next Managing Director, the 11th since the Fund’s inception in 1944:
“The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund has just selected me to succeed Dominique Strauss-Kahn as Managing Director for a five-year term, starting on July 5. I am deeply honored by the trust placed in me by the Executive Board. I would like to thank the Fund’s global membership warmly for the broad-based support I have received. I would also like to express my respect and esteem for my colleague and friend, Agustín Carstens.
“The IMF has served its 187 member countries well during the global economic and financial crisis, transforming itself in many positive ways. I will make it my overriding goal that our institution continues to serve its entire membership with the same focus and the same spirit. As I have had the opportunity to say to the IMF Board during the selection process, the IMF must be relevant, responsive, effective, and legitimate, to achieve stronger and sustainable growth, macroeconomic stability, and a better future for all.”
#
Senin, 27 Juni 2011
Top Interest Rate Headlines 06-27-11: Dollar Seen Losing Global Reserve Status
Dollar seen losing global reserve status
http://jlne.ws/ji9UKc
Regulators agree extra bank capital protection
By Brooke Masters - Financial Times
Central bankers and regulators have agreed to impose an extra capital charge of 1 per cent to 2.5 per cent of risk-adjusted assets on the largest banks in a bid to protect them from the big losses that could trigger another financial meltdown. The agreement, forged in Basel represents a victory for countries like the US and the UK, which wanted 30 “global systemically important financial institutions” to carry additional capital to make them safer.
http://jlne.ws/jOy7Ua
Merkel Jostles With German Banks Over Greek Debt Rollover Terms
BusinessWeek
Chancellor Angela Merkel's government jostled with Germany's biggest banks and insurers over aiding Greece, as the Finance Ministry rejected industry calls for incentives to encourage them to participate.
http://jlne.ws/mPsbkI
The EU must step toward fiscal and political union
Peter Mandelson - Financial Times
More than a year after the eurozone first announced support for Greece, the country’s trauma and the eventual fate of the euro itself remains unresolved.
http://jlne.ws/kyep27
Economic growth must slow, warns BIS
By Norma Cohen and Chris Giles in London - Financial Times
Global economic growth must slow to curb inflationary pressure around the world, the influential central bankers’ bank has warned, saying that there was little or no slack left for rapid non-inflationary expansion.
http://jlne.ws/jHCcOi
http://jlne.ws/ji9UKc
Regulators agree extra bank capital protection
By Brooke Masters - Financial Times
Central bankers and regulators have agreed to impose an extra capital charge of 1 per cent to 2.5 per cent of risk-adjusted assets on the largest banks in a bid to protect them from the big losses that could trigger another financial meltdown. The agreement, forged in Basel represents a victory for countries like the US and the UK, which wanted 30 “global systemically important financial institutions” to carry additional capital to make them safer.
http://jlne.ws/jOy7Ua
Merkel Jostles With German Banks Over Greek Debt Rollover Terms
BusinessWeek
Chancellor Angela Merkel's government jostled with Germany's biggest banks and insurers over aiding Greece, as the Finance Ministry rejected industry calls for incentives to encourage them to participate.
http://jlne.ws/mPsbkI
The EU must step toward fiscal and political union
Peter Mandelson - Financial Times
More than a year after the eurozone first announced support for Greece, the country’s trauma and the eventual fate of the euro itself remains unresolved.
http://jlne.ws/kyep27
Economic growth must slow, warns BIS
By Norma Cohen and Chris Giles in London - Financial Times
Global economic growth must slow to curb inflationary pressure around the world, the influential central bankers’ bank has warned, saying that there was little or no slack left for rapid non-inflationary expansion.
http://jlne.ws/jHCcOi
Jumat, 24 Juni 2011
Top Interest Rate Headlines 06-24-11: Draghi Confirmed As Next ECB Chief
Draghi confirmed as next ECB chief
By Peter Spiegel in Brussels - Financial Times
Mario Draghi, the head of Bank of Italy, was formally approved as the next head of the European Central Bank on Friday despite a bitter rift between Italy and France over the make-up of the bank’s executive board.
http://jlne.ws/kirib1
Europeans Accept New Greek Bailout
By STEPHEN CASTLE, The New York Times
Europe’s leaders prepared the way for a second, large, bailout of Greece on Friday, pledging not to abandon the debt-laden nation to a default providing it votes a tough package of austerity measures through its Parliament next week.
http://jlne.ws/kCr9uz
S&P issues negative outlook for CME, says challenge by NYSE Euronext “a credible threat” to its IR contracts
By Hal Weitzman, FT.com
Standard and Poor’s issued a negative outlook for CME Group, the US’s biggest futures exchange, saying that a competitive challenge by NYSE Euronext was “a credible threat” to its most important interest rate contracts.
http://jlne.ws/j8PcUn
Banks move closer to deal on Greek bailout
Reuters
Banks and policymakers moved closer to a deal on Friday to help Athens secure funds ahead of a parliamentary vote on austerity next week that Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou must win to avert default.
http://jlne.ws/lUBzAw
CFTC Says ELX Can Keep EFFs To Itself
It was nearly two years ago when ELX Futures L.P. proudly announced that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) had approved their exchange of futures for futures (EFF) rule.
http://jlne.ws/l2AkiN
Video - Chinese inflation to peak
http://jlne.ws/j2iQil
CME Group Research: My Big Fat Greek Debt Crisis, Part II
http://jlne.ws/mg0kBy
US growth revised up to 1.9%
By Shannon Bond, FT.com
US economic growth was revised up slightly to 1.9 per cent in the first quarter as businesses restocked inventories and the trade gap narrowed, but the figures confirmed a stalling recovery and pointed to rising inflation in the world’s biggest economy.
http://jlne.ws/jFxSfL
BondDesk Launches Retail Fixed Income Wealth Management Platform
Press Release
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--BondDesk, the premier provider of retail fixed income trading technology and execution services, today announced the launch of the most advanced retail fixed income wealth management platform available in the market. The next generation system, known as the BondWorks™ wealth management platform, has replaced the incumbent third-party workstation at Janney Montgomery Scott LLC and is now live across the firm’s network of 750 financial advisors. During the next several months BondDesk will roll out the BondWorks platform to many of its largest clients, with the ultimate goal of deploying the system across its entire customer base of more than 100,000 financial advisors.
http://jlne.ws/mEgZX6
Switch to SEFs could be chaotic for CDS, warns Citi
Credit Flux
Some six to 12 swaps execution facilities will be ready to trade credit default swaps once the new Dodd-Frank regulations are implemented, according to a report published last week by Citi. This means that the early days of "SEF" trading could be chaotic, as the market settles on two or three dominant platforms, warn the researchers.
http://jlne.ws/ldYpBW
Banks face deadline to rerun EU stress tests
By Brooke Masters, Megan Murphy and Patrick Jenkins in London - Financial Times
European banks have until Friday to rerun their data for newly toughened European Union-wide stress tests that require them to be prepared for additional losses on sovereign bonds.
http://jlne.ws/lvYNar
Moody’s warns on Italian banks
By Rachel Sanderson in Milan - Financial Times
Moody’s has changed its outlook on 13 mid-sized and smaller Italian banks to negative and warned it could downgrade the long-term debt ratings of 16 others following its announcement last week that it had put the country’s sovereign debt on review for possible downgrade.
http://jlne.ws/k7FVkb
Basel Capital Surcharge Proposal Will Shield Financial System, Turner Says
Bloomberg
Global plans to force the biggest banks to hold more capital may have saved Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc (RBS) from financial ruin, a top U.K banking regulator said today.
http://jlne.ws/me5Qhy
U.K. Will Examine Deputy Premier Proposal to Give Away RBS, Lloyds Shares
Bloomberg
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg floated the idea during a visit to Brazil . He told the Financial Times newspaper he had written to Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne and Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander this week, asking them to consider the case for a "mass share-ownership scheme."
http://jlne.ws/jV8j26
World Bank hires Lehman ex-risk chief as treasurer
Reuters UK Focus via Yahoo! UK & Ireland Finance
WASHINGTON, June 23 (Reuters) - The World Bank said onThursday it hired Madelyn Antoncic, former chief risk officerfor collapsed bank Lehman Brothers, as its new treasurer. Antoncic, a former Federal Reserve ...
http://jlne.ws/jahReL
HSBC Seeks Dismissal of Madoff Trustee's $9 Billion Lawsuit
BusinessWeek
HSBC Holdings Plc asked a judge to dismiss a $9 billion lawsuit by the trustee liquidating Bernard Madoff's firm, saying he isn't allowed by law to bring such cases on behalf of the confidence man's former customers.
http://jlne.ws/mrw50H
Judge Clears $861 Million J.P. Morgan-Lehman Settlement
Wall Street Journal Blogs
A judge approved a settlement that calls for J.P. Morgan Chase to pay $861 million in cash and securities to customers of the defunct broker-deal business of Lehman Brothers.
http://jlne.ws/lKlkuG
By Peter Spiegel in Brussels - Financial Times
Mario Draghi, the head of Bank of Italy, was formally approved as the next head of the European Central Bank on Friday despite a bitter rift between Italy and France over the make-up of the bank’s executive board.
http://jlne.ws/kirib1
Europeans Accept New Greek Bailout
By STEPHEN CASTLE, The New York Times
Europe’s leaders prepared the way for a second, large, bailout of Greece on Friday, pledging not to abandon the debt-laden nation to a default providing it votes a tough package of austerity measures through its Parliament next week.
http://jlne.ws/kCr9uz
S&P issues negative outlook for CME, says challenge by NYSE Euronext “a credible threat” to its IR contracts
By Hal Weitzman, FT.com
Standard and Poor’s issued a negative outlook for CME Group, the US’s biggest futures exchange, saying that a competitive challenge by NYSE Euronext was “a credible threat” to its most important interest rate contracts.
http://jlne.ws/j8PcUn
Banks move closer to deal on Greek bailout
Reuters
Banks and policymakers moved closer to a deal on Friday to help Athens secure funds ahead of a parliamentary vote on austerity next week that Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou must win to avert default.
http://jlne.ws/lUBzAw
CFTC Says ELX Can Keep EFFs To Itself
It was nearly two years ago when ELX Futures L.P. proudly announced that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) had approved their exchange of futures for futures (EFF) rule.
http://jlne.ws/l2AkiN
Video - Chinese inflation to peak
http://jlne.ws/j2iQil
CME Group Research: My Big Fat Greek Debt Crisis, Part II
http://jlne.ws/mg0kBy
US growth revised up to 1.9%
By Shannon Bond, FT.com
US economic growth was revised up slightly to 1.9 per cent in the first quarter as businesses restocked inventories and the trade gap narrowed, but the figures confirmed a stalling recovery and pointed to rising inflation in the world’s biggest economy.
http://jlne.ws/jFxSfL
BondDesk Launches Retail Fixed Income Wealth Management Platform
Press Release
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--BondDesk, the premier provider of retail fixed income trading technology and execution services, today announced the launch of the most advanced retail fixed income wealth management platform available in the market. The next generation system, known as the BondWorks™ wealth management platform, has replaced the incumbent third-party workstation at Janney Montgomery Scott LLC and is now live across the firm’s network of 750 financial advisors. During the next several months BondDesk will roll out the BondWorks platform to many of its largest clients, with the ultimate goal of deploying the system across its entire customer base of more than 100,000 financial advisors.
http://jlne.ws/mEgZX6
Switch to SEFs could be chaotic for CDS, warns Citi
Credit Flux
Some six to 12 swaps execution facilities will be ready to trade credit default swaps once the new Dodd-Frank regulations are implemented, according to a report published last week by Citi. This means that the early days of "SEF" trading could be chaotic, as the market settles on two or three dominant platforms, warn the researchers.
http://jlne.ws/ldYpBW
Banks face deadline to rerun EU stress tests
By Brooke Masters, Megan Murphy and Patrick Jenkins in London - Financial Times
European banks have until Friday to rerun their data for newly toughened European Union-wide stress tests that require them to be prepared for additional losses on sovereign bonds.
http://jlne.ws/lvYNar
Moody’s warns on Italian banks
By Rachel Sanderson in Milan - Financial Times
Moody’s has changed its outlook on 13 mid-sized and smaller Italian banks to negative and warned it could downgrade the long-term debt ratings of 16 others following its announcement last week that it had put the country’s sovereign debt on review for possible downgrade.
http://jlne.ws/k7FVkb
Basel Capital Surcharge Proposal Will Shield Financial System, Turner Says
Bloomberg
Global plans to force the biggest banks to hold more capital may have saved Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc (RBS) from financial ruin, a top U.K banking regulator said today.
http://jlne.ws/me5Qhy
U.K. Will Examine Deputy Premier Proposal to Give Away RBS, Lloyds Shares
Bloomberg
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg floated the idea during a visit to Brazil . He told the Financial Times newspaper he had written to Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne and Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander this week, asking them to consider the case for a "mass share-ownership scheme."
http://jlne.ws/jV8j26
World Bank hires Lehman ex-risk chief as treasurer
Reuters UK Focus via Yahoo! UK & Ireland Finance
WASHINGTON, June 23 (Reuters) - The World Bank said onThursday it hired Madelyn Antoncic, former chief risk officerfor collapsed bank Lehman Brothers, as its new treasurer. Antoncic, a former Federal Reserve ...
http://jlne.ws/jahReL
HSBC Seeks Dismissal of Madoff Trustee's $9 Billion Lawsuit
BusinessWeek
HSBC Holdings Plc asked a judge to dismiss a $9 billion lawsuit by the trustee liquidating Bernard Madoff's firm, saying he isn't allowed by law to bring such cases on behalf of the confidence man's former customers.
http://jlne.ws/mrw50H
Judge Clears $861 Million J.P. Morgan-Lehman Settlement
Wall Street Journal Blogs
A judge approved a settlement that calls for J.P. Morgan Chase to pay $861 million in cash and securities to customers of the defunct broker-deal business of Lehman Brothers.
http://jlne.ws/lKlkuG
Kamis, 23 Juni 2011
June 23, 2011: EU Stress Tests Updated for Worsening Sovereign Debt Situation [NEWSLETTER]
June 23, 2011
JLN Interest Rates - http://www.jlninterestrates.com
Conversation Starters
--CBO: Federal Debt Held By The Public Could Grow From Estimated 69 Percent Of GDP This Year To 84 Percent By 2035
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) this week released the latest in its series of reports on the long-term budget outlook. CBO projects federal debt will grow from an estimated 69 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) this year to 84 percent by 2035. CBO says that as the economy continues to recover and the policies adopted to counteract the recession phase out, budget deficits will probably decline markedly in the next few years; but with the aging of the population and growing health care costs, the budget outlook, for both the coming decade and beyond, is daunting.
The retirement of the baby-boom generation is a key factor in the nation’s long-term fiscal outlook. It portends a significant and sustained increase in the share of the population receiving benefits from Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Moreover, under current law, per capita spending for health care is likely to continue rising faster than spending per person on other goods and services.
