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State Street Global Advisors to acquire Bank of Ireland AM for €57m
October 22, 2010- – Boston-based State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) is set to acquire Bank of Ireland Asset Management (BIAM) for approximately €57m in cash
BIAM, which has approximately €26bn in assets under management for more than 500 clients, offers a range of global equity, fixed income, cash, asset allocation, property and balanced funds.
Scott Powers, president and chief executive at SSgA, said the deal would allow his company – known chiefly for its passive index-linked funds – to expand its range to include active fundamental management.
"As our clients look for more solutions-driven investment management strategies that span the risk spectrum, the addition of this team and capabilities will enhance our ability to deliver on these needs," he added.
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Source: IP&E
UK Key Spending Review announcements
Otober 21, 2010--Supporting growth, reforming public services and building a fairer society
The Chancellor, George Osborne, has presented the Government’s Spending Review, which fixes spending budgets for each Government department up to 2014-15.
The Spending Review comes at a time when the State is spending significantly more money than it raises in taxation, and is having to meet the gap – called the deficit – by borrowing at record levels. Last year, the Government borrowed one pound in every four that it spent and the UK currently spends £43 billion on debt interest, which is more than it spends on schools in England. >
view the Spending Review 2010
Source: HM Treasury
UK Government publishes draft legislation on the Bank Levy
October 21, 2010--Financial Secretary to the Treasury, Mark Hoban MP, announced today the publication by the Government of draft legislation on the Bank Levy, which was announced in the June Budget.
Following consultation with industry over the summer, the draft legislation and accompanying consultation response sets out the details of how the levy will work ahead of final legislation, which will be published before the end of the year.
The Government has carefully considered the responses from all interested parties during the consultation to help ensure the successful introduction of the Bank Levy, which is intended to encourage banks to move to less risky funding profiles. The levy is expected to generate around £2.5 billion of annual revenues by 2012-13. The levy will be permanent.
Mark Hoban said:
"We have consulted on the design of the scheme so that it achieves two objectives: firstly, ensuring that banks make a fair contribution in respect of the potential risks they pose to the UK financial system and wider economy.
Secondly, the final scheme design incentivises banks to make greater use of more stable financial sources, such as long term debt and equity, working with the grain of our wider reform programme."
view BANK LEVY: DRAFT LEGISLATION
Source: HM Treasury
Investors drawn to Turkey’s banking sector
October 21, 2010--International groups paid high prices to enter Turkey’s banking sector in the boom years between 2005 and 2007 – but for many, it has proved to be worth the money.
The National Bank of Greece’s acquisition of Finansbank in 2006, near the peak of the market, has been a lifeline. Growth at the Turkish subsidiary allowed NBG to report a net profit at group level in the first half of 2010 in spite losses in its home market; it is now floating a stake in Finansbank as it rebuilds its balance sheet.
Turkish banks, radically restructured after a severe crisis in 2001, continued growing throughout last year’s recession thanks to solid capital cushions, a lack of exposure to toxic assets and the lowest interest rates the country has ever experienced.
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Source: FT.com
UK debt cost falls to lowest since 1980s
October 21, 2010--Britain’s borrowing costs have dropped to the lowest in a generation, falling below those of Germany, Europe’s biggest and strongest economy, reflecting in part investor confidence that the government can bring the deficit under control.
George Osborne, the chancellor, vowed on Thursday that he would not retreat on his plans to rein in the deficit, the most ambitious effort to cut public spending announced by any major economy.
Benchmark five-year gilt yields fell to 1.43 per cent on Thursday, almost a quarter of a percentage point below those of Germany, which traditionally benefits from much lower interest rate costs, and the lowest level since at least the 1980s.
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Source: FT.com
Singapore Exchange expands its presence in Europe
October 20, 2010--Prior to SGX, Mrs McGroarty worked in Citigroup London as the Head of Corporate Access for Eastern Europe, Middle East & Africa regions.
Singapore Exchange (SGX) is expanding its presence in Europe and the surrounding regions for its Listings business.
Paulina McGroarty, will join SGX’s Listings Unit as Head of Europe, Middle East and Russia on 5 November 2010, bringing with her a wealth of capital market experience in her area of coverage. Prior to SGX, Mrs McGroarty worked in Citigroup London as the Head of Corporate Access for Eastern Europe, Middle East & Africa regions.
