George Osborne and Sir Mervyn King Set for Defining Mansion House Speeches
Chancellor George Osborne will launch the government's white paper on banking reform to City of London bankers in his Mansion House speech (Reuters) At what was once a black tie evening of self-congratulatory back-slapping and hand-shaking between policymakers and the City of London , the upcoming Mansion House speeches by Chancellor George Osborne and Bank of England Governor Sir Mervyn King will herald a new age for the financial industry and its relationship with the government. Osborne's speech at the 250-year-old building will launch the government's white paper on banking reform , which has been inspired by recommendations made in the Vickers report, and includes ring-fencing the retail arm from the investment side of the business, to protect consumers from what is labelled "casino banking". But while the Chancellor can score a few points with voters in pledging to cut the City down to size, he can't afford to alienate one of the country's most important industries as Britain fights to extract itself from the first "double-dip" recession in three decades.
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Credit Suisse Shares Plunge to Decade Low After SNB Warning on Capital
Credit Suisse shares plummeted after the Swiss National Bank (SNB) put pressure on it to bolster its capital base by halting dividends and issuing shares in order to safeguard against the risk of an escalation of the Eurozone banking crisis. The Swiss bank's share price tumbled by over 11 percent at one stage in the session to a decade-low 17.03 francs. In the central bank's annual financial stability report, SNB warned that "for Credit Suisse , given the low starting point and the risks in the environment, it is essential that it already substantially expand its loss-absorbing capital base during the current year." The group added that "apart from the planned reduction of risk, these improvements can also be achieved in other ways, such as by suspending dividend payments, or even by raising capital on the market through share issuance." The SNB added that despite Credit Suisse, as well as UBS, both holding more capital than its European counterparts, the banks still fall behind in capital requirements under international Basel III rules, which are coming into force in 2019.
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Retail Sales and Job Growth Drive UK Economic Recovery
U.K. retail sales increased in March as warm weather boosted the sales of non-food goods, at the same time the permanent job placements increased for a third straight month giving an indication that the British economy is recovering slowly. According to the British Retail Consortium (BRC), UK retail sales values were up 1.3 percent on a like-for-like basis from the previous year.
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Best Buy CEO Quits Following Internal Probe On Personal Conduct
Best Buy CEO Brian Dunn resigned unexpectedly Tuesday, subsequent to the report that the struggling consumer electronics retailer has initiated an internal investigation regarding his "personal conduct." Best Buy did not give any specific explanation about the inquiry into allegations against the veteran CEO, who has been with the company since 1985. "Certain issues were brought to the board's attention regarding Dunn's personal conduct, unrelated to the company's operations or financial controls, and an audit committee investigation was initiated," said the company in a statement. "Prior to the completion of the investigation, Mr.
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US Retail Sales Continue to Show Strength
U.S. retail sales continue to show strength in the first week for April. For the first week of April, same-store sales rose 0.5 percent from the previous week and 4.5 percent from the same period last year, according to data compiled by the International Council of Shopping Centers, or ICSC, and Goldman Sachs that was released on Tuesday.
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Earnings Start With Alcoa: Markets Brace For Tough Season
The earnings season, which starts with Alcoa Inc. reporting first quarter results Tuesday, is expected to be sluggish and could witness markets struggling to maintain gains made since the beginning of the year. A clearer picture of the strength of the market will emerge on Thursday with Google's results, about which analysts have been increasingly bearish
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Economist Predicts Likely Reversal of Investment Boom in Australia
The dollar is down a bit and demands for commodities have generally eased down, according to major mining players, prompting many economists to suggest that Australia 's surge of investments had reached the inevitable limits. The current investment pipeline accounts for some $912 billion worth of projects but according to Westpac chief currency strategist Robert Rennie, investors were now looking at likely breaking point, which means the next economic phase will see the gradual sinking of investment overtures in the periods ahead. In an interview with BusinessDay, Mr Rennie predicted that emerging indicators will convince the market to shift gears based on the notion that "$912 billion is (not) going to get any bigger.
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Exiting Euro Could Spark Greek Revival, Doom Germany: HSBC’s King
Exiting the euro zone could spark economic revival in Greece and doom the currency union, said Stephen King , group chief economist at HSBC . King, while countering conventional wisdom that kicking Greece out will save the euro zone, concedes an exit likely would lead to months of financial and economic turmoil for the Mediterranean country. Its exchange rate would collapse under reintroduction of the pre-euro currency, the drachma.
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Euro Zone Breakup Fears Causing Deposit Flight From PIIGS Nations
Fears of a partial breakup of the euro zone are already causing deposit flight from banks in Portugal , Italy, Ireland, Greece and Spain -- sometimes collectively known as PIIGS -- said Jens Nordvig, head of fixed-income research at Nomura Holdings. "The deposit flight has already taken place," he told Bloomberg Television
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Thousands At AT&T Stay On Job As Talks Continue
(Reuters) - More than 40,000 employees at AT&T Inc will keep working under the terms of an expired labor contract while their union continues negotiations with the telephone company, averting a potentially costly strike for now.
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