CBO presents the long-term budget outlook under two scenarios that embody different assumptions about future policies governing federal revenues and spending:
* The extended-baseline scenario adheres closely to current law, following CBO’s 10-year baseline budget projections through 2021 and then extending the baseline concept for the rest of the long-term projection period. Under that scenario, revenues would reach 23 percent of GDP by 2035—much higher than has typically been seen in recent decades—and larger percentages thereafter. Nevertheless, annual spending would be greater, and federal debt held by the public would grow from an estimated 69 percent of GDP this year to 84 percent by 2035. (At the end of 2008, that debt was equal to 40 percent of GDP.)
* The alternative fiscal scenario incorporates several changes to current law that are widely expected to occur or that would modify some provisions that might be difficult to sustain for a long period. Under that scenario, which many budget analysts believe is a more realistic picture of the nation’s underlying fiscal policies, revenues would remain close to their historical average of 18 percent of GDP, and federal debt would exceed 100 percent of GDP by 2021 and would balloon to nearly 190 percent by 2035.
See the CBO's entire report here.
--Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco: A Model-Independent Maximum Range for the Liquidity Correction of TIPS Yields
We derive a model-independent maximum range for the admissible liquidity risk premium in real Treasury bonds—also known as Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (TIPS). The range is constructed using additional information in the inflation swap market and a set of simple theoretical assumptions. As an application, we construct a lower bound to estimates of the inflation risk premium the Treasury receives from TIPS by deducting their maximum liquidity premium.
http://jlne.ws/jWMW31
--Christine Nielsen
Lead Stories
EU Stress Tests Updated for Worsening Sovereign Debt Situation
San Francisco Chronicle
The European Banking Authority has updated its bank stress tests to take more account of potential losses caused by banks' holdings of sovereign debt from crisis- hit European Union countries including Greece.
http://jlne.ws/mUrzK8
Greece seals deal with EU, IMF on austerity plan: sources
Reuters
Greece has won the consent of a team of EU-IMF inspectors for its new five-year austerity plan on Thursday after committing to an additional round of tax rises and spending cuts, sources with knowledge of the talks said.
http://jlne.ws/lk262n
Sovereign defaults and GDP: To default, or not to default?
The Economist
IN THEORY, fears about the economic damage wrought by a sovereign default should play a big role in disciplining countries considering repudiating their debts. But while countries that default do find themselves locked out of markets for some time, any growth penalty from a default tends to be short-lived. Argentina saw its GDP decline by 10.9% in the year after its December 2001 default.
http://jlne.ws/iQjNKN
Former Treasury Secretary And Chief Economic Adviser to President Obama, Larry Summers, Joins Square Board
Finextra
Larry Summers, former Treasury secretary and chief economic adviser to President Obama, has joined the board of mobile payments outfit Square.
http://jlne.ws/kYeAdX
Final rule increasing the threshold for exempt consumer credit transactions to $51,800
The Dodd-Frank Act requires that the threshold for exempt consumer credit transactions be adjusted annually by any annual percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index. Accordingly, based on the annual percentage increase as of June 1, 2011, the Board is adjusting the exemption threshold from $50,000 to $51,800, effective January 1, 2012.
http://jlne.ws/kmAQrB
Derivatives Cloud the Possible Fallout From a Greek Default
International Herald Tribune
Regulators worry that derivatives that insure against a default may have dangerously concentrated the risks.
http://jlne.ws/jDcExY
Gensler Says Suits Over Derivatives May Occur
Vipal Monga - WSJ
Gary Gensler, Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, declined to offer any guarantees that derivatives deals won’t end up in court as a result of confusion over new rules, some of which are slated to go into effect in July and others at the end of the year.
http://jlne.ws/jT3dVR
Warning on bank rules reform
By Tom Braithwaite in Washington, Financial Times
John Walsh, a top US bank regulator, warned his colleagues against imposing tougher regulations on financial groups, drawing a furious reaction from a Democratic senator who called for him to be replaced. Calling existing capital levels “extraordinarily high” and proposing a “fundamental rethink” of international liquidity standards, Mr Walsh, acting comptroller of the currency, said: “My view is that we are in danger of trying to squeeze too much risk and complexity out of banking as we institute reforms to address problems and abuses stemming from the last crisis.”
http://jlne.ws/jaI9oQ
Feds Sue Bankers Over Fall in Bonds
BY LIZ RAPPAPORT AND RUTH SIMON, WSJ.com
Federal regulators accused J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC of duping five large credit unions into buying more than $3 billion in mortgage bonds that were "destined to perform poorly," and that quickly sank the credit unions.
http://jlne.ws/kpJbjR
Fitch report says U.S. money fund exposure to European banks remains significant
http://jlne.ws/mSH8jA
Oversight Group Did Not Refer Housing Complaints
By GRETCHEN MORGENSON, NY Times
The federal agency overseeing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the taxpayer-owned mortgage finance giants, failed to refer to criminal investigators and other authorities almost 100 complaints about possible foreclosure abuse and mortgage fraud at the companies over a recent two-year period, according to a report issued late Tuesday by the inspector general of the Federal Housing Finance Agency.
http://jlne.ws/lvRtYd
Geithner Confident U.S. Will Avoid Default Crisis
BY JEFFREY SPARSHOTT, WSJ.com
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner Tuesday said he is confident that the U.S. will avoid a default crisis this summer as policy makers near agreement on a broad budget framework.
http://jlne.ws/mEZlZt
Dodd-Frank claims niche form of gold trading
By Claudia Assis, MarketWatch
A little -known form of gold investing used by some retail currency traders is disappearing, ahead of tighter regulations scheduled to go into effect next month. Forex.com, a large retail foreign-exchange operation, on Friday told clients it will discontinue its gold and silver over-the-counter products marketed to retail investors who are U.S. residents. It asked investors to close their positions by July 15.
http://jlne.ws/jQ9fj4
J.P. Morgan to Pay $153.6 Million to Settle SEC Charges of Misleading Investors in CDO Tied to U.S.
Housing Market
Financial Times
Washington, D.C., June 21, 2011 – The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that J.P. Morgan Securities LLC will pay $153.6 million to settle SEC charges that it misled investors in a complex mortgage securities transaction just as the housing market was starting to plummet. Under the settlement, harmed investors will receive all of their money back.
http://jlne.ws/liDHmn
Spain can't let up on reforms, IMF says
By Steve Goldstein, MarketWatch
The International Monetary Fund said Spain can't "let up on the reform momentum" after cutting its deficit to GDP to a level of 9.2% last year from 11.1% in 2009.
http://jlne.ws/mw2N1X
Saving the IMF for the world
Financial Times
No one foresaw the manner and suddenness of Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s departure from the helm of the International Monetary Fund. Thankfully, the transition to a new leadership has so far been less disruptive than one might have feared. By the end of the month, the next managing director will have been appointed. He or she – almost certainly she – will have to steer the IMF through big transformations, starting with the recruitment process itself.
http://jlne.ws/m01doN
Gross Says Equity Risk Premium Seems `Fairly Wide Now' - Video
http://jlne.ws/if0oKM
Bill Gross Gets the College Crisis Wrong
CNBC
Bill Gross joined the chorus of college skeptics today. "A mind is a precious thing to waste, so why are millions of America’s students wasting theirs by going to college?" he writes in his latest investment letter.
http://jlne.ws/kbJFzu
Government Must Do More to Create Jobs: Gross
Bloomberg
Bill Gross, manager of the world’s biggest bond fund at Pacific Investment Management Co., said the U.S. government must do more to support
employment growth.
http://jlne.ws/lTSk4g
Awww. Barney Frank Hearts Sheila Bair
Wall Street Journal Blogs
Hearings of the House Financial Services Committee typically are scenes for red-faced speeches from members of Congress. Today, though, the House became a love fest for FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair.
http://jlne.ws/lJKac1
US derivs proposals slammed by ISDA
GFS News
US derivatives proposals are too stringent and will result in an unlevel playing field for the country's firms, the new chairman of the International Swaps and Derivatives Association has told lawmakers.
http://jlne.ws/ml61ec
Greece replaces finance minister
By Kerin Hope in Athens, Financial Times
George Papandreou, prime minister of Greece, has replaced his finance minister in a broad cabinet reshuffle to counter widespread anger over tough new austerity measures essential to prevent Greece from a disastrous default.
http://jlne.ws/krWGSQ
[Video] Goldman Sachs's O'Neill on Greek Debt Contagion
Bloomberg
Jim O'Neill, chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, discusses the risk of contagion from the Greek debt crisis. He speaks with Bloomberg's Ryan Chilcote on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
http://jlne.ws/m9PkgH
Henes: Are We Watching the Sequel to "Too Big to Fail?" Will Greece End Differently Than Lehman?
CNBC
A friend of mine who runs a hedge fund likes to say, "I have seen this movie before, and I know how it ends...badly." With respect to Greece, ironically, not only can we metaphorically say we've seen this movie before, but, in many ways, we have actually seen it - at least a movie of the same genre.
http://jlne.ws/kLG4rC
Greek crisis threatens European decade of economic implosion
Mohamed El-Erian, Financial Times
From day one, immense challenges faced the coalition of international institutions that opted for a liquidity approach to address Greece’s debt solvency problems. Now that this coalition is stumbling and bickering publicly, the outlook for Greece has taken a significant turn for the worse. Even as George Papandreou, the Greek prime minister, prepares to reshuffle his cabinet, he must know his nation’s predicament is now extremely hard to reverse.
http://jlne.ws/lHp9cx
[Video] Could this laptop hold Goldman's secrets?
http://jlne.ws/iEqD4C
U.S. tax crackdown hits Canadian residents
The Globe And Mail
A tax crackdown by the United States has sent more than one million Americans and green-card holders living in Canada scrambling to figure out how to comply.
http://jlne.ws/mKokK7
EU debt crisis threat to Canadian economy
By TARA PERKINS, The Globe And Mail
The sovereign debt situation in Europe could pose a threat to the economy in Canada and those elsewhere, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty suggested Monday.
http://jlne.ws/j3hPkZ
SEC Could File Civil Fraud Charges Against Some Raters
Reuters
U.S. regulators could file civil fraud charges against some credit-rating agencies for their role in developing mortgage-bond deals that helped bring about the financial crisis, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
http://jlne.ws/jGLVUQ
FOMC Post Mortum
[Video] Second Post-FOMC Press Conference, June 22, 2011
http://jlne.ws/jWgIsq
Fed Trims Forecasts for Economic Growth
By Tom Barkley and Michael R. Crittenden, WSJ.com
Federal Reserve officials Wednesday lowered their forecasts for economic growth and predicted underlying inflation would come in higher than thought this year, as the central bank’s policy-setting committee cautioned that the recovery is experiencing what is likely a temporary loss in momentum.
http://jlne.ws/iIqjod
FOMC Statement: Release Date: June 22, 2011
Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in April indicates that the economic recovery is continuing at a moderate pace, though somewhat more slowly than the Committee had expected. Also, recent labor market indicators have been weaker than anticipated. The slower pace of the recovery reflects in part factors that are likely to be temporary, including the damping effect of higher food and energy prices on consumer purchasing power and spending as well as supply chain disruptions associated with the tragic events in Japan.
http://jlne.ws/ikGW4h
Bernanke doesn't have 'precise read' on slowdown
By Steve Goldstein, MarketWatch
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, during his press conference, said the central bank didn't have a precise read on why the U.S. economy is slowing down but notes that it expects a pick-up by 2013. He also said a default by Greece could pose risks to the European and global financial system but he said U.S. banking exposure was "small." Money market funds, on the other hand, have "substantial" exposure to core European banks that could be impacted by the Greek situation. Bernanke also again lauded the idea of a formal inflation target, which he said could help anchor expectations, but he said nothing was imminent and pointed out that the central bank would need public, Congressional and White House "buy-in" before it proceeded
http://jlne.ws/khIvuY
QE2 Proves No Silver Bullet
By JON HILSENRATH, WSJ.com
Federal Reserve officials have been warning for months that the controversial $600 billion bond-buying program they initiated last year wouldn't be a panacea for an ailing U.S. economy. That's one forecast they seem to have gotten right.
http://jlne.ws/ka1S9F
A Look Inside the Fed’s Balance Sheet
WSJ.com
Ahead of the Federal Reserve‘s policy-setting meeting tomorrow and the coming end this month of QE2, it’s worth taking a look at the latest figures from the Fed’s balance sheet.
http://jlne.ws/mtIEYY
Parsing the Fed: How the Statement Changed
By Phil Izzo, WSJ.com
The Fed’s statement following the June meeting noted no change in policy, even as the central bank said that the recovery is moving more slowly than expected. The statement has a lot of discussion of inflation amid recent reports of rising prices, with the Fed noting numerous times that it expects inflation will remain subdued over the long run
http://jlne.ws/jZjxXB
Fed keeps rates on hold and says QE2 to end
MarketWatch
The Federal Reserve signaled concerns about economic growth Wednesday as the central bank kept its targeted Fed funds rate at a historic low between 0% and 0.25% and said it would end, as planned, its $600 billion bond purchase program in eight days.
http://jlne.ws/jxrB94
Who really benefited from QE2 anyway?
By Brett Arends, MarketWatch
The flood of cheap money has helped the big banks rake in profits hand over fist. (Last quarter, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. made trading profits every single day.) Commodity speculators have grown rich.
http://jlne.ws/ku9onw
Events
FIA Treasury & Rates Forum
September 14, 2011
FIA Program On Growing Role Of Treasury Futures - New York City
http://jlne.ws/fQFQXP
MarketsWiki Questions: Exploring Financial Technology - an interactive video series and event on October 6, 2011 in Chicago
Question 2 Now Available
Ahead of our MarketsWiki Questions: Exploring Financial Technology event in October we're asking experts in the financial services industry seven questions and providing the best answers in an interactive video format. Question 2: Where is money wasted, lost or inefficient in the transaction chain and how can technology fix it?
http://jlne.ws/kbEq3v
Economic News
May New Home Sales Slide 2.1% to 319,000 Annual Rate
By Patrick Temple-West, The Bond Buyer
New home sales fell 2.1% in May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 319,000, as the number of new homes for sale dropped to a record low, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.
http://jlne.ws/lhpgrO
May existing home sales fall to 6-month low
By Greg Robb, MarketWatch
Sales of existing single-family homes and condos fell 3.8% in May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.81 million, the National Association of
Realtors reported Tuesday.
http://jlne.ws/kK8XR9
Consumer Comfort Index Declines in U.S
By Shobhana Chandra, Bloomberg
Consumer confidence fell for the first time in five weeks as Americans grew more concerned about the economy.
http://jlne.ws/kOFWcV
Michigan Retail Sales Steady in May
Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago
“May was a virtual replay of April and sustained that month’s sales gains,” said James P. Hallan, MRA president and chief executive officer. “Sales remained steady and didn’t fall back to their March level. Retailers remain cautious about the economy and the lack of new jobs, but falling gasoline prices should help bolster consumer spending and retailers’ optimism.”
http://jlne.ws/jz16MB
FHFA House Price Index Rises 0.8 Percent in April; First Monthly Increase Since May 2010
U.S. house prices rose 0.8 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from March to April, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s monthly House Price Index. The previously reported 0.3 percent decrease in March was revised to a 0.4 percent decrease. For the 12 months ending in April, U.S. prices fell 5.7 percent. The U.S. index is 19.3 percent below its April 2007 peak and roughly the same as the January 2004 index level.