Before joining Citigroup in 2004, McGroarty was the Managing Director of the Corporate Client Group at NASDAQ Stock Market, overseeing relationship management and new business development in Europe, Russia, South Africa, and the Middle East. Mrs McGroarty will report to Lawrence Wong, Head of Listings, Singapore Exchange.
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Source: India Infoline News Service
IMF Sees Continued Recovery in Europe, Risks Remaining
October 20, 2010--Europe continues to recover from its deepest recession in the postwar period with GDP projected to expand by 2.3 percent in 2010 and 2.2 percent in 2011, after a 4.6 percent contraction in 2009, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said today.
In its latest Regional Economic Outlook (REO) for Europe, the IMF said that the recovery has been boosted by the resurgence of the world economy, with export growth especially strong in countries that export capital goods. However, the recovery is sluggish and projected growth rates are low by historical standards.
In advanced Europe, where policy actions helped contain sovereign debt troubles in early 2010, growth is projected at 1.7 percent in 2010 and 1.6 percent in 2011. Despite recent strength, however, the upswing is projected to remain weak compared with previous recoveries and also with advanced economies in other regions. In part, these growth differentials are due to the lingering impact of the crisis and the accelerating fiscal adjustment in 2011. But they also reflect well-known structural rigidities in the labor, product, and services markets that will limit the euro area’s potential growth.
The REO also noted that significant risks remain, and urged policymakers to implement appropriate policies. Fiscal consolidation, while inevitable, should be undertaken in a way that minimizes the negative impact on growth and unemployment; if growth threatens to slow appreciably more than we expect, countries with fiscal room could postpone some of the planned consolidation. Monetary policy must steer carefully between the need to normalize policies on the one hand and the necessity to mitigate sovereign market volatility and ensure bank liquidity on the other; and the recent checkup of European banks should be followed by rapid action to eliminate remaining weaknesses in balance sheets while continuing to safeguard lending capacity.
“Policymakers need to focus on strengthening bank balance sheets,” said Ajai Chopra, Acting Director of the IMF’s European Department. “Vulnerable financial institutions should be restructured, recapitalized, or resolved without delay. The results of the recent European Union-wide stress tests provide a rough guide of the banks that may need to be merged or recapitalized. Better government supervision with enhanced cross-border cooperation can help build market confidence. A number of initiatives are already in train. We need to wrap them up, get regulatory clarity, and implement.”
view the report-Regional Economic Outlook: Europe-Building Confidence October 2010
Source: IMF
New data on the daily traded volume and percent share of members
October 20, 2010--A report in csv format (name of file: “uyehissiraYYYYAAGG.csv), including the TL traded volume and percent share on a member basis, sorted from largest to smallest for the E, Y, F, V feature code normal order transactions on a daily basis, will be published on the Istanbul Stock Exchange web site under Data/Stock Market Data/Market Data directory, starting from October 19, 2010.
Such information will be available starting from October 8, 2010, when the ISE stopped displaying the trading party member codes included in inquiries of transactions executed in the Stock Market.
Source: Istanbul Stock Exchange (ISE)
High-frequency trading is ‘chewing gum’
October 20, 2010--High-frequency trading in markets is little more than “chewing gum” and is pushing aside the “natural liquidity” provided by traditional investors, the head of the Prague Stock Exchange has warned.
In an outspoken attack on the fast growing practice of high-frequency trading, Petr Koblic, the exchange’s chief executive, said there had been a “dramatic drop” in liquidity, or trading activity, from long-standing market participants such as pension funds and smaller retail investors.
In their place have come high-frequency traders, who use sophisticated computers to trade in and out of stocks in fractions of a second. They can be independent groups, hedge funds or investment banks.
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Source: FT.com
ECB official gives cool reaction to eurozone reforms
October 20, 2010--European Central Bank chief economist Juergen Stark replied cautiously Wednesday to a European Union deal hailed as the eurozone's "biggest reform" ever, saying that remained to be seen.
An agreement unveiled Tuesday would make it easier to sanction EU states that blow their budgets and create a permanent, Greek-style safety net for those that cannot cope.
This "was celebrated as a great day for Europe," Stark noted on the sidelines of an ECB conference in Frankfurt.
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Source: EUbusiness
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