Banks

As I was saying yesterday, investors, especially those with large amounts at stake, need to take a closer look when the company in which they are investing indicates that they are on a cost-cutting campaign. This discussion was motivated by the Royal Bank of Scotland’s (LSE:RBS) computer system crash that, among other things, blocked customers […]

The Royal Bank of Scotland Group(LSE:RBS) has reached a settlement with the European Commission, in relation to competition law breaches concerning certain interest rate derivatives referenced to the London Interbank Offered Rate, LIBOR, based on Japanese Yen  and the Euro Interbank Offered Rate., URIBOR.  The Commission has handed out fines totaling 1.7bn euros to eight […]

I poured my morning coffee, unfolded my newspaper, and nearly choked on the headline:  RBS Admits Decades of IT Neglect.  All I could think was, “You blithering idiots!” I’m not going to discuss RBS share price (LSE:RBS) today, although I will say that it is, inexplicably, up 0.30 pence to 331.40, about one-tenth of one […]

In order to be closer to clients in their strategic initiatives, especially those who wish to take advantage of the growing opportunities for cross-border deals, BNP Paribas announces that it is strengthening its Corporate Finance set-up, the CIB (Corporate & Investment Banking) business line which comprises M&A Advisory and Equity Capital Markets (ECM) activities. Within […]

How about Really Bad Service?  How about Run by Blokes with no Scruples?  Or Riddled By Scandals?  Or, for the more sophisticated, Robbery by Sophism?  Or, synonymously, Royal Bank of Scotland (LSE:RBS). RBS is a glowing example of the conflict between ethics & morals on the one hand and revenues & profits on the other. […]

Mike van Dulken, Head of Research at Accendo Markets, commented in his Weekly Roundup to clients, Something different this week. Well, kind of. We’re halfway through November meaning just 5 shopping weeks until the big day. It also means market observers such as myself are busy updating their annual Santa Rally research showing off their […]

Lloyds Banking Group (LSE:LLOY) share price is currently trading 78.19 pence, down slightly from the 80 pence mark it had reached at Friday’s close.  The share price has been climbing steadily through this calendar year, in effect, doubling in value from one year ago.  If the share price continues to remain above 73.6 pence for […]

When I settle in to my office on a typical morning, Londoners have already had lunch and are ready for afternoon tea.  This sometimes works to my advantage, when I manage to catch the late-breaking stories.  At other times, I feel like I have been left with the scraps left over from my prolific colleagues, […]

NYSE Euronext has welcomed BTG Pactual on NYSE Euronext’s regulated market in Amsterdam. BTG Pactual (NYSE:BTGP) was listed on NYSE Euronext Amsterdam through the admission of 198,511,396 European units following a transfer from NYSE Alternext. Each European unit represents one common share and two Series A preferred shares of Banco BTG Pactual S.A. in the […]

Banking on a booming economy? Business confidence in the economy increased to the highest level since 2002 according to the Lloyds Bank (LSE:LLOY) Business Confidence Barometer. More than two thirds (68 per cent) of companies surveyed said that they were more optimistic about how the economy would fare compared with three months ago. The net […]