http://jlne.ws/jfwVH8
Mortgage Applications Fall 5.9% in Week
The Bond Buyer
Mortgage application volume dropped 5.9% in the week ended June 17, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey.
http://jlne.ws/mzRi70
Index of Consumer Sentiment slipped from 74.3 in May to 71.8 in June, but remains up from 69.8 in April
Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland
According to the latest release from the University of Michigan, its Index of Consumer Sentiment slipped down from an index level of 74.3 in May to 71.8 in June, but remains up from 69.8 in April. Both the current conditions and expectations components decreased during the month. The current conditions component fell from 81.9 to 79.6 in June and is now below 80 for the first time since last October.
http://jlne.ws/j7AKEO
Payrolls shrink, jobless rates drop in many states
Reuters
The number of people on companies' payrolls shrank in more than half the U.S. states in May, even though the jobless rates in many places continued to improve, Labor Department data released on Friday showed.
http://jlne.ws/mRgB9L
Exchanges, Clearing Houses & MTFs
CME Wins Out Over ELX In Rate-Futures Spat
Dow Jones/Nasdaq
CME Group Inc. (CME) has been cleared by regulators of engaging in anti- competitive activity in the huge U.S. rate futures market after a rival alleged it was being stymied by the world's largest futures exchange operator.
http://jlne.ws/iCae11
NYSE BondMatch receives AMF approval
Press Release
Amsterdam, Brussels, Lisbon, London, Paris, Monday, 20 June 2011 - NYSE Euronext (NYX) today announced that NYSE BondMatch, its new Multilateral Trading Facility (MTF) designed to meet European user needs for transparency, liquidity and effective pre- and post-trade services on the euro-denominated bond market, received regulatory authorization and will begin trading on July 11, 2011.
http://jlne.ws/jW1d24
Firms & Banks
Fidelity Starts First Municipal-Bond Funds With Fixed End Dates
By Laura Keeley, Bloomberg
Fidelity Investments, the second- biggest U.S. mutual fund company, is starting four funds with defined liquidation dates that invest in municipal bonds, the first actively managed pools of this type.
http://jlne.ws/j2bQ1r
Goldman Sachs boosts corporate broking book
eFinancial News
Goldman Sachs, which on average earns more from its corporate broking clients than rival firms, has added two blue-chip companies in as many days to its UK roster.
http://jlne.ws/jdBl2h
UBS to cut almost 6 percent of tech staff
Reuters UK Focus via Yahoo! UK & Ireland Finance
UBS is to cut around 500 technical staff, a spokesman said on Wednesday, confirming a report in the Italian-language paper La Regione Ticino, as the Swiss bank seeks to reduce running costs.
http://jlne.ws/k6BdrU
UBS departure rumors raise questions about marketability of complex
Stamford Advocate
How do you market an office building with a cavernous open area the size of two football fields?
http://jlne.ws/mPtXuu
UBS names new head of US corporate access
Business Insider
Pellegrino is the new head of US corporate access for UBS, reporting to Matt Foulds, head of US sales for the bank's cash equities business. He says that makes him perhaps the only 'born-and-bred corporate access professional heading up a team right now.'
http://jlne.ws/jcp5JX
RBS directors awarded £1m shares bonus
The Scotsman
SEVEN executive directors of the Royal Bank of Scotland have been handed bonus shares worth more than £1 million under a reward scheme condemned by shareholder groups and unio
http://jlne.ws/kR2scB
HSBC appoints chief of business banking
Gulf Times
HSBC Bank Middle East has appointed Simon Burdett as chief of business banking in Qatar.
http://jlne.ws/a4zpTY
Citigroup fires starting gun on EMI auction
By Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson, Citigroup
Citigroup has fired the starting gun on the auction of EMI, the British music business it seized from Guy Hands’ Terra Firma group in February, setting up a probable sale of the company behind the Beatles and the James Bond theme tune. The US bank is moving faster than many potential bidders predicted, hoping to take advantage of a stabilising US music market and strong interest from bidders in this spring’s auction of Warner Music, which Len Blavatnik’s Access Industries won in May with a $3.3bn offer.
http://jlne.ws/jqy5AT
Goldman's Salame Is Said to Plan Move to New York, Consider New Assignment
Bloomberg
Pablo J. Salame, one of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) 's four sales and trading chiefs, plans to move to New York from London this summer and may take a new assignment, according to three people familiar with the matter.
http://jlne.ws/k6zRo7
PNC Said to Pay $3.45 Billion for RBC U.S. Retail Banking Unit
BusinessWeek
PNC Financial Services Group Inc. has agreed to pay $3.45 billion in cash and stock for Royal Bank of Canada's U.S. retail banking unit, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
http://jlne.ws/mkL5WF
UBS Hires Citigroup's Brengel, Frauenhofer for Technology
BusinessWeek
UBS AG, Switzerland's biggest bank, hired Doug Brengel and Bill Frauenhofer from Citigroup Inc. to head its technology group in the latest exchange of executives between the two firms.
http://jlne.ws/kOH7ZF
High street banks under pressure to adopt Barclays' PPI approach
Guardian Unlimited
Barclays' PPI compensation offer should be followed by Lloyds, RBS and HSBC, says Which? chief executive Lloyds Banking Group, Royal Bank of Scotland and HSBC are coming under pressure to follow Barclays after it said this week that it will compensate customers who were mis-sold payment protection insurance thousands of (PPI) on a no-quibble basis. Barclays, which has set aside £1bn to cover the ...
http://jlne.ws/j00kvl
Deutsche Bank says SIFI fees about what expected
Market Watch
A capital surcharge that regulators plan to impose on banks deemed too-big-to-fail is "about what we expected," the Chief Executive of Germany's Deutsche Bank AG (DB) told Dow Jones Newswires Friday.
http://jlne.ws/jn0U4D
UBS hires 1,000 staff in Greater China
eFinancial News
UBS has hired more than 1,000 staff in Greater China for its investment bank in the past 18 months, including around 100 people to help produce local-language research in Mandarin.
http://jlne.ws/jdrXKM
Goldman Sachs banker teams up with ex-Asda chief on retail venture
eFinancial News
The departing head of retail investment banking at Goldman Sachs has teamed up with the former chief executive of Asda to launch a new vehicle that will buy small businesses in the retail sector, Financial News can reveal.
http://jlne.ws/jMxI1r
Regulators
IMF Global Financial Stability Report, GFSR Market Update - June 2011
Press Release
http://jlne.ws/lawaT2
FSA admits regulatory deficiency in RBS report
ShareCast
Lord Adair Turner, the chairman of the Financial Services Authority, has said at the watchdog's annual general meeting that a report concerning the failure of the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) will be released later this year.
http://jlne.ws/iUSqUy
How Long Can IMF Play the Contortionist?
By STEPHEN FIDLER, WSJ
So in the end, it looks like the International Monetary Fund will be the one to blink. Concessions by the Washington-based institution are expected to allow the release of the next E12 billion ($17 billion) slug of bailout funds for Greece before the government runs out of money next month. A Greek payments crisis thus would be avoided, at least for a month or two.
http://jlne.ws/lngU4a
U.K. Jabs EU on Bank Rules
By DAVID ENRICH And SARA SCHAEFER MUñOZ, WSJ
LONDON—British officials are waging an increasingly aggressive fight to impose banking regulations as they see fit, even if they go further than rules elsewhere in the European Union. British officials have publicly lashed out at European policy makers who are pushing proposals that would limit the U.K.'s ability to go beyond other countries when it comes to bank capital and liquidity requirements.
http://jlne.ws/mObcID
Regulators cite progress on global financial rules
Fox News
Federal regulators told members of Congress they are collaborating with other nations on rules intended to prevent another financial crisis.
http://jlne.ws/k8gct2
Tracey McDermott addresses FSA Financial Crime Conference
Press Release
FCA will pursue the objectives of keeping crooks out of finance, encouraging industry to strengthen its defences, and educating and warning consumers about the dangers they may face
Tracey McDermott, acting director of enforcement and financial crime at the Financial Services Authority (FSA), today highlighted the continuing importance of financial crime within the future UK regulatory landscape.
http://jlne.ws/jOethc
Global News
Irish economy returns to growth
By John Murray Brown, FT.com
The Irish economy returned to growth in the first quarter with Gross Domestic Product climbing 1.3 per cent as strong exports and profits from Irish-based multinationals made up for for flagging domestic demand.
http://jlne.ws/lcrpOb
Juncker offers chink of hope to Ireland
Hedge Analyst
A change in the terms of conditions in the EU ‘permanent bailout fund’ due to be launched in 2013 has been greeted with caution by economists but could be seen as a ‘lifeline’ by politicians
http://jlne.ws/kKYt47
Dismay as Greek reform grinds to halt
By Tony Barber and Kerin Hope in Athens, Financial Times
Greece’s international creditors have watched with increasing dismay this year as the economic and fiscal reform effort required of the socialist government to prevent the eurozone’s first sovereign debt default has ground to a halt. On Wednesday they were struck by bad news on a different front when Antonis Samaras, leader of the conservative opposition New Democracy party, defied their advice and announced he would oppose the government’s latest austerity plans when they come up next week for a parliamentary vote.
http://jlne.ws/lamHYP
As new German links surface, Taib denies Swiss bank account
Malaysia Chronicle
Battling a swathe of corruption charges, Sarawak Chief Minister Taib Mahmud has denied he has a bank account in Swizerland, but even before the dust can settle on the allegation raised by the Bruno Manser Fund, a fresh accusation has erupted with the Sarawak Report offering evidence of his dealings with Deutsche bank. In a rare admission and concession to the huge pressure piled on him to leave ...
http://jlne.ws/js6ish
Santander chief and family face tax probe
By Miles Johnson in Madrid, Financial Times
Emilio Botín, chairman of Banco Santander and one of Spain’s highest profile public figures, is being investigated by the country’s high court over allegations of tax-related offences alongside 11 other members of his powerful family.
http://jlne.ws/mnv9yz
Swiss upper house approves tough bank capital rules
Reuters UK Focus via Yahoo! UK & Ireland Finance
The Swiss upper house of parliament on Thursday backed a new law to force UBS and Credit Suisse (NYSEArca: CSMA - news) to hold more capital than global rules demand.
http://jlne.ws/ikN4z0
Spain's Bad Loans Hit 16-Year High
By DAVID ROMAN, WSJ
Spain's central bank Friday said bad debt at the country's commercial banks soared in April to the worst level in 16 years, a sign that a three-year property bust that's hit developers and households is hurting the financial sector even as Spanish economic growth recovers modestly.
http://jlne.ws/kl2Lt2
Clegg calls for RBS and Lloyds giveaway
By Elizabeth Rigby in Rio de Janeiro and Patrick Jenkins in London, Financial Times
Nick Clegg wants to give every British voter shares in the state-owned banks as the deputy prime minister looks to revive his battered image by creating a “people’s banking system”.
http://jlne.ws/iesFeU
Barings: UK inflation expectations wane and unemployment falls
The latest outlook for UK inflation was encouraging. The quarterly survey of inflation expectations from the Bank of England showed that although, on average, respondents expect medium-term inflation to be well above the UK central bank’s 2.0% target, the margin above target is likely to be smaller than had been expected in February.
http://jlne.ws/mcnhom
India set to open up retail banking
By James Fontanella-Khan in Mumbai, Financial Times
Indian industrial conglomerates, including Reliance Group and Mahindra & Mahindra, are set to be given access to the country’s lucrative retail banking sector after policymakers decided to drop years of opposition.
http://jlne.ws/kQBKgU
Disclaimer: The John Lothian, Environmental Markets, JLN Metals, JLN Managed Futures, JLN Interest Rates, JLN Options and JLN FX newsletters and blogs and MarketsWiki are products of John J. Lothian & Company, Inc. The opinions expressed in these publications are strictly those of their respective editors. They are intended solely for informative purposes and are not to be construed, under any circumstances, by implication or otherwise, as an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy or trade in any commodities or securities herein named. Information is obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but is in no way guaranteed. No guarantee of any kind is implied or possible where projections of future conditions are attempted. Security futures are not suitable for all customers.
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JLN Interest Rates - http://www.jlninterestrates.com
Conversation Starters
--CBO: Federal Debt Held By The Public Could Grow From Estimated 69 Percent Of GDP This Year To 84 Percent By 2035
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) this week released the latest in its series of reports on the long-term budget outlook. CBO projects federal debt will grow from an estimated 69 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) this year to 84 percent by 2035. CBO says that as the economy continues to recover and the policies adopted to counteract the recession phase out, budget deficits will probably decline markedly in the next few years; but with the aging of the population and growing health care costs, the budget outlook, for both the coming decade and beyond, is daunting.
The retirement of the baby-boom generation is a key factor in the nation’s long-term fiscal outlook. It portends a significant and sustained increase in the share of the population receiving benefits from Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Moreover, under current law, per capita spending for health care is likely to continue rising faster than spending per person on other goods and services.
CBO presents the long-term budget outlook under two scenarios that embody different assumptions about future policies governing federal revenues and spending:
* The extended-baseline scenario adheres closely to current law, following CBO’s 10-year baseline budget projections through 2021 and then extending the baseline concept for the rest of the long-term projection period. Under that scenario, revenues would reach 23 percent of GDP by 2035—much higher than has typically been seen in recent decades—and larger percentages thereafter. Nevertheless, annual spending would be greater, and federal debt held by the public would grow from an estimated 69 percent of GDP this year to 84 percent by 2035. (At the end of 2008, that debt was equal to 40 percent of GDP.)
* The alternative fiscal scenario incorporates several changes to current law that are widely expected to occur or that would modify some provisions that might be difficult to sustain for a long period. Under that scenario, which many budget analysts believe is a more realistic picture of the nation’s underlying fiscal policies, revenues would remain close to their historical average of 18 percent of GDP, and federal debt would exceed 100 percent of GDP by 2021 and would balloon to nearly 190 percent by 2035.
See the CBO's entire report here.
--Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco: A Model-Independent Maximum Range for the Liquidity Correction of TIPS Yields
We derive a model-independent maximum range for the admissible liquidity risk premium in real Treasury bonds—also known as Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (TIPS). The range is constructed using additional information in the inflation swap market and a set of simple theoretical assumptions. As an application, we construct a lower bound to estimates of the inflation risk premium the Treasury receives from TIPS by deducting their maximum liquidity premium.
http://jlne.ws/jWMW31
--Christine Nielsen
Lead Stories
EU Stress Tests Updated for Worsening Sovereign Debt Situation
San Francisco Chronicle
The European Banking Authority has updated its bank stress tests to take more account of potential losses caused by banks' holdings of sovereign debt from crisis- hit European Union countries including Greece.
http://jlne.ws/mUrzK8
Greece seals deal with EU, IMF on austerity plan: sources
Reuters
Greece has won the consent of a team of EU-IMF inspectors for its new five-year austerity plan on Thursday after committing to an additional round of tax rises and spending cuts, sources with knowledge of the talks said.
http://jlne.ws/lk262n
Sovereign defaults and GDP: To default, or not to default?
The Economist
IN THEORY, fears about the economic damage wrought by a sovereign default should play a big role in disciplining countries considering repudiating their debts. But while countries that default do find themselves locked out of markets for some time, any growth penalty from a default tends to be short-lived. Argentina saw its GDP decline by 10.9% in the year after its December 2001 default.
http://jlne.ws/iQjNKN
Former Treasury Secretary And Chief Economic Adviser to President Obama, Larry Summers, Joins Square Board
Finextra
Larry Summers, former Treasury secretary and chief economic adviser to President Obama, has joined the board of mobile payments outfit Square.
http://jlne.ws/kYeAdX
Final rule increasing the threshold for exempt consumer credit transactions to $51,800
The Dodd-Frank Act requires that the threshold for exempt consumer credit transactions be adjusted annually by any annual percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index. Accordingly, based on the annual percentage increase as of June 1, 2011, the Board is adjusting the exemption threshold from $50,000 to $51,800, effective January 1, 2012.
http://jlne.ws/kmAQrB
Derivatives Cloud the Possible Fallout From a Greek Default
International Herald Tribune
Regulators worry that derivatives that insure against a default may have dangerously concentrated the risks.
http://jlne.ws/jDcExY
Gensler Says Suits Over Derivatives May Occur
Vipal Monga - WSJ
Gary Gensler, Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, declined to offer any guarantees that derivatives deals won’t end up in court as a result of confusion over new rules, some of which are slated to go into effect in July and others at the end of the year.
http://jlne.ws/jT3dVR
Warning on bank rules reform
By Tom Braithwaite in Washington, Financial Times
John Walsh, a top US bank regulator, warned his colleagues against imposing tougher regulations on financial groups, drawing a furious reaction from a Democratic senator who called for him to be replaced. Calling existing capital levels “extraordinarily high” and proposing a “fundamental rethink” of international liquidity standards, Mr Walsh, acting comptroller of the currency, said: “My view is that we are in danger of trying to squeeze too much risk and complexity out of banking as we institute reforms to address problems and abuses stemming from the last crisis.”
http://jlne.ws/jaI9oQ
Feds Sue Bankers Over Fall in Bonds
BY LIZ RAPPAPORT AND RUTH SIMON, WSJ.com
Federal regulators accused J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC of duping five large credit unions into buying more than $3 billion in mortgage bonds that were "destined to perform poorly," and that quickly sank the credit unions.
http://jlne.ws/kpJbjR
Fitch report says U.S. money fund exposure to European banks remains significant
http://jlne.ws/mSH8jA
Oversight Group Did Not Refer Housing Complaints
By GRETCHEN MORGENSON, NY Times
The federal agency overseeing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the taxpayer-owned mortgage finance giants, failed to refer to criminal investigators and other authorities almost 100 complaints about possible foreclosure abuse and mortgage fraud at the companies over a recent two-year period, according to a report issued late Tuesday by the inspector general of the Federal Housing Finance Agency.
http://jlne.ws/lvRtYd
Geithner Confident U.S. Will Avoid Default Crisis
BY JEFFREY SPARSHOTT, WSJ.com
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner Tuesday said he is confident that the U.S. will avoid a default crisis this summer as policy makers near agreement on a broad budget framework.
http://jlne.ws/mEZlZt
Dodd-Frank claims niche form of gold trading
By Claudia Assis, MarketWatch
A little -known form of gold investing used by some retail currency traders is disappearing, ahead of tighter regulations scheduled to go into effect next month. Forex.com, a large retail foreign-exchange operation, on Friday told clients it will discontinue its gold and silver over-the-counter products marketed to retail investors who are U.S. residents. It asked investors to close their positions by July 15.
http://jlne.ws/jQ9fj4
J.P. Morgan to Pay $153.6 Million to Settle SEC Charges of Misleading Investors in CDO Tied to U.S.
Housing Market
Financial Times
Washington, D.C., June 21, 2011 – The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that J.P. Morgan Securities LLC will pay $153.6 million to settle SEC charges that it misled investors in a complex mortgage securities transaction just as the housing market was starting to plummet. Under the settlement, harmed investors will receive all of their money back.
http://jlne.ws/liDHmn
Spain can't let up on reforms, IMF says
By Steve Goldstein, MarketWatch
The International Monetary Fund said Spain can't "let up on the reform momentum" after cutting its deficit to GDP to a level of 9.2% last year from 11.1% in 2009.
http://jlne.ws/mw2N1X
Saving the IMF for the world
Financial Times
No one foresaw the manner and suddenness of Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s departure from the helm of the International Monetary Fund. Thankfully, the transition to a new leadership has so far been less disruptive than one might have feared. By the end of the month, the next managing director will have been appointed. He or she – almost certainly she – will have to steer the IMF through big transformations, starting with the recruitment process itself.
http://jlne.ws/m01doN
Gross Says Equity Risk Premium Seems `Fairly Wide Now' - Video
http://jlne.ws/if0oKM
Bill Gross Gets the College Crisis Wrong
CNBC
Bill Gross joined the chorus of college skeptics today. "A mind is a precious thing to waste, so why are millions of America’s students wasting theirs by going to college?" he writes in his latest investment letter.
http://jlne.ws/kbJFzu
Government Must Do More to Create Jobs: Gross
Bloomberg
Bill Gross, manager of the world’s biggest bond fund at Pacific Investment Management Co., said the U.S. government must do more to support
employment growth.
http://jlne.ws/lTSk4g
Awww. Barney Frank Hearts Sheila Bair
Wall Street Journal Blogs
Hearings of the House Financial Services Committee typically are scenes for red-faced speeches from members of Congress. Today, though, the House became a love fest for FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair.
http://jlne.ws/lJKac1
US derivs proposals slammed by ISDA
GFS News
US derivatives proposals are too stringent and will result in an unlevel playing field for the country's firms, the new chairman of the International Swaps and Derivatives Association has told lawmakers.
http://jlne.ws/ml61ec
Greece replaces finance minister
By Kerin Hope in Athens, Financial Times
George Papandreou, prime minister of Greece, has replaced his finance minister in a broad cabinet reshuffle to counter widespread anger over tough new austerity measures essential to prevent Greece from a disastrous default.
http://jlne.ws/krWGSQ
[Video] Goldman Sachs's O'Neill on Greek Debt Contagion
Bloomberg
Jim O'Neill, chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, discusses the risk of contagion from the Greek debt crisis. He speaks with Bloomberg's Ryan Chilcote on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
http://jlne.ws/m9PkgH
Henes: Are We Watching the Sequel to "Too Big to Fail?" Will Greece End Differently Than Lehman?
CNBC
A friend of mine who runs a hedge fund likes to say, "I have seen this movie before, and I know how it ends...badly." With respect to Greece, ironically, not only can we metaphorically say we've seen this movie before, but, in many ways, we have actually seen it - at least a movie of the same genre.
http://jlne.ws/kLG4rC
Greek crisis threatens European decade of economic implosion
Mohamed El-Erian, Financial Times
From day one, immense challenges faced the coalition of international institutions that opted for a liquidity approach to address Greece’s debt solvency problems. Now that this coalition is stumbling and bickering publicly, the outlook for Greece has taken a significant turn for the worse. Even as George Papandreou, the Greek prime minister, prepares to reshuffle his cabinet, he must know his nation’s predicament is now extremely hard to reverse.
http://jlne.ws/lHp9cx
[Video] Could this laptop hold Goldman's secrets?
http://jlne.ws/iEqD4C
U.S. tax crackdown hits Canadian residents
The Globe And Mail
A tax crackdown by the United States has sent more than one million Americans and green-card holders living in Canada scrambling to figure out how to comply.
http://jlne.ws/mKokK7
EU debt crisis threat to Canadian economy
By TARA PERKINS, The Globe And Mail
The sovereign debt situation in Europe could pose a threat to the economy in Canada and those elsewhere, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty suggested Monday.
http://jlne.ws/j3hPkZ
SEC Could File Civil Fraud Charges Against Some Raters
Reuters
U.S. regulators could file civil fraud charges against some credit-rating agencies for their role in developing mortgage-bond deals that helped bring about the financial crisis, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
http://jlne.ws/jGLVUQ
FOMC Post Mortum
[Video] Second Post-FOMC Press Conference, June 22, 2011
http://jlne.ws/jWgIsq
Fed Trims Forecasts for Economic Growth
By Tom Barkley and Michael R. Crittenden, WSJ.com
Federal Reserve officials Wednesday lowered their forecasts for economic growth and predicted underlying inflation would come in higher than thought this year, as the central bank’s policy-setting committee cautioned that the recovery is experiencing what is likely a temporary loss in momentum.
http://jlne.ws/iIqjod
FOMC Statement: Release Date: June 22, 2011
Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in April indicates that the economic recovery is continuing at a moderate pace, though somewhat more slowly than the Committee had expected. Also, recent labor market indicators have been weaker than anticipated. The slower pace of the recovery reflects in part factors that are likely to be temporary, including the damping effect of higher food and energy prices on consumer purchasing power and spending as well as supply chain disruptions associated with the tragic events in Japan.
http://jlne.ws/ikGW4h
Bernanke doesn't have 'precise read' on slowdown
By Steve Goldstein, MarketWatch
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, during his press conference, said the central bank didn't have a precise read on why the U.S. economy is slowing down but notes that it expects a pick-up by 2013. He also said a default by Greece could pose risks to the European and global financial system but he said U.S. banking exposure was "small." Money market funds, on the other hand, have "substantial" exposure to core European banks that could be impacted by the Greek situation. Bernanke also again lauded the idea of a formal inflation target, which he said could help anchor expectations, but he said nothing was imminent and pointed out that the central bank would need public, Congressional and White House "buy-in" before it proceeded
http://jlne.ws/khIvuY
QE2 Proves No Silver Bullet
By JON HILSENRATH, WSJ.com
Federal Reserve officials have been warning for months that the controversial $600 billion bond-buying program they initiated last year wouldn't be a panacea for an ailing U.S. economy. That's one forecast they seem to have gotten right.
http://jlne.ws/ka1S9F
A Look Inside the Fed’s Balance Sheet
WSJ.com
Ahead of the Federal Reserve‘s policy-setting meeting tomorrow and the coming end this month of QE2, it’s worth taking a look at the latest figures from the Fed’s balance sheet.
http://jlne.ws/mtIEYY
Parsing the Fed: How the Statement Changed
By Phil Izzo, WSJ.com
The Fed’s statement following the June meeting noted no change in policy, even as the central bank said that the recovery is moving more slowly than expected. The statement has a lot of discussion of inflation amid recent reports of rising prices, with the Fed noting numerous times that it expects inflation will remain subdued over the long run
http://jlne.ws/jZjxXB
Fed keeps rates on hold and says QE2 to end
MarketWatch
The Federal Reserve signaled concerns about economic growth Wednesday as the central bank kept its targeted Fed funds rate at a historic low between 0% and 0.25% and said it would end, as planned, its $600 billion bond purchase program in eight days.
http://jlne.ws/jxrB94
Who really benefited from QE2 anyway?
By Brett Arends, MarketWatch
The flood of cheap money has helped the big banks rake in profits hand over fist. (Last quarter, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. made trading profits every single day.) Commodity speculators have grown rich.
http://jlne.ws/ku9onw
Events
FIA Treasury & Rates Forum
September 14, 2011
FIA Program On Growing Role Of Treasury Futures - New York City
http://jlne.ws/fQFQXP
MarketsWiki Questions: Exploring Financial Technology - an interactive video series and event on October 6, 2011 in Chicago
Question 2 Now Available
Ahead of our MarketsWiki Questions: Exploring Financial Technology event in October we're asking experts in the financial services industry seven questions and providing the best answers in an interactive video format. Question 2: Where is money wasted, lost or inefficient in the transaction chain and how can technology fix it?
http://jlne.ws/kbEq3v
Economic News
May New Home Sales Slide 2.1% to 319,000 Annual Rate
By Patrick Temple-West, The Bond Buyer
New home sales fell 2.1% in May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 319,000, as the number of new homes for sale dropped to a record low, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.
http://jlne.ws/lhpgrO
May existing home sales fall to 6-month low
By Greg Robb, MarketWatch
Sales of existing single-family homes and condos fell 3.8% in May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.81 million, the National Association of
Realtors reported Tuesday.
http://jlne.ws/kK8XR9
Consumer Comfort Index Declines in U.S
By Shobhana Chandra, Bloomberg
Consumer confidence fell for the first time in five weeks as Americans grew more concerned about the economy.
http://jlne.ws/kOFWcV
Michigan Retail Sales Steady in May
Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago
“May was a virtual replay of April and sustained that month’s sales gains,” said James P. Hallan, MRA president and chief executive officer. “Sales remained steady and didn’t fall back to their March level. Retailers remain cautious about the economy and the lack of new jobs, but falling gasoline prices should help bolster consumer spending and retailers’ optimism.”
http://jlne.ws/jz16MB
FHFA House Price Index Rises 0.8 Percent in April; First Monthly Increase Since May 2010
U.S. house prices rose 0.8 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from March to April, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s monthly House Price Index. The previously reported 0.3 percent decrease in March was revised to a 0.4 percent decrease. For the 12 months ending in April, U.S. prices fell 5.7 percent. The U.S. index is 19.3 percent below its April 2007 peak and roughly the same as the January 2004 index level.
http://jlne.ws/jfwVH8
Mortgage Applications Fall 5.9% in Week
The Bond Buyer
Mortgage application volume dropped 5.9% in the week ended June 17, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey.
http://jlne.ws/mzRi70
Index of Consumer Sentiment slipped from 74.3 in May to 71.8 in June, but remains up from 69.8 in April
Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland
According to the latest release from the University of Michigan, its Index of Consumer Sentiment slipped down from an index level of 74.3 in May to 71.8 in June, but remains up from 69.8 in April. Both the current conditions and expectations components decreased during the month. The current conditions component fell from 81.9 to 79.6 in June and is now below 80 for the first time since last October.
http://jlne.ws/j7AKEO
Payrolls shrink, jobless rates drop in many states
Reuters
The number of people on companies' payrolls shrank in more than half the U.S. states in May, even though the jobless rates in many places continued to improve, Labor Department data released on Friday showed.
http://jlne.ws/mRgB9L
Exchanges, Clearing Houses & MTFs
CME Wins Out Over ELX In Rate-Futures Spat
Dow Jones/Nasdaq
CME Group Inc. (CME) has been cleared by regulators of engaging in anti- competitive activity in the huge U.S. rate futures market after a rival alleged it was being stymied by the world's largest futures exchange operator.
http://jlne.ws/iCae11
NYSE BondMatch receives AMF approval
Press Release
Amsterdam, Brussels, Lisbon, London, Paris, Monday, 20 June 2011 - NYSE Euronext (NYX) today announced that NYSE BondMatch, its new Multilateral Trading Facility (MTF) designed to meet European user needs for transparency, liquidity and effective pre- and post-trade services on the euro-denominated bond market, received regulatory authorization and will begin trading on July 11, 2011.
http://jlne.ws/jW1d24
Firms & Banks
Fidelity Starts First Municipal-Bond Funds With Fixed End Dates
By Laura Keeley, Bloomberg
Fidelity Investments, the second- biggest U.S. mutual fund company, is starting four funds with defined liquidation dates that invest in municipal bonds, the first actively managed pools of this type.
http://jlne.ws/j2bQ1r
Goldman Sachs boosts corporate broking book
eFinancial News
Goldman Sachs, which on average earns more from its corporate broking clients than rival firms, has added two blue-chip companies in as many days to its UK roster.
http://jlne.ws/jdBl2h
UBS to cut almost 6 percent of tech staff
Reuters UK Focus via Yahoo! UK & Ireland Finance
UBS is to cut around 500 technical staff, a spokesman said on Wednesday, confirming a report in the Italian-language paper La Regione Ticino, as the Swiss bank seeks to reduce running costs.
http://jlne.ws/k6BdrU
UBS departure rumors raise questions about marketability of complex
Stamford Advocate
How do you market an office building with a cavernous open area the size of two football fields?
http://jlne.ws/mPtXuu
UBS names new head of US corporate access
Business Insider
Pellegrino is the new head of US corporate access for UBS, reporting to Matt Foulds, head of US sales for the bank's cash equities business. He says that makes him perhaps the only 'born-and-bred corporate access professional heading up a team right now.'
http://jlne.ws/jcp5JX
RBS directors awarded £1m shares bonus
The Scotsman
SEVEN executive directors of the Royal Bank of Scotland have been handed bonus shares worth more than £1 million under a reward scheme condemned by shareholder groups and unio
http://jlne.ws/kR2scB
HSBC appoints chief of business banking
Gulf Times
HSBC Bank Middle East has appointed Simon Burdett as chief of business banking in Qatar.
http://jlne.ws/a4zpTY
Citigroup fires starting gun on EMI auction
By Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson, Citigroup
Citigroup has fired the starting gun on the auction of EMI, the British music business it seized from Guy Hands’ Terra Firma group in February, setting up a probable sale of the company behind the Beatles and the James Bond theme tune. The US bank is moving faster than many potential bidders predicted, hoping to take advantage of a stabilising US music market and strong interest from bidders in this spring’s auction of Warner Music, which Len Blavatnik’s Access Industries won in May with a $3.3bn offer.
http://jlne.ws/jqy5AT
Goldman's Salame Is Said to Plan Move to New York, Consider New Assignment
Bloomberg
Pablo J. Salame, one of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) 's four sales and trading chiefs, plans to move to New York from London this summer and may take a new assignment, according to three people familiar with the matter.
http://jlne.ws/k6zRo7
PNC Said to Pay $3.45 Billion for RBC U.S. Retail Banking Unit
BusinessWeek
PNC Financial Services Group Inc. has agreed to pay $3.45 billion in cash and stock for Royal Bank of Canada's U.S. retail banking unit, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
http://jlne.ws/mkL5WF
UBS Hires Citigroup's Brengel, Frauenhofer for Technology
BusinessWeek
UBS AG, Switzerland's biggest bank, hired Doug Brengel and Bill Frauenhofer from Citigroup Inc. to head its technology group in the latest exchange of executives between the two firms.
http://jlne.ws/kOH7ZF
High street banks under pressure to adopt Barclays' PPI approach
Guardian Unlimited
Barclays' PPI compensation offer should be followed by Lloyds, RBS and HSBC, says Which? chief executive Lloyds Banking Group, Royal Bank of Scotland and HSBC are coming under pressure to follow Barclays after it said this week that it will compensate customers who were mis-sold payment protection insurance thousands of (PPI) on a no-quibble basis. Barclays, which has set aside £1bn to cover the ...
http://jlne.ws/j00kvl
Deutsche Bank says SIFI fees about what expected
Market Watch
A capital surcharge that regulators plan to impose on banks deemed too-big-to-fail is "about what we expected," the Chief Executive of Germany's Deutsche Bank AG (DB) told Dow Jones Newswires Friday.
http://jlne.ws/jn0U4D
UBS hires 1,000 staff in Greater China
eFinancial News
UBS has hired more than 1,000 staff in Greater China for its investment bank in the past 18 months, including around 100 people to help produce local-language research in Mandarin.
http://jlne.ws/jdrXKM
Goldman Sachs banker teams up with ex-Asda chief on retail venture
eFinancial News
The departing head of retail investment banking at Goldman Sachs has teamed up with the former chief executive of Asda to launch a new vehicle that will buy small businesses in the retail sector, Financial News can reveal.
http://jlne.ws/jMxI1r
Regulators
IMF Global Financial Stability Report, GFSR Market Update - June 2011
Press Release
http://jlne.ws/lawaT2
FSA admits regulatory deficiency in RBS report
ShareCast
Lord Adair Turner, the chairman of the Financial Services Authority, has said at the watchdog's annual general meeting that a report concerning the failure of the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) will be released later this year.
http://jlne.ws/iUSqUy
How Long Can IMF Play the Contortionist?
By STEPHEN FIDLER, WSJ
So in the end, it looks like the International Monetary Fund will be the one to blink. Concessions by the Washington-based institution are expected to allow the release of the next E12 billion ($17 billion) slug of bailout funds for Greece before the government runs out of money next month. A Greek payments crisis thus would be avoided, at least for a month or two.
http://jlne.ws/lngU4a
U.K. Jabs EU on Bank Rules
By DAVID ENRICH And SARA SCHAEFER MUñOZ, WSJ
LONDON—British officials are waging an increasingly aggressive fight to impose banking regulations as they see fit, even if they go further than rules elsewhere in the European Union. British officials have publicly lashed out at European policy makers who are pushing proposals that would limit the U.K.'s ability to go beyond other countries when it comes to bank capital and liquidity requirements.
http://jlne.ws/mObcID
Regulators cite progress on global financial rules
Fox News
Federal regulators told members of Congress they are collaborating with other nations on rules intended to prevent another financial crisis.
http://jlne.ws/k8gct2
Tracey McDermott addresses FSA Financial Crime Conference
Press Release
FCA will pursue the objectives of keeping crooks out of finance, encouraging industry to strengthen its defences, and educating and warning consumers about the dangers they may face
Tracey McDermott, acting director of enforcement and financial crime at the Financial Services Authority (FSA), today highlighted the continuing importance of financial crime within the future UK regulatory landscape.
http://jlne.ws/jOethc
Global News
Irish economy returns to growth
By John Murray Brown, FT.com
The Irish economy returned to growth in the first quarter with Gross Domestic Product climbing 1.3 per cent as strong exports and profits from Irish-based multinationals made up for for flagging domestic demand.
http://jlne.ws/lcrpOb
Juncker offers chink of hope to Ireland
Hedge Analyst
A change in the terms of conditions in the EU ‘permanent bailout fund’ due to be launched in 2013 has been greeted with caution by economists but could be seen as a ‘lifeline’ by politicians
http://jlne.ws/kKYt47
Dismay as Greek reform grinds to halt
By Tony Barber and Kerin Hope in Athens, Financial Times
Greece’s international creditors have watched with increasing dismay this year as the economic and fiscal reform effort required of the socialist government to prevent the eurozone’s first sovereign debt default has ground to a halt. On Wednesday they were struck by bad news on a different front when Antonis Samaras, leader of the conservative opposition New Democracy party, defied their advice and announced he would oppose the government’s latest austerity plans when they come up next week for a parliamentary vote.
http://jlne.ws/lamHYP
As new German links surface, Taib denies Swiss bank account
Malaysia Chronicle
Battling a swathe of corruption charges, Sarawak Chief Minister Taib Mahmud has denied he has a bank account in Swizerland, but even before the dust can settle on the allegation raised by the Bruno Manser Fund, a fresh accusation has erupted with the Sarawak Report offering evidence of his dealings with Deutsche bank. In a rare admission and concession to the huge pressure piled on him to leave ...
http://jlne.ws/js6ish
Santander chief and family face tax probe
By Miles Johnson in Madrid, Financial Times
Emilio Botín, chairman of Banco Santander and one of Spain’s highest profile public figures, is being investigated by the country’s high court over allegations of tax-related offences alongside 11 other members of his powerful family.
http://jlne.ws/mnv9yz
Swiss upper house approves tough bank capital rules
Reuters UK Focus via Yahoo! UK & Ireland Finance
The Swiss upper house of parliament on Thursday backed a new law to force UBS and Credit Suisse (NYSEArca: CSMA - news) to hold more capital than global rules demand.
http://jlne.ws/ikN4z0
Spain's Bad Loans Hit 16-Year High
By DAVID ROMAN, WSJ
Spain's central bank Friday said bad debt at the country's commercial banks soared in April to the worst level in 16 years, a sign that a three-year property bust that's hit developers and households is hurting the financial sector even as Spanish economic growth recovers modestly.
http://jlne.ws/kl2Lt2
Clegg calls for RBS and Lloyds giveaway
By Elizabeth Rigby in Rio de Janeiro and Patrick Jenkins in London, Financial Times
Nick Clegg wants to give every British voter shares in the state-owned banks as the deputy prime minister looks to revive his battered image by creating a “people’s banking system”.
http://jlne.ws/iesFeU
Barings: UK inflation expectations wane and unemployment falls
The latest outlook for UK inflation was encouraging. The quarterly survey of inflation expectations from the Bank of England showed that although, on average, respondents expect medium-term inflation to be well above the UK central bank’s 2.0% target, the margin above target is likely to be smaller than had been expected in February.
http://jlne.ws/mcnhom
India set to open up retail banking
By James Fontanella-Khan in Mumbai, Financial Times
Indian industrial conglomerates, including Reliance Group and Mahindra & Mahindra, are set to be given access to the country’s lucrative retail banking sector after policymakers decided to drop years of opposition.
http://jlne.ws/kQBKgU
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Rabu, 22 Juni 2011
Top Interest Rate Headlines 06-22-11: Fed Trims Forecasts for Economic Growth
Fed Trims Forecasts for Economic Growth
By Tom Barkley and Michael R. Crittenden, WSJ.com
Federal Reserve officials Wednesday lowered their forecasts for economic growth and predicted underlying inflation would come in higher than thought this year, as the central bank’s policy-setting committee cautioned that the recovery is experiencing what is likely a temporary loss in momentum.
http://jlne.ws/iIqjod
FOMC Statement: Release Date: June 22, 2011
Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in April indicates that the economic recovery is continuing at a moderate pace, though somewhat more slowly than the Committee had expected. Also, recent labor market indicators have been weaker than anticipated. The slower pace of the recovery reflects in part factors that are likely to be temporary, including the damping effect of higher food and energy prices on consumer purchasing power and spending as well as supply chain disruptions associated with the tragic events in Japan.
http://jlne.ws/ikGW4h
Bernanke doesn't have 'precise read' on slowdown
By Steve Goldstein, MarketWatch
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, during his press conference, said the central bank didn't have a precise read on why the U.S. economy is slowing down but notes that it expects a pick-up by 2013. He also said a default by Greece could pose risks to the European and global financial system but he said U.S. banking exposure was "small." Money market funds, on the other hand, have "substantial" exposure to core European banks that could be impacted by the Greek situation. Bernanke also again lauded the idea of a formal inflation target, which he said could help anchor expectations, but he said nothing was imminent and pointed out that the central bank would need public, Congressional and White House "buy-in" before it proceeded
http://jlne.ws/khIvuY
QE2 Proves No Silver Bullet
By JON HILSENRATH, WSJ.com
Federal Reserve officials have been warning for months that the controversial $600 billion bond-buying program they initiated last year wouldn't be a panacea for an ailing U.S. economy. That's one forecast they seem to have gotten right.
http://jlne.ws/ka1S9F
A Look Inside the Fed’s Balance Sheet
WSJ.com
Ahead of the Federal Reserve‘s policy-setting meeting tomorrow and the coming end this month of QE2, it’s worth taking a look at the latest figures from the Fed’s balance sheet.
http://jlne.ws/mtIEYY
Parsing the Fed: How the Statement Changed
By Phil Izzo, WSJ.com
The Fed’s statement following the June meeting noted no change in policy, even as the central bank said that the recovery is moving more slowly than expected. The statement has a lot of discussion of inflation amid recent reports of rising prices, with the Fed noting numerous times that it expects inflation will remain subdued over the long run
http://jlne.ws/jZjxXB
Fed keeps rates on hold and says QE2 to end
MarketWatch
The Federal Reserve signaled concerns about economic growth Wednesday as the central bank kept its targeted Fed funds rate at a historic low between 0% and 0.25% and said it would end, as planned, its $600 billion bond purchase program in eight days.
http://jlne.ws/jxrB94
Who really benefited from QE2 anyway?
By Brett Arends, MarketWatch
The flood of cheap money has helped the big banks rake in profits hand over fist. (Last quarter, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. /quotes/zigman/188479/quotes/nls/gs GS +0.02% made trading profits every single day.) Commodity speculators have grown rich.
http://jlne.ws/ku9onw
CBO’s 2011 Long-Term Budget Outlook
Recently, the federal government has been recording budget deficits that are the largest as a share of the economy since 1945. Consequently, the amount of federal debt held by the public has surged. By the end of this year, CBO projects, federal debt will reach roughly 70 percent of gross domestic product (GDP)—the highest percentage since shortly after World War II.
http://jlne.ws/iIlLji
FHFA House Price Index Rises 0.8 Percent in April; First Monthly Increase Since May 2010
U.S. house prices rose 0.8 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from March to April, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s monthly House Price Index. The previously reported 0.3 percent decrease in March was revised to a 0.4 percent decrease. For the 12 months ending in April, U.S. prices fell 5.7 percent. The U.S. index is 19.3 percent below its April 2007 peak and roughly the same as the January 2004 index level.
http://jlne.ws/jfwVH8
Mortgage Applications Fall 5.9% in Week
The Bond Buyer
Mortgage application volume dropped 5.9% in the week ended June 17, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey.
http://jlne.ws/mzRi70
EU Said to Consider Releasing Stress Tests When Markets Close
By Ben Moshinsky, Bloomberg
The European Union’s top securities regulator is recommending the release of the bank stress-test results at night or on a weekend when global stock markets are closed, according to a person familiar with the situation.
http://jlne.ws/lq60En
Statement Regarding Purchases of Treasury Securities - Federal Reserve Bank of New York
On June 22, 2011, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) directed the Open Market Trading Desk at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (the Desk) to complete purchases of $600 billion of longer-term Treasury securities by the end of June. The FOMC also directed the Desk to maintain its existing policy of reinvesting principal payments on all domestic securities in the System Open Market Account in Treasury securities in order to maintain the total face value of domestic securities at approximately $2.6 trillion.
http://jlne.ws/ileg8V
Warning on bank rules reform
By Tom Braithwaite in Washington, Financial Times
John Walsh, a top US bank regulator, warned his colleagues against imposing tougher regulations on financial groups, drawing a furious reaction from a Democratic senator who called for him to be replaced. Calling existing capital levels “extraordinarily high” and proposing a “fundamental rethink” of international liquidity standards, Mr Walsh, acting comptroller of the currency, said: “My view is that we are in danger of trying to squeeze too much risk and complexity out of banking as we institute reforms to address problems and abuses stemming from the last crisis.”
http://jlne.ws/jaI9oQ
Oversight Group Did Not Refer Housing Complaints
By GRETCHEN MORGENSON, NY Times
The federal agency overseeing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the taxpayer-owned mortgage finance giants, failed to refer to criminal investigators and other authorities almost 100 complaints about possible foreclosure abuse and mortgage fraud at the companies over a recent two-year period, according to a report issued late Tuesday by the inspector general of the Federal Housing Finance Agency.
http://jlne.ws/lvRtYd
Dodd-Frank claims niche form of gold trading
By Claudia Assis, MarketWatch
A little -known form of gold investing used by some retail currency traders is disappearing, ahead of tighter regulations scheduled to go into effect next month. Forex.com, a large retail foreign-exchange operation, on Friday told clients it will discontinue its gold and silver over-the-counter products marketed to retail investors who are U.S. residents. It asked investors to close their positions by July 15.
http://jlne.ws/jQ9fj4
Postponing Greece’s inevitable default
Martin Feldstein, Financial Times
Even though the Greek parliament has given the government some breathing space with its vote of confidence late on Tuesday, a default by Greece is inevitable. With a debt to gross domestic product ratio of more than 150 per cent, large annual deficits and interest rates more than 25 per cent, the only question is when the default will occur. The current negotiations are really about postponing the inevitable default.
http://jlne.ws/mD7cnV
ICAP's EBS Expands Electronic Forex Swap Capabilities
By Jessica Mead and Jacob Bunge Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
Interdealer broker ICAP PLC (IAPLY, IAP.LN) on Tuesday bolstered its ability to electronically handle complex swap deals on currencies that remain under strict government control.
http://jlne.ws/mw2Id3
RBS directors awarded £1m shares bonus
The Scotsman
SEVEN executive directors of the Royal Bank of Scotland have been handed bonus shares worth more than £1 million under a reward scheme condemned by shareholder groups and unio
http://jlne.ws/kR2scB
HSBC appoints chief of business banking
Gulf Times
HSBC Bank Middle East has appointed Simon Burdett as chief of business banking in Qatar.
http://jlne.ws/a4zpTY
As new German links surface, Taib denies Swiss bank account
Malaysia Chronicle
Battling a swathe of corruption charges, Sarawak Chief Minister Taib Mahmud has denied he has a bank account in Swizerland, but even before the dust can settle on the allegation raised by the Bruno Manser Fund, a fresh accusation has erupted with the Sarawak Report offering evidence of his dealings with Deutsche bank. In a rare admission and concession to the huge pressure piled on him to leave ...
http://jlne.ws/js6ish
By Tom Barkley and Michael R. Crittenden, WSJ.com
Federal Reserve officials Wednesday lowered their forecasts for economic growth and predicted underlying inflation would come in higher than thought this year, as the central bank’s policy-setting committee cautioned that the recovery is experiencing what is likely a temporary loss in momentum.
http://jlne.ws/iIqjod
FOMC Statement: Release Date: June 22, 2011
Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in April indicates that the economic recovery is continuing at a moderate pace, though somewhat more slowly than the Committee had expected. Also, recent labor market indicators have been weaker than anticipated. The slower pace of the recovery reflects in part factors that are likely to be temporary, including the damping effect of higher food and energy prices on consumer purchasing power and spending as well as supply chain disruptions associated with the tragic events in Japan.
http://jlne.ws/ikGW4h
Bernanke doesn't have 'precise read' on slowdown
By Steve Goldstein, MarketWatch
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, during his press conference, said the central bank didn't have a precise read on why the U.S. economy is slowing down but notes that it expects a pick-up by 2013. He also said a default by Greece could pose risks to the European and global financial system but he said U.S. banking exposure was "small." Money market funds, on the other hand, have "substantial" exposure to core European banks that could be impacted by the Greek situation. Bernanke also again lauded the idea of a formal inflation target, which he said could help anchor expectations, but he said nothing was imminent and pointed out that the central bank would need public, Congressional and White House "buy-in" before it proceeded
http://jlne.ws/khIvuY
QE2 Proves No Silver Bullet
By JON HILSENRATH, WSJ.com
Federal Reserve officials have been warning for months that the controversial $600 billion bond-buying program they initiated last year wouldn't be a panacea for an ailing U.S. economy. That's one forecast they seem to have gotten right.
http://jlne.ws/ka1S9F
A Look Inside the Fed’s Balance Sheet
WSJ.com
Ahead of the Federal Reserve‘s policy-setting meeting tomorrow and the coming end this month of QE2, it’s worth taking a look at the latest figures from the Fed’s balance sheet.
http://jlne.ws/mtIEYY
Parsing the Fed: How the Statement Changed
By Phil Izzo, WSJ.com
The Fed’s statement following the June meeting noted no change in policy, even as the central bank said that the recovery is moving more slowly than expected. The statement has a lot of discussion of inflation amid recent reports of rising prices, with the Fed noting numerous times that it expects inflation will remain subdued over the long run
http://jlne.ws/jZjxXB
Fed keeps rates on hold and says QE2 to end
MarketWatch
The Federal Reserve signaled concerns about economic growth Wednesday as the central bank kept its targeted Fed funds rate at a historic low between 0% and 0.25% and said it would end, as planned, its $600 billion bond purchase program in eight days.
http://jlne.ws/jxrB94
Who really benefited from QE2 anyway?
By Brett Arends, MarketWatch
The flood of cheap money has helped the big banks rake in profits hand over fist. (Last quarter, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. /quotes/zigman/188479/quotes/nls/gs GS +0.02% made trading profits every single day.) Commodity speculators have grown rich.
http://jlne.ws/ku9onw
CBO’s 2011 Long-Term Budget Outlook
Recently, the federal government has been recording budget deficits that are the largest as a share of the economy since 1945. Consequently, the amount of federal debt held by the public has surged. By the end of this year, CBO projects, federal debt will reach roughly 70 percent of gross domestic product (GDP)—the highest percentage since shortly after World War II.
http://jlne.ws/iIlLji
FHFA House Price Index Rises 0.8 Percent in April; First Monthly Increase Since May 2010
U.S. house prices rose 0.8 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from March to April, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s monthly House Price Index. The previously reported 0.3 percent decrease in March was revised to a 0.4 percent decrease. For the 12 months ending in April, U.S. prices fell 5.7 percent. The U.S. index is 19.3 percent below its April 2007 peak and roughly the same as the January 2004 index level.
http://jlne.ws/jfwVH8
Mortgage Applications Fall 5.9% in Week
The Bond Buyer
Mortgage application volume dropped 5.9% in the week ended June 17, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey.
http://jlne.ws/mzRi70
EU Said to Consider Releasing Stress Tests When Markets Close
By Ben Moshinsky, Bloomberg
The European Union’s top securities regulator is recommending the release of the bank stress-test results at night or on a weekend when global stock markets are closed, according to a person familiar with the situation.
http://jlne.ws/lq60En
Statement Regarding Purchases of Treasury Securities - Federal Reserve Bank of New York
On June 22, 2011, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) directed the Open Market Trading Desk at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (the Desk) to complete purchases of $600 billion of longer-term Treasury securities by the end of June. The FOMC also directed the Desk to maintain its existing policy of reinvesting principal payments on all domestic securities in the System Open Market Account in Treasury securities in order to maintain the total face value of domestic securities at approximately $2.6 trillion.
http://jlne.ws/ileg8V
Warning on bank rules reform
By Tom Braithwaite in Washington, Financial Times
John Walsh, a top US bank regulator, warned his colleagues against imposing tougher regulations on financial groups, drawing a furious reaction from a Democratic senator who called for him to be replaced. Calling existing capital levels “extraordinarily high” and proposing a “fundamental rethink” of international liquidity standards, Mr Walsh, acting comptroller of the currency, said: “My view is that we are in danger of trying to squeeze too much risk and complexity out of banking as we institute reforms to address problems and abuses stemming from the last crisis.”
http://jlne.ws/jaI9oQ
Oversight Group Did Not Refer Housing Complaints
By GRETCHEN MORGENSON, NY Times
The federal agency overseeing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the taxpayer-owned mortgage finance giants, failed to refer to criminal investigators and other authorities almost 100 complaints about possible foreclosure abuse and mortgage fraud at the companies over a recent two-year period, according to a report issued late Tuesday by the inspector general of the Federal Housing Finance Agency.
http://jlne.ws/lvRtYd
Dodd-Frank claims niche form of gold trading
By Claudia Assis, MarketWatch
A little -known form of gold investing used by some retail currency traders is disappearing, ahead of tighter regulations scheduled to go into effect next month. Forex.com, a large retail foreign-exchange operation, on Friday told clients it will discontinue its gold and silver over-the-counter products marketed to retail investors who are U.S. residents. It asked investors to close their positions by July 15.
http://jlne.ws/jQ9fj4
Postponing Greece’s inevitable default
Martin Feldstein, Financial Times
Even though the Greek parliament has given the government some breathing space with its vote of confidence late on Tuesday, a default by Greece is inevitable. With a debt to gross domestic product ratio of more than 150 per cent, large annual deficits and interest rates more than 25 per cent, the only question is when the default will occur. The current negotiations are really about postponing the inevitable default.
http://jlne.ws/mD7cnV
ICAP's EBS Expands Electronic Forex Swap Capabilities
By Jessica Mead and Jacob Bunge Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
Interdealer broker ICAP PLC (IAPLY, IAP.LN) on Tuesday bolstered its ability to electronically handle complex swap deals on currencies that remain under strict government control.
http://jlne.ws/mw2Id3
RBS directors awarded £1m shares bonus
The Scotsman
SEVEN executive directors of the Royal Bank of Scotland have been handed bonus shares worth more than £1 million under a reward scheme condemned by shareholder groups and unio
http://jlne.ws/kR2scB
HSBC appoints chief of business banking
Gulf Times
HSBC Bank Middle East has appointed Simon Burdett as chief of business banking in Qatar.
http://jlne.ws/a4zpTY
As new German links surface, Taib denies Swiss bank account
Malaysia Chronicle
Battling a swathe of corruption charges, Sarawak Chief Minister Taib Mahmud has denied he has a bank account in Swizerland, but even before the dust can settle on the allegation raised by the Bruno Manser Fund, a fresh accusation has erupted with the Sarawak Report offering evidence of his dealings with Deutsche bank. In a rare admission and concession to the huge pressure piled on him to leave ...
http://jlne.ws/js6ish
Federal Open Market Committee Statement: Release Date June 22, 2011
Press Release
Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) met in April indicates that the economic recovery is continuing at a moderate pace, though somewhat more slowly than the Committee had expected. Also, recent labor market indicators have been weaker than anticipated. The slower pace of the recovery reflects in part factors that are likely to be temporary, including the damping effect of higher food and energy prices on consumer purchasing power and spending as well as supply chain disruptions associated with the tragic events in Japan. Household spending and business investment in equipment and software continue to expand. However, investment in nonresidential structures is still weak, and the housing sector continues to be depressed. Inflation has picked up in recent months, mainly reflecting higher prices for some commodities and imported goods, as well as the recent supply chain disruptions. However, longer-term inflation expectations have remained stable.
Consistent with its statutory mandate, the Committee seeks to foster maximum employment and price stability. The unemployment rate remains elevated; however, the Committee expects the pace of recovery to pick up over coming quarters and the unemployment rate to resume its gradual decline toward levels that the Committee judges to be consistent with its dual mandate. Inflation has moved up recently, but the Committee anticipates that inflation will subside to levels at or below those consistent with the Committee's dual mandate as the effects of past energy and other commodity price increases dissipate. However, the Committee will continue to pay close attention to the evolution of inflation and inflation expectations.
To promote the ongoing economic recovery and to help ensure that inflation, over time, is at levels consistent with its mandate, the Committee decided today to keep the target range for the federal funds rate at 0 to 1/4 percent. The Committee continues to anticipate that economic conditions--including low rates of resource utilization and a subdued outlook for inflation over the medium run--are likely to warrant exceptionally low levels for the federal funds rate for an extended period. The Committee will complete its purchases of $600 billion of longer-term Treasury securities by the end of this month and will maintain its existing policy of reinvesting principal payments from its securities holdings. The Committee will regularly review the size and composition of its securities holdings and is prepared to adjust those holdings as appropriate.
The Committee will monitor the economic outlook and financial developments and will act as needed to best foster maximum employment and price stability.
Voting for the FOMC monetary policy action were: Ben S. Bernanke, Chairman; William C. Dudley, Vice Chairman; Elizabeth A. Duke; Charles L. Evans; Richard W. Fisher; Narayana Kocherlakota; Charles I. Plosser; Sarah Bloom Raskin; Daniel K. Tarullo; and Janet L. Yellen.
Selasa, 21 Juni 2011
Top Interest Rate Headlines 06-21-11: J.P. Morgan to Pay $153.6 Million to Settle SEC Charges of Misleading Investors in CDO Tied to U.S.
J.P. Morgan to Pay $153.6 Million to Settle SEC Charges of Misleading Investors in CDO Tied to U.S.
Housing Market
Financial Times
Washington, D.C., June 21, 2011 – The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that J.P. Morgan Securities LLC will pay $153.6 million to settle SEC charges that it misled investors in a complex mortgage securities transaction just as the housing market was starting to plummet. Under the settlement, harmed investors will receive all of their money back.
http://jlne.ws/liDHmn
Spain can't let up on reforms, IMF says
By Steve Goldstein, MarketWatch
The International Monetary Fund said Spain can't "let up on the reform momentum" after cutting its deficit to GDP to a level of 9.2% last year from 11.1% in 2009.
http://jlne.ws/mw2N1X
Gross Says Equity Risk Premium Seems `Fairly Wide Now' - Video
http://jlne.ws/if0oKM
Bill Gross Gets the College Crisis Wrong
CNBC
Bill Gross joined the chorus of college skeptics today. "A mind is a precious thing to waste, so why are millions of America’s students wasting theirs by going to college?" he writes in his latest investment letter.
http://jlne.ws/kbJFzu
Government Must Do More to Create Jobs: Gross
Bloomberg
Bill Gross, manager of the world’s biggest bond fund at Pacific Investment Management Co., said the U.S. government must do more to support employment growth.
http://jlne.ws/lTSk4g
Traders are better at managing risk than the regulators
By Philip Salter, City A.M.
UNEASE about the information provided to some Contracts for Difference (CFD) customers has caused concern to the financial authorities in Ireland. This has no direct implication for UK traders, but it is worth revisiting the current regulations and risks of CFD trading. Ultimately, all good traders must take responsibility for their own risk exposures.
http://jlne.ws/mOZ33w
May existing home sales fall to 6-month low
By Greg Robb, MarketWatch
Sales of existing single-family homes and condos fell 3.8% in May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.81 million, the National Association of Realtors reported Tuesday.
http://jlne.ws/kK8XR9
Geithner Confident U.S. Will Avoid Default Crisis
BY JEFFREY SPARSHOTT, WSJ.com
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner Tuesday said he is confident that the U.S. will avoid a default crisis this summer as policy makers near agreement on a broad budget framework.
http://jlne.ws/mEZlZt
Feds Sue Bankers Over Fall in Bonds
BY LIZ RAPPAPORT AND RUTH SIMON, WSJ.com
Federal regulators accused J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC of duping five large credit unions into buying more than $3 billion in mortgage bonds that were "destined to perform poorly," and that quickly sank the credit unions.
http://jlne.ws/kpJbjR
ICAP Announces Completion of First Non Deliverable Swap Trade on EBS Platform
Press Release
ICAP, the world’s premier interdealer broker, announced today the completion of the first ever non deliverable FX swap trade on the EBS platform. The trade was completed on 13 June 2011 between two large NDF market participant banks based in Asia.
http://jlne.ws/klO9dw
Fitch report says U.S. money fund exposure to European banks remains significant
http://jlne.ws/mSH8jA
U.S. tax crackdown hits Canadian residents
The Globe And Mail
A tax crackdown by the United States has sent more than one million Americans and green-card holders living in Canada scrambling to figure out how to comply.
http://jlne.ws/mKokK7
Greece's Papandreau seeks vote in favor of his ministers
CNN
Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou is set to ask lawmakers to back his new government Tuesday, as he tries to push through unpopular budget cuts in order to get a new international bailout.
http://jlne.ws/jwO6XJ
ISDA Determinations Committee: Allied Irish Banks, p.l.c. Failure to Pay Credit Event
The International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Inc. (ISDA) today announced that its EMEA Credit Derivatives Determinations Committee resolved that a Failure to Pay credit event occurred in respect of Allied Irish Banks, p.l.c. The Committee also voted to hold senior and subordinated auctions for Allied Irish Banks in respect of the Failure to Pay credit event.
http://jlne.ws/iHHSZM
Housing Market
Financial Times
Washington, D.C., June 21, 2011 – The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that J.P. Morgan Securities LLC will pay $153.6 million to settle SEC charges that it misled investors in a complex mortgage securities transaction just as the housing market was starting to plummet. Under the settlement, harmed investors will receive all of their money back.
http://jlne.ws/liDHmn
Spain can't let up on reforms, IMF says
By Steve Goldstein, MarketWatch
The International Monetary Fund said Spain can't "let up on the reform momentum" after cutting its deficit to GDP to a level of 9.2% last year from 11.1% in 2009.
http://jlne.ws/mw2N1X
Gross Says Equity Risk Premium Seems `Fairly Wide Now' - Video
http://jlne.ws/if0oKM
Bill Gross Gets the College Crisis Wrong
CNBC
Bill Gross joined the chorus of college skeptics today. "A mind is a precious thing to waste, so why are millions of America’s students wasting theirs by going to college?" he writes in his latest investment letter.
http://jlne.ws/kbJFzu
Government Must Do More to Create Jobs: Gross
Bloomberg
Bill Gross, manager of the world’s biggest bond fund at Pacific Investment Management Co., said the U.S. government must do more to support employment growth.
http://jlne.ws/lTSk4g
Traders are better at managing risk than the regulators
By Philip Salter, City A.M.
UNEASE about the information provided to some Contracts for Difference (CFD) customers has caused concern to the financial authorities in Ireland. This has no direct implication for UK traders, but it is worth revisiting the current regulations and risks of CFD trading. Ultimately, all good traders must take responsibility for their own risk exposures.
http://jlne.ws/mOZ33w
May existing home sales fall to 6-month low
By Greg Robb, MarketWatch
Sales of existing single-family homes and condos fell 3.8% in May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.81 million, the National Association of Realtors reported Tuesday.
http://jlne.ws/kK8XR9
Geithner Confident U.S. Will Avoid Default Crisis
BY JEFFREY SPARSHOTT, WSJ.com
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner Tuesday said he is confident that the U.S. will avoid a default crisis this summer as policy makers near agreement on a broad budget framework.
http://jlne.ws/mEZlZt
Feds Sue Bankers Over Fall in Bonds
BY LIZ RAPPAPORT AND RUTH SIMON, WSJ.com
Federal regulators accused J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC of duping five large credit unions into buying more than $3 billion in mortgage bonds that were "destined to perform poorly," and that quickly sank the credit unions.
http://jlne.ws/kpJbjR
ICAP Announces Completion of First Non Deliverable Swap Trade on EBS Platform
Press Release
ICAP, the world’s premier interdealer broker, announced today the completion of the first ever non deliverable FX swap trade on the EBS platform. The trade was completed on 13 June 2011 between two large NDF market participant banks based in Asia.
http://jlne.ws/klO9dw
Fitch report says U.S. money fund exposure to European banks remains significant
http://jlne.ws/mSH8jA
U.S. tax crackdown hits Canadian residents
The Globe And Mail
A tax crackdown by the United States has sent more than one million Americans and green-card holders living in Canada scrambling to figure out how to comply.
http://jlne.ws/mKokK7
Greece's Papandreau seeks vote in favor of his ministers
CNN
Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou is set to ask lawmakers to back his new government Tuesday, as he tries to push through unpopular budget cuts in order to get a new international bailout.
http://jlne.ws/jwO6XJ
ISDA Determinations Committee: Allied Irish Banks, p.l.c. Failure to Pay Credit Event
The International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Inc. (ISDA) today announced that its EMEA Credit Derivatives Determinations Committee resolved that a Failure to Pay credit event occurred in respect of Allied Irish Banks, p.l.c. The Committee also voted to hold senior and subordinated auctions for Allied Irish Banks in respect of the Failure to Pay credit event.
http://jlne.ws/iHHSZM
Senin, 20 Juni 2011
Top Interest Rate Headlines 06-20-11: Sovereign Crisis Drives Investors to Aussie Bank Bonds
Sovereign Crisis Drives Investors to Aussie Bank Bonds
By Sarah McDonald, Bloomberg
Bond investors seeking refuge from Europe’s sovereign debt crisis are finding Australia’s banks safer than their global peers, even after the top four lenders’ credit ratings were downgraded last month.
http://jlne.ws/jJPf5K
Citigroup fires starting gun on EMI auction
By Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson, Citigroup
Citigroup has fired the starting gun on the auction of EMI, the British music business it seized from Guy Hands’ Terra Firma group in February, setting up a probable sale of the company behind the Beatles and the James Bond theme tune. The US bank is moving faster than many potential bidders predicted, hoping to take advantage of a stabilising US music market and strong interest from bidders in this spring’s auction of Warner Music, which Len Blavatnik’s Access Industries won in May with a $3.3bn offer.
http://jlne.ws/jqy5AT
NYSE BondMatch receives AMF approval
Press Release
Amsterdam, Brussels, Lisbon, London, Paris, Monday, 20 June 2011 - NYSE Euronext (NYX) today announced that NYSE BondMatch, its new Multilateral Trading Facility (MTF) designed to meet European user needs for transparency, liquidity and effective pre- and post-trade services on the euro-denominated bond market, received regulatory authorization and will begin trading on July 11, 2011.
http://jlne.ws/jW1d24
Sovereign defaults and GDP: To default, or not to default?
The Economist
IN THEORY, fears about the economic damage wrought by a sovereign default should play a big role in disciplining countries considering repudiating their debts. But while countries that default do find themselves locked out of markets for some time, any growth penalty from a default tends to be short-lived. Argentina saw its GDP decline by 10.9% in the year after its December 2001 default.
http://jlne.ws/iQjNKN
Dodd-Frank:Final rule establishes risk-based capital floor for largest internationally active banks
Press Release
Three federal banking regulatory agencies adopted a final rule that establishes a floor for the risk-based capital requirements applicable to the largest, internationally active banking organizations. The rule, finalized by the Federal Reserve Board, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, is consistent with the requirements of Section 171 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.
http://jlne.ws/lxft7x
For Greece, a delicate endgame of finger pointing Marsh on Monday
By David Marsh, MarketWatch
The endgame for Greece’s relationship with the economic and monetary union may still be some time off, but the contours of the final act of the drama are starting to emerge. It seems fairly likely that Greece eventually will be forced to leave EMU, but the timing is still far from clear. Three guiding precepts stand out.
http://jlne.ws/jtBIvO
New rules to shine light on off-exchange derivatives Australia
By Gareth Hutchens, The Sydney Morning Herald
IN A bid to strengthen Australia's financial system, secretive off-exchange ''derivatives'' could soon be forced through central clearinghouses under the eyes of regulators.
http://jlne.ws/m6gsdH
EU Urges Greece to Back More Austerity
By RIVA FROYMOVICH And MATTHEW DALTON, WSJ.com
European Union leaders expressed confidence Monday at a meeting in Luxembourg that Greece will concede on implementing economic reforms in exchange for the next tranche of aid to help it avoid default.
http://jlne.ws/kCDxmW
Banks Are First Companies to Be Targeted by European Union Data-Theft Rule
Bloomberg
Banks will be among companies forced to notify authorities of “serious” leaks of customer data in a crackdown after hackers targeted Sony Corp. (6758) and Sega Sammy Holdings Inc. (6460), the European Union’s top privacy official said.
http://jlne.ws/mcqj7r
EU debt crisis threat to Canadian economy
By TARA PERKINS, The Globe And Mail
The sovereign debt situation in Europe could pose a threat to the economy in Canada and those elsewhere, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty suggested Monday.
http://jlne.ws/j3hPkZ
Juncker offers chink of hope to Ireland
Hedge Analyst
A change in the terms of conditions in the EU ‘permanent bailout fund’ due to be launched in 2013 has been greeted with caution by economists but could be seen as a ‘lifeline’ by politicians
http://jlne.ws/kKYt47
NYSE BondMatch receives AMF approval
Press Release
Amsterdam, Brussels, Lisbon, London, Paris, Monday, 20 June 2011 – NYSE Euronext (NYX) today announced that NYSE BondMatch, its new Multilateral Trading Facility (MTF) designed to meet European user needs for transparency, liquidity and effective pre- and post-trade services on the euro-denominated bond market, received regulatory authorization and will begin trading on July 11, 2011.
http://jlne.ws/jW1d24
IMF Global Financial Stability Report, GFSR Market Update - June 2011
Press Release
http://jlne.ws/lawaT2
Saving the IMF for the world
Financial Times
No one foresaw the manner and suddenness of Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s departure from the helm of the International Monetary Fund. Thankfully, the transition to a new leadership has so far been less disruptive than one might have feared. By the end of the month, the next managing director will have been appointed. He or she – almost certainly she – will have to steer the IMF through big transformations, starting with the recruitment process itself.
http://jlne.ws/m01doN
Goldman Sachs banker teams up with ex-Asda chief on retail venture
eFinancial News
The departing head of retail investment banking at Goldman Sachs has teamed up with the former chief executive of Asda to launch a new vehicle that will buy small businesses in the retail sector, Financial News can reveal.
http://jlne.ws/jMxI1r
Goldman's Salame Is Said to Plan Move to New York, Consider New Assignment
Bloomberg
Pablo J. Salame, one of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) 's four sales and trading chiefs, plans to move to New York from London this summer and may take a new assignment, according to three people familiar with the matter.
http://jlne.ws/k6zRo7
PNC Said to Pay $3.45 Billion for RBC U.S. Retail Banking Unit
BusinessWeek
PNC Financial Services Group Inc. has agreed to pay $3.45 billion in cash and stock for Royal Bank of Canada's U.S. retail banking unit, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
http://jlne.ws/mkL5WF
UBS Hires Citigroup's Brengel, Frauenhofer for Technology
BusinessWeek
UBS AG, Switzerland's biggest bank, hired Doug Brengel and Bill Frauenhofer from Citigroup Inc. to head its technology group in the latest exchange of executives between the two firms.
http://jlne.ws/kOH7ZF
High street banks under pressure to adopt Barclays' PPI approach
Guardian Unlimited
Barclays' PPI compensation offer should be followed by Lloyds, RBS and HSBC, says Which? chief executive Lloyds Banking Group, Royal Bank of Scotland and HSBC are coming under pressure to follow Barclays after it said this week that it will compensate customers who were mis-sold payment protection insurance thousands of (PPI) on a no-quibble basis. Barclays, which has set aside £1bn to cover the ...
http://jlne.ws/j00kvl
Deutsche Bank says SIFI fees about what expected
Market Watch
A capital surcharge that regulators plan to impose on banks deemed too-big-to-fail is "about what we expected," the Chief Executive of Germany's Deutsche Bank AG (DB) told Dow Jones Newswires Friday.
http://jlne.ws/jn0U4D
UBS hires 1,000 staff in Greater China
eFinancial News
UBS has hired more than 1,000 staff in Greater China for its investment bank in the past 18 months, including around 100 people to help produce local-language research in Mandarin.
http://jlne.ws/jdrXKM
India set to open up retail banking
By James Fontanella-Khan in Mumbai, Financial Times
Indian industrial conglomerates, including Reliance Group and Mahindra & Mahindra, are set to be given access to the country’s lucrative retail banking sector after policymakers decided to drop years of opposition.
http://jlne.ws/kQBKgU
By Sarah McDonald, Bloomberg
Bond investors seeking refuge from Europe’s sovereign debt crisis are finding Australia’s banks safer than their global peers, even after the top four lenders’ credit ratings were downgraded last month.
http://jlne.ws/jJPf5K
Citigroup fires starting gun on EMI auction
By Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson, Citigroup
Citigroup has fired the starting gun on the auction of EMI, the British music business it seized from Guy Hands’ Terra Firma group in February, setting up a probable sale of the company behind the Beatles and the James Bond theme tune. The US bank is moving faster than many potential bidders predicted, hoping to take advantage of a stabilising US music market and strong interest from bidders in this spring’s auction of Warner Music, which Len Blavatnik’s Access Industries won in May with a $3.3bn offer.
http://jlne.ws/jqy5AT
NYSE BondMatch receives AMF approval
Press Release
Amsterdam, Brussels, Lisbon, London, Paris, Monday, 20 June 2011 - NYSE Euronext (NYX) today announced that NYSE BondMatch, its new Multilateral Trading Facility (MTF) designed to meet European user needs for transparency, liquidity and effective pre- and post-trade services on the euro-denominated bond market, received regulatory authorization and will begin trading on July 11, 2011.
http://jlne.ws/jW1d24
Sovereign defaults and GDP: To default, or not to default?
The Economist
IN THEORY, fears about the economic damage wrought by a sovereign default should play a big role in disciplining countries considering repudiating their debts. But while countries that default do find themselves locked out of markets for some time, any growth penalty from a default tends to be short-lived. Argentina saw its GDP decline by 10.9% in the year after its December 2001 default.
http://jlne.ws/iQjNKN
Dodd-Frank:Final rule establishes risk-based capital floor for largest internationally active banks
Press Release
Three federal banking regulatory agencies adopted a final rule that establishes a floor for the risk-based capital requirements applicable to the largest, internationally active banking organizations. The rule, finalized by the Federal Reserve Board, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, is consistent with the requirements of Section 171 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.
http://jlne.ws/lxft7x
For Greece, a delicate endgame of finger pointing Marsh on Monday
By David Marsh, MarketWatch
The endgame for Greece’s relationship with the economic and monetary union may still be some time off, but the contours of the final act of the drama are starting to emerge. It seems fairly likely that Greece eventually will be forced to leave EMU, but the timing is still far from clear. Three guiding precepts stand out.
http://jlne.ws/jtBIvO
New rules to shine light on off-exchange derivatives Australia
By Gareth Hutchens, The Sydney Morning Herald
IN A bid to strengthen Australia's financial system, secretive off-exchange ''derivatives'' could soon be forced through central clearinghouses under the eyes of regulators.
http://jlne.ws/m6gsdH
EU Urges Greece to Back More Austerity
By RIVA FROYMOVICH And MATTHEW DALTON, WSJ.com
European Union leaders expressed confidence Monday at a meeting in Luxembourg that Greece will concede on implementing economic reforms in exchange for the next tranche of aid to help it avoid default.
http://jlne.ws/kCDxmW
Banks Are First Companies to Be Targeted by European Union Data-Theft Rule
Bloomberg
Banks will be among companies forced to notify authorities of “serious” leaks of customer data in a crackdown after hackers targeted Sony Corp. (6758) and Sega Sammy Holdings Inc. (6460), the European Union’s top privacy official said.
http://jlne.ws/mcqj7r
EU debt crisis threat to Canadian economy
By TARA PERKINS, The Globe And Mail
The sovereign debt situation in Europe could pose a threat to the economy in Canada and those elsewhere, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty suggested Monday.
http://jlne.ws/j3hPkZ
Juncker offers chink of hope to Ireland
Hedge Analyst
A change in the terms of conditions in the EU ‘permanent bailout fund’ due to be launched in 2013 has been greeted with caution by economists but could be seen as a ‘lifeline’ by politicians
http://jlne.ws/kKYt47
NYSE BondMatch receives AMF approval
Press Release
Amsterdam, Brussels, Lisbon, London, Paris, Monday, 20 June 2011 – NYSE Euronext (NYX) today announced that NYSE BondMatch, its new Multilateral Trading Facility (MTF) designed to meet European user needs for transparency, liquidity and effective pre- and post-trade services on the euro-denominated bond market, received regulatory authorization and will begin trading on July 11, 2011.
http://jlne.ws/jW1d24
IMF Global Financial Stability Report, GFSR Market Update - June 2011
Press Release
http://jlne.ws/lawaT2
Saving the IMF for the world
Financial Times
No one foresaw the manner and suddenness of Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s departure from the helm of the International Monetary Fund. Thankfully, the transition to a new leadership has so far been less disruptive than one might have feared. By the end of the month, the next managing director will have been appointed. He or she – almost certainly she – will have to steer the IMF through big transformations, starting with the recruitment process itself.
http://jlne.ws/m01doN
Goldman Sachs banker teams up with ex-Asda chief on retail venture
eFinancial News
The departing head of retail investment banking at Goldman Sachs has teamed up with the former chief executive of Asda to launch a new vehicle that will buy small businesses in the retail sector, Financial News can reveal.
http://jlne.ws/jMxI1r
Goldman's Salame Is Said to Plan Move to New York, Consider New Assignment
Bloomberg
Pablo J. Salame, one of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) 's four sales and trading chiefs, plans to move to New York from London this summer and may take a new assignment, according to three people familiar with the matter.
http://jlne.ws/k6zRo7
PNC Said to Pay $3.45 Billion for RBC U.S. Retail Banking Unit
BusinessWeek
PNC Financial Services Group Inc. has agreed to pay $3.45 billion in cash and stock for Royal Bank of Canada's U.S. retail banking unit, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
http://jlne.ws/mkL5WF
UBS Hires Citigroup's Brengel, Frauenhofer for Technology
BusinessWeek
UBS AG, Switzerland's biggest bank, hired Doug Brengel and Bill Frauenhofer from Citigroup Inc. to head its technology group in the latest exchange of executives between the two firms.
http://jlne.ws/kOH7ZF
High street banks under pressure to adopt Barclays' PPI approach
Guardian Unlimited
Barclays' PPI compensation offer should be followed by Lloyds, RBS and HSBC, says Which? chief executive Lloyds Banking Group, Royal Bank of Scotland and HSBC are coming under pressure to follow Barclays after it said this week that it will compensate customers who were mis-sold payment protection insurance thousands of (PPI) on a no-quibble basis. Barclays, which has set aside £1bn to cover the ...
http://jlne.ws/j00kvl
Deutsche Bank says SIFI fees about what expected
Market Watch
A capital surcharge that regulators plan to impose on banks deemed too-big-to-fail is "about what we expected," the Chief Executive of Germany's Deutsche Bank AG (DB) told Dow Jones Newswires Friday.
http://jlne.ws/jn0U4D
UBS hires 1,000 staff in Greater China
eFinancial News
UBS has hired more than 1,000 staff in Greater China for its investment bank in the past 18 months, including around 100 people to help produce local-language research in Mandarin.
http://jlne.ws/jdrXKM
India set to open up retail banking
By James Fontanella-Khan in Mumbai, Financial Times
Indian industrial conglomerates, including Reliance Group and Mahindra & Mahindra, are set to be given access to the country’s lucrative retail banking sector after policymakers decided to drop years of opposition.
http://jlne.ws/kQBKgU
Jumat, 17 Juni 2011
Top Interest Rate Headlines 06-17-11: SEC Could File Civil Fraud Charges Against Some Raters
SEC Could File Civil Fraud Charges Against Some Raters
Reuters
U.S. regulators could file civil fraud charges against some credit-rating agencies for their role in developing mortgage-bond deals that helped bring about the financial crisis, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
http://jlne.ws/jGLVUQ
Payrolls shrink, jobless rates drop in many states
Reuters
The number of people on companies' payrolls shrank in more than half the U.S. states in May, even though the jobless rates in many places continued to improve, Labor Department data released on Friday showed.
http://jlne.ws/mRgB9L
Barings: UK inflation expectations wane and unemployment falls
The latest outlook for UK inflation was encouraging. The quarterly survey of inflation expectations from the Bank of England showed that although, on average, respondents expect medium-term inflation to be well above the UK central bank’s 2.0% target, the margin above target is likely to be smaller than had been expected in February.
http://jlne.ws/mcnhom
Could this laptop hold Goldman's secrets? - Video - Business News
http://jlne.ws/iEqD4C
US derivs proposals slammed by ISDA
GFS News
US derivatives proposals are too stringent and will result in an unlevel playing field for the country's firms, the new chairman of the International Swaps and Derivatives Association has told lawmakers.
http://jlne.ws/ml61ec
Index of Consumer Sentiment slipped from 74.3 in May to 71.8 in June, but remains up from 69.8 in April
Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland
According to the latest release from the University of Michigan, its Index of Consumer Sentiment slipped down from an index level of 74.3 in May to 71.8 in June, but remains up from 69.8 in April. Both the current conditions and expectations components decreased during the month. The current conditions component fell from 81.9 to 79.6 in June and is now below 80 for the first time since last October.
http://jlne.ws/j7AKEO
Regulators cite progress on global financial rules
Fox News
Federal regulators told members of Congress they are collaborating with other nations on rules intended to prevent another financial crisis.
http://jlne.ws/k8gct2
Greece replaces finance minister
By Kerin Hope in Athens, Financial Times
George Papandreou, prime minister of Greece, has replaced his finance minister in a broad cabinet reshuffle to counter widespread anger over tough new austerity measures essential to prevent Greece from a disastrous default.
http://jlne.ws/krWGSQ
[Video] Goldman Sachs's O'Neill on Greek Debt Contagion
Bloomberg
Jim O'Neill, chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, discusses the risk of contagion from the Greek debt crisis. He speaks with Bloomberg's Ryan Chilcote on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
http://jlne.ws/m9PkgH
Henes: Are We Watching the Sequel to "Too Big to Fail?" Will Greece End Differently Than Lehman?
CNBC
A friend of mine who runs a hedge fund likes to say, "I have seen this movie before, and I know how it ends...badly." With respect to Greece, ironically, not only can we metaphorically say we've seen this movie before, but, in many ways, we have actually seen it - at least a movie of the same genre.
http://jlne.ws/kLG4rC
Greek crisis threatens European decade of economic implosion
Mohamed El-Erian, Financial Times
From day one, immense challenges faced the coalition of international institutions that opted for a liquidity approach to address Greece’s debt solvency problems. Now that this coalition is stumbling and bickering publicly, the outlook for Greece has taken a significant turn for the worse. Even as George Papandreou, the Greek prime minister, prepares to reshuffle his cabinet, he must know his nation’s predicament is now extremely hard to reverse.
http://jlne.ws/lHp9cx
How Long Can IMF Play the Contortionist?
By STEPHEN FIDLER, WSJ
So in the end, it looks like the International Monetary Fund will be the one to blink. Concessions by the Washington-based institution are expected to allow the release of the next E12 billion ($17 billion) slug of bailout funds for Greece before the government runs out of money next month. A Greek payments crisis thus would be avoided, at least for a month or two.
http://jlne.ws/lngU4a
Spain's Bad Loans Hit 16-Year High
By DAVID ROMAN, WSJ
MADRID—Spain's central bank Friday said bad debt at the country's commercial banks soared in April to the worst level in 16 years, a sign that a three-year property bust that's hit developers and households is hurting the financial sector even as Spanish economic growth recovers modestly.
http://jlne.ws/kl2Lt2
U.K. Jabs EU on Bank Rules
By DAVID ENRICH And SARA SCHAEFER MUñOZ, WSJ
LONDON—British officials are waging an increasingly aggressive fight to impose banking regulations as they see fit, even if they go further than rules elsewhere in the European Union. British officials have publicly lashed out at European policy makers who are pushing proposals that would limit the U.K.'s ability to go beyond other countries when it comes to bank capital and liquidity requirements.
http://jlne.ws/mObcID
Awww. Barney Frank Hearts Sheila Bair
Wall Street Journal Blogs
Hearings of the House Financial Services Committee typically are scenes for red-faced speeches from members of Congress. Today, though, the House became a love fest for FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair.
http://jlne.ws/lJKac1
Swiss upper house approves tough bank capital rules
Reuters UK Focus via Yahoo! UK & Ireland Finance
The Swiss upper house of parliament on Thursday backed a new law to force UBS and Credit Suisse (NYSEArca: CSMA - news) to hold more capital than global rules demand.
http://jlne.ws/ikN4z0
Santander chief and family face tax probe
By Miles Johnson in Madrid, Financial Times
Emilio Botín, chairman of Banco Santander and one of Spain’s highest profile public figures, is being investigated by the country’s high court over allegations of tax-related offences alongside 11 other members of his powerful family.
http://jlne.ws/mnv9yz
Reuters
U.S. regulators could file civil fraud charges against some credit-rating agencies for their role in developing mortgage-bond deals that helped bring about the financial crisis, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
http://jlne.ws/jGLVUQ
Payrolls shrink, jobless rates drop in many states
Reuters
The number of people on companies' payrolls shrank in more than half the U.S. states in May, even though the jobless rates in many places continued to improve, Labor Department data released on Friday showed.
http://jlne.ws/mRgB9L
Barings: UK inflation expectations wane and unemployment falls
The latest outlook for UK inflation was encouraging. The quarterly survey of inflation expectations from the Bank of England showed that although, on average, respondents expect medium-term inflation to be well above the UK central bank’s 2.0% target, the margin above target is likely to be smaller than had been expected in February.
http://jlne.ws/mcnhom
Could this laptop hold Goldman's secrets? - Video - Business News
http://jlne.ws/iEqD4C
US derivs proposals slammed by ISDA
GFS News
US derivatives proposals are too stringent and will result in an unlevel playing field for the country's firms, the new chairman of the International Swaps and Derivatives Association has told lawmakers.
http://jlne.ws/ml61ec
Index of Consumer Sentiment slipped from 74.3 in May to 71.8 in June, but remains up from 69.8 in April
Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland
According to the latest release from the University of Michigan, its Index of Consumer Sentiment slipped down from an index level of 74.3 in May to 71.8 in June, but remains up from 69.8 in April. Both the current conditions and expectations components decreased during the month. The current conditions component fell from 81.9 to 79.6 in June and is now below 80 for the first time since last October.
http://jlne.ws/j7AKEO
Regulators cite progress on global financial rules
Fox News
Federal regulators told members of Congress they are collaborating with other nations on rules intended to prevent another financial crisis.
http://jlne.ws/k8gct2
Greece replaces finance minister
By Kerin Hope in Athens, Financial Times
George Papandreou, prime minister of Greece, has replaced his finance minister in a broad cabinet reshuffle to counter widespread anger over tough new austerity measures essential to prevent Greece from a disastrous default.
http://jlne.ws/krWGSQ
[Video] Goldman Sachs's O'Neill on Greek Debt Contagion
Bloomberg
Jim O'Neill, chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, discusses the risk of contagion from the Greek debt crisis. He speaks with Bloomberg's Ryan Chilcote on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
http://jlne.ws/m9PkgH
Henes: Are We Watching the Sequel to "Too Big to Fail?" Will Greece End Differently Than Lehman?
CNBC
A friend of mine who runs a hedge fund likes to say, "I have seen this movie before, and I know how it ends...badly." With respect to Greece, ironically, not only can we metaphorically say we've seen this movie before, but, in many ways, we have actually seen it - at least a movie of the same genre.
http://jlne.ws/kLG4rC
Greek crisis threatens European decade of economic implosion
Mohamed El-Erian, Financial Times
From day one, immense challenges faced the coalition of international institutions that opted for a liquidity approach to address Greece’s debt solvency problems. Now that this coalition is stumbling and bickering publicly, the outlook for Greece has taken a significant turn for the worse. Even as George Papandreou, the Greek prime minister, prepares to reshuffle his cabinet, he must know his nation’s predicament is now extremely hard to reverse.
http://jlne.ws/lHp9cx
How Long Can IMF Play the Contortionist?
By STEPHEN FIDLER, WSJ
So in the end, it looks like the International Monetary Fund will be the one to blink. Concessions by the Washington-based institution are expected to allow the release of the next E12 billion ($17 billion) slug of bailout funds for Greece before the government runs out of money next month. A Greek payments crisis thus would be avoided, at least for a month or two.
http://jlne.ws/lngU4a
Spain's Bad Loans Hit 16-Year High
By DAVID ROMAN, WSJ
MADRID—Spain's central bank Friday said bad debt at the country's commercial banks soared in April to the worst level in 16 years, a sign that a three-year property bust that's hit developers and households is hurting the financial sector even as Spanish economic growth recovers modestly.
http://jlne.ws/kl2Lt2
U.K. Jabs EU on Bank Rules
By DAVID ENRICH And SARA SCHAEFER MUñOZ, WSJ
LONDON—British officials are waging an increasingly aggressive fight to impose banking regulations as they see fit, even if they go further than rules elsewhere in the European Union. British officials have publicly lashed out at European policy makers who are pushing proposals that would limit the U.K.'s ability to go beyond other countries when it comes to bank capital and liquidity requirements.
http://jlne.ws/mObcID
Awww. Barney Frank Hearts Sheila Bair
Wall Street Journal Blogs
Hearings of the House Financial Services Committee typically are scenes for red-faced speeches from members of Congress. Today, though, the House became a love fest for FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair.
http://jlne.ws/lJKac1
Swiss upper house approves tough bank capital rules
Reuters UK Focus via Yahoo! UK & Ireland Finance
The Swiss upper house of parliament on Thursday backed a new law to force UBS and Credit Suisse (NYSEArca: CSMA - news) to hold more capital than global rules demand.
http://jlne.ws/ikN4z0
Santander chief and family face tax probe
By Miles Johnson in Madrid, Financial Times
Emilio Botín, chairman of Banco Santander and one of Spain’s highest profile public figures, is being investigated by the country’s high court over allegations of tax-related offences alongside 11 other members of his powerful family.
http://jlne.ws/mnv9